“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
- Romans 15:13 -
I can’t believe this year will be 10 years since I started “writing”
this annual year-in-review post. The first two I wrote on my Facebook page, and
the rest I have written here on my blog. While I don’t keep up with my blog as
much as I used to (I am more apt now to write shorter things on Facebook), I do enjoy coming here from time to time and seeing what God
has done in and through my life over the years. The retrospects I’ve written
are particularly interesting to read because I can see an over 10 year span of
my life and all the highs and lows that went with it – some I had forgotten
completely about! As with every year, I
invite you to take a moment and look back on the year that was me and see the
good, the hard, and everything in between…
WORK
2018 was the year I never expected as it relates to my job at the Executive Committee. Near the
start of the year, our organization was turned upside down and inside out by
heartbreaking information. For more on that, you can read here. We were in the
middle of prep for the Annual Meeting so it was a bit of a crazy time with work
life changing while at the same time planning for thousands of attendees to our
Annual Meeting in Dallas. On top of all that, there was even more
heart-wrenching times within our Convention throughout the year as it relates to
organizations/people outside of my workplace. Most of you know how
much I deeply love the Southern Baptist Convention and my job at the Executive Committee and so I don’t like seeing something I love go through hurt, but sometimes hurt
has to happen so healing and forgiveness can take place…and it is. I believe our best
days are ahead of us, truly I do.
This summer our Annual Meeting took place in Dallas, TX. It was our
largest attendance since 2010 with almost, but not quite, 10,000 people in
attendance. It’s always a crazy, busy time and this year wasn’t any different!
The big event was that the Vice President of the US came and spoke – and all
the security that comes with that. It was a cool experience to be on stage
where he was, and man that room was p.a.c.k.e.d.! Once again, I coordinated the
Page group which always makes my heart happy as it was where I got my “start.” I
was asked to pray at the WMU Annual Meeting which was held a couple of days before our
actual meeting and it was an honor for me to do that as a product of a missions education
family! My dad and sister came and I got to spend a little time with them. I
got to catch up with friends, make new ones, and just enjoy being with my
Southern Baptist family – which is one of my favorite places to be!
No lie, it has been a hard time this year at work, we have faced unknowns and questions and enter into a new year with the biggest unknown question of who our next leader will be. A new day is dawning for us, though, and I am excited to see where God takes us in this coming year.
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| View of the 2018 Annual Meeting from my perch |
No lie, it has been a hard time this year at work, we have faced unknowns and questions and enter into a new year with the biggest unknown question of who our next leader will be. A new day is dawning for us, though, and I am excited to see where God takes us in this coming year.
CHURCH
My involvement with the children’s ministry at Brentwood Baptist has
continued and grown this year. I started my 4th year of teaching 5th
grade. This year have a group of kids that I taught on Wednesday nights when
they were in 2nd grade, so I’ve been here long enough now to pretty much watch a
group of kids grow through the children’s ministry which is fun, but
bittersweet at the same time. In the summer, I visited my previous 5th
grade group at their mission trip in West TN and my heart exploded to watch
them be the hands and feet of Jesus while leading a VBS for children in an underprivileged
neighborhood. I smile when I think of me teaching 5th grade because
it is something I wouldn’t have expected I would love as much as I do. I can’t
really imagine teaching any other grade! Our Wednesday night program is going
great, as well. I am loving opening the kids’ eyes to missions and am beginning
to see glimmers of that coming through in the way the kids interact with the
lessons and in how they ask questions and share their hearts. While we are already doing this, my hope is to continue to have deep connections between what the kids hear
about missions as to what their parents are hearing so that families can be on
mission together. It’s something that my parents did for my family and is what
impacted me so deeply.
At the beginning of the year, I was convinced that God was calling me to one of the other campuses. As the year continued, however, I began to realize that a change of pace at the main campus of which I currently attend was where He was actually leading. With that prompting from the Lord, I began attending my church’s young adult worship service on Tuesday evenings instead of worship services on Sunday mornings. This Tuesday evening service is called Kairos and it has been a game-changer for me. It was exactly the change of pace I needed. Every week I leave feeling refreshed and worshipful. The pastor of Kairos is one who can teach to both the unbeliever and the believer at the same time and both can leave feeling fed. I desperately needed this and I’m so grateful God gave me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and into a place where this sheep is being deeply fed. (This does mean I am at the church another day out of the week (3 days), but hey, I am a minister’s kid, so it’s really no biggie J)
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| My sweet class from earlier in the year |
At the beginning of the year, I was convinced that God was calling me to one of the other campuses. As the year continued, however, I began to realize that a change of pace at the main campus of which I currently attend was where He was actually leading. With that prompting from the Lord, I began attending my church’s young adult worship service on Tuesday evenings instead of worship services on Sunday mornings. This Tuesday evening service is called Kairos and it has been a game-changer for me. It was exactly the change of pace I needed. Every week I leave feeling refreshed and worshipful. The pastor of Kairos is one who can teach to both the unbeliever and the believer at the same time and both can leave feeling fed. I desperately needed this and I’m so grateful God gave me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and into a place where this sheep is being deeply fed. (This does mean I am at the church another day out of the week (3 days), but hey, I am a minister’s kid, so it’s really no biggie J)
LONDON
This year I had the opportunity to live out a dream of mine to travel
to London, England! I traveled with members from my church as we went there to
lead a conference for our overseas workers. My church sponsors these workers
and we wanted to give them a time of needed rest and rejuvenation. I helped out
with childcare for those with kids, they had someone do photoshoots, another gave haircuts, and so on! It was truly a time of R&R that our workers needed! As
I mentioned, I had the chance to hang out with the kids – especially the older
ones (9 and up). When my parents were overseas workers, I lived a life very
similar to theirs and I can remember when people from the States would come and
hang out with me and my friends and so I wanted to be that person for these
kids! I was able to help plan games, mini lessons, and fun crafts for the kids
to do and we had a b.a.l.l.! I’m so grateful I had this opportunity to give
back the same way people gave to me years ago. I look forward to the next time
my church leads this conference! (Oh, and you may be wondering, why London? The
answer to that is that it was cheaper to fly everyone to London than to the
States…go figure!)
