So many churches in America...I mean so many. I can't imagine how hard it is to decide on which church to attend and plug into when you move into a new area. As of this week I can say that God's given me the opportunity to minister in 100 churches while I've been serving with Life Action Ministries for the last 4 and a half years. I see that as a huge milestone in my ministry and God's faithfulness to me :) . Of course my ministry is shared with my whole team. On my way to First Baptist Church in Brandon, Mississippi I counted up all my teammates in the 5 travel seasons....50....I can hardly believe that. 50! Ahhhh. Praise God for the people He has brought into my life. oh....that 50 only include the single team members. I've also traveled with the Finch family, Slenk Family, and Loveing Family so....another 14.
Anyways as I think through the last 10+ years it's amazing what God's allowed me to do. Four years of college, 2 years teaching my precious fourth graders, a year in a bunch of part time jobs and just trying to figure things out, and than the past 4 and a half years on the road. I can still remember my high school graduation in 2001. Larry, Nathan, Jameson and I all had to give a graduation speech. I remember mentioning that I would be starting a new chapter in my life. Looking back there's been a lot of chapters since then. Many of them involve kids and just the other day one of my leaders shared with me that I had a unique gifting from God in my love for kids.
Using your gift from God and not wasting it....that's a concept I've heard for years and I've wondered so many times what mine was. But after she said my love for kids it made sense. For once it really made sense. I've always seen my love for kids just a part of who I am. I never equated it with my gift from God. I know I'm not perfect in my love for kids but I love when you get to teach kids and they "get it". That's always been my favorite thing to see. And I just long for these kids to love Jesus and trust God now and be able to live a life that's upright and for the glory of God.
Pray for me as God allows me to use my love for kids while on the road. Pray He would help me to communicate the truth of God's Word. So many times I just think "do these kids really understand what I'm saying?" I love teaching kids because of those who were there for me when I was a kid and teen. I tell you the things I learned when I was little really did stick with me. Thank you to whoever first taught me Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Yes I learned it in the good ole' King James Verison. My heart just resonates with that verse and I think on it all the time.
Hm...imitate me as I imitate Christ....I tell ya....I must me imitating the lives of those that were living examples to me. And that's kind of cool to think of. You never know what kind of impact you have on people.
Well...I got to go now.
God Bless you all and thanks for reading!
Serving Him,
Shawntay
And these two pics are robbie and i on crazy sock night!
