Calling

God works in mysterious ways, but often they are also amusing. Six years ago, I would have never thought I would be sitting in this desk chair, in my office, in Salem United Methodist Church, in Eastover, in Cumberland County. It took the 2x4 of Jesus to whack me in the head and change the path I was on. Had I pulled out my crystal ball in June of 2002, I would have predicted that I would be a first or second year assistant principal somewhere in the Triangle and living in my house in Raleigh with my husband and 2.5 children in the summer of 2008. That was a good dream or even a good plan. However, our plans are not always God’s plans.

On a blistering hot evening in July of 2002…just down the road at Methodist University…I was sitting in a worship service when something miraculous happened. I was listening to Rev. Bill Gattis preach the sermon at the celebration of 50 years of youth ministry in the North Carolina Conference. I had had a lovely boxed dinner with my youth ministry friends that night in the cafeteria. I was sitting on that hard wooden chair, minding my own business, paying attention to the sermon, and then it happened. As Bill began to preach about calling, he asked the youth, “What is God calling you to do?” He named off probably twenty people who had come through youth programming in the conference and had been called to the ministry and had served the church. By the time he finished preaching, I was shaking and crying and KNEW that God was calling me to the ministry. I thought God had lost his mind, but I knew that I was called. And so the journey began.

I had no plans to be a pastor. I liked church and enjoyed serving the church, but I had never considered service as clergy. Yet, here I am! I am a broken sinner/third grade teacher/single mom called, molded, and educated to serve the church as a pastor. When God calls you to whatever your area of service is, God empowers you with the gifts you need. God molds and strengthens you in the ways you need. God walks with you every step of the way. And that is the only way that I could have gotten to this chair in this church in this community. God is amazing!

I invite you to think and pray about what God is calling you to do. Are you being called to teach Sunday School? Is God working on you to step up and be a leader in this church? Are you being called to be an usher? Or an acolyte? Or a scripture reader? Has God been working on you to move to a full tithe? Is God insisting in your heart that you need to be reading your Bible every day? Is God breaking your heart about AIDS orphans in Africa or perhaps foster children in Cumberland County? I invite you to pray about what God is calling you to do for the Kingdom. It doesn’t have to be flashy. It doesn’t have to require seminary. It doesn’t require perfection. It requires obedience and perseverance and stepping out in faith.

Peace and blessings as you listen,
Mary Frances