Question: What for you is the most rewarding part of your ministry?

The word that comes to mind when I see this question is RESTORATION.

There are many rewarding parts of ministry, but something important to me is seeing people restored.

1. Restored to a personal relationship with God. 
I love seeing people come to know God, and I especially love seeing the process of it! For example, one lady I am currently studying with is on that journey; she is waking up to the realization that God is pursuing her and I come home excited from studying with her each week. God is speaking and she is listening. This is the thing I am most passionate about, and I have much listening to do as well!

2. Restored to wholeness.
I believe that true wholeness can only be found when you are in personal relationship with God. He created us to be this way. This does not mean that your problems will disappear, but our true worth is wrapped up in who God is, not in who we are. So often we base our worth on what other people think of us and we try so hard to meet that expectation - even if it's an expectation we only think they might have. Helping people in all senses of "wholeness" is something rewarding for me, be that Spiritual, emotional, etc.

3. Restored to relationship with other people.
I enjoy mediating, if you can use the word "enjoy".  When I used to work back at a restaurant in Canada, I actually enjoyed taking the phone calls from upset customers. I liked being able to calm them down and help them.

Two of my top strengths when doing the Strength Finder test are Strategy and Empathy, and it explains how these two go together for me. I not only empathize with others, I like to help them figure out where to go from there and how to reconcile with others if necessary. I still remember a couple of years ago when a mother and her teenage daughter came over super upset with each other. They sat with their backs to one another, angry, but by the end of the evening they were hugging. This is not because of me, but it's rewarding to see people restored to one another and forgiving.

There are so many steps along the way to seeing people restored that are also rewarding, and of course there are a lot of steps and things that happen even after people are restored to God or to other people!

Things are not magically better and you need to continue to walk with people as the process continues.

Having people allow you into the the intimate parts of their lives really is a privilege an is humbling.


*I have been bad with taking pictures these last two months it would seem! These pictures are mostly from November when we had a church event.