Is God Calling You?
We Can’t Do It All, and We Can Be Our Best
In an earlier post, Serving God and Money, I wrote about a nightmare, along with some physical health issues, that convinced me to revamp how I steward the time, talent, and treasure God has given me. Scripture makes it clear that time and energy are abundant but not unlimited. Therefore, I choose to devote myself toward walking humbly with my God and letting my light shine, hoping others might see God’s light shining through me and be blessed. Of course, that means I need to be the best version of myself, which means trying to be more like the person God created me to be (my True Self)! So, I am devoting myself to lots of Quiet Time as the Holy Spirit helps me launch this transformative 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ ministry. And that feels authentic and exciting.
God Directs Our Steps, Even When We Choose a Detour
I believe God has led me throughout my journey, making the best of any choices I made that weren’t exactly how God meant to lead me. It’s finally hit me. I was inspired recently by a series of dreams. Then someone asked me to write about how I transitioned from lawyer to entrepreneur. A statement by a free-motion quilting teacher, Sue Rasmussen, also struck me. She spoke about the need for intentionality behind every stitch we take. I related that to the importance of careful or Spirit-led choices in far more than a line of stitching! I finally concluded that I’m meant to be—and now am—in ministry rather than business.
My Clarified Ministry Focuses Are Now:
- In everything, being in partnership with the Spirit of God for wisdom and guidance, humbly acknowledging that my gifts (including my writing) were given to me to be used for godly purposes, helping to create solutions, joy, peace, and freedom in others’ lives;
- Seeing the manifestation of each person’s heart’s desires as essential to living out their sacred callings, honoring that aspect of us that’s in the image and likeness of the Great Creator, who endowed us with gifts and uses our creativity and experiences to accomplish the purposes for which each one is on earth;
- Offering my services as a Holy Spirit-led Spiritual Director—enhanced by my expertise on the spirituality of quilting and other practical and spiritual tools: those of a trained Creativity Coach, Spiritual Coach, Christian Healing Prayer minister, and an UNBOUND minister. The combination helps me, with the Holy Spirit, to be a catalyst for personal transformation through powerful questions and compassionate listening, as well as creativity, dreamwork, forgiveness work, healing and deliverance prayer, plus mindset work.
- My ultimate goal is to show members of the Body of Christ how they can experience the freedom Jesus intended them to have on the way to enjoying the abundance of “life to the full” here on earth.
Do You Know How You’re Meant to Serve?
Do you know what you’re on earth to do? If you, are you doing it or are you ready to make the transition to serve as called? If you don’t know, would you like to discover your calling? How about starting with the free resources we offer and then considering spiritual direction?
First, an invitation. Last weekend, our newly formed UNBOUND prayer group prayed for people who’d asked to receive prayers using the 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ. They prepared for their sessions, but God still had delightful healing surprises for them! They were indeed set free of major hurts in their pasts, the unforgiveness that had hardened their hearts, and they experienced a release of old ways of feeling and thinking, of blaming, judging, and feeling helpless. They received empowerment, peace, and a new way forward.
I was also privileged to spend many hours with the inspiring woman who coordinates an UNBOUND prayer team in another city. She shared with me how they use this model, which involves declarations of faith, forgiveness, renunciation of lies and darkness. Through this model, people are set free by the authority of Jesus, who then releases in them the blessings of the Father and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That experience then becomes the entryway for much more healing, the use of their gifts in service, and greater intimacy with each person of the Holy Trinity. So, I’d like to invite those open to Jesus and freedom to read Neal Lozano’s book, Unbound, and to make an appointment to receive prayer through a ministry using the UNBOUND model. There’s more about this here.
There are also many things you can do in the privacy of your own home.
Here are Some of the Spiritual Practices that Work for Me
Journaling (writing “morning pages”) is a practice I’ve followed since The Artist’s Way came out in the ’90s. It’s where I pose my questions to God and often receive answers. It’s how I plan my day and vent when necessary. It’s where I take notes of things I won’t want to forget. It’s where I start poems and blog posts! I write down the scriptures that struck a cord with me.
The Word of God is God’s gift to us for learning, guidance, encouragement, inspiration, and more. It’s a great way to start every day, to get a pick-me-up in mid-afternoon, or to prepare for bed.
Our Heart’s Desire is as relevant to God as it is to us! So by all means, be aware of it and honor it, as the Holy Spirit guides you. When we serve in alignment with our heart’s desire, then we serve joyfully!
The Open Doors Prayer is a favorite of mine. “Lord, open the doors you want opened to keep me (or someone I’m praying for) in the center of your perfect will and close the doors that will not lead me (or the other person) to truth.” Then watch and heed the opened and closed doors!
Quiet Time and Creativity are essential for me! That includes time with Scripture, contemplation, meditation, or centering prayer, and Spirit + Creativity—what I call “spiritivity”—activities like quilting when I can “be still and know” that God is God. During those times, it’s important to enter into them in a state of openness to receive communications from the Divine.
Soul Companions have been a vital part of my journey, and I urge those who don’t have a soul companion or spiritual director to find one. There’s more about spiritual direction here.
The Image at the top Provides Some Words to Ponder, to Ask the Holy Spirit About, or to Journal!
Please feel free to share this or to comment. It is Post #5 in a series which began with a post on Sharing the Messiness of Our Stories. If you’d like me to expand on anything I mentioned here, also please let me know. Thank you and God bless you!