I grew up in a loving, but basically non-Christian home. During third grade I made a profession of faith and was baptized. My parents, though not opposed to my going to church, were busy with other things in their life and usually did not attend with me. As I grew up in church God brought into my life church teachers and leaders who gave their time and energy to teach me during the angst of my tween and teen years.
The pattern of God bringing faithful people into my life to help me grow closer to him continued through college and graduate school and, especially, here at Church on Mill. Growing up has meant understanding more about the gospel. It was not a hefty amount of head knowledge and self-discipline that would help me to grow closer to Christ. Rather, God has used people in his church to show me that what I need is to understand more fully who he is, who I am, and the work that was done by him to make me his child. This has been both joyful and agonizing. It is agonizing because I am often faced with the ugliness of my sin, but joyful because he knew what was required to fix that ugliness and did it himself. As one of my favorite authors summarizes: I am more sinful than I ever imagined, but more loved than I ever could have hoped.
My deacon role seems to be simply living this life of discipleship with other women. Sometimes they correct and teach me and sometimes it works the other way around, but always we strive to grow closer to and more like Christ. I have a passion for Scripture and helping people to grow in their faith as they learn more about who God is and how much he loves them. Occasionally, I get to teach in formal settings, but my deacon role is mostly encouraging and facilitating informal discipling relationships with the women at our church. It has been a blessing, and I look forward to growing up more with the women at Church on Mill.