I can’t leave this little section, though, without talking about the few, fun things I got to do that week. While there wasn’t a ton of time to sightsee, I did have an afternoon to do so and boy, it didn’t disappoint! Because it was just an afternoon, I had the task of deciding what two or three things I absolutely wanted to do. The top thing I really wanted to do was visit Buckingham Palace! It is only open in the latter summer/early fall and after watching the Royal Wedding, the Netflix show “The Crown,” and 2018 just being so “royal,” I really wanted to see the home of the queen…and so I did! It was beyond extravagant and amazing. It is hard to put into words how beautiful it was. I got to see the royal thrones, walk down red carpeted staircases, see so many different rooms lined with gold, visit the queen’s garden, look out to the inner courtyard and so much more! Incredible. The second thing I wanted to do was visit one of the famous cathedrals. Timing afforded me the opportunity to attend an Evensong service at Westminster Abbey – the church where the queen had her coronation and where Prince William and Princess Kate were married, among other events. I got there a little past the time I wanted, so I didn’t get to set in the seats down the aisle, but there were seats in the wings and when the service was over, I got to see sights I’ve only ever seen on TV. Because it was service time, I got to hear the amazing choir sing and fill the Abbey with their songs. The intricacies of the cathedral were amazing and it was another “I can’t believe I’m here” moment. Afterwards, I went with the group I was with to the area of the London Eye and on the way saw Scotland Yard, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and so many other notable buildings. We even got our pictures at the iconic red phone booths! We wanted to go on the Eye so we could see the city from high up, but unfortunately it was closed. That was okay, though, because getting to see and walk the city was just as fun and memorable. The little town where our conference was held was so quaint and beautiful, as well. We stayed north of London in a town called Hoddesdon. I enjoyed just walking the streets and meeting the people (especially those with dogs)! I mention that because it was so amazing to me to watch the people’s guard come down when I asked about their dogs and told them about mine. They were so willing to talk and smile and laugh – it was really cool! One of the last things I did in town was stop at a local Fish & Chips place and eat the iconic British meal – along with mushy peas! It was a perfect end to a perfect trip.
MINISTRY
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| Conference Center where we served |
I can’t leave this little section, though, without talking about the few, fun things I got to do that week. While there wasn’t a ton of time to sightsee, I did have an afternoon to do so and boy, it didn’t disappoint! Because it was just an afternoon, I had the task of deciding what two or three things I absolutely wanted to do. The top thing I really wanted to do was visit Buckingham Palace! It is only open in the latter summer/early fall and after watching the Royal Wedding, the Netflix show “The Crown,” and 2018 just being so “royal,” I really wanted to see the home of the queen…and so I did! It was beyond extravagant and amazing. It is hard to put into words how beautiful it was. I got to see the royal thrones, walk down red carpeted staircases, see so many different rooms lined with gold, visit the queen’s garden, look out to the inner courtyard and so much more! Incredible. The second thing I wanted to do was visit one of the famous cathedrals. Timing afforded me the opportunity to attend an Evensong service at Westminster Abbey – the church where the queen had her coronation and where Prince William and Princess Kate were married, among other events. I got there a little past the time I wanted, so I didn’t get to set in the seats down the aisle, but there were seats in the wings and when the service was over, I got to see sights I’ve only ever seen on TV. Because it was service time, I got to hear the amazing choir sing and fill the Abbey with their songs. The intricacies of the cathedral were amazing and it was another “I can’t believe I’m here” moment. Afterwards, I went with the group I was with to the area of the London Eye and on the way saw Scotland Yard, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and so many other notable buildings. We even got our pictures at the iconic red phone booths! We wanted to go on the Eye so we could see the city from high up, but unfortunately it was closed. That was okay, though, because getting to see and walk the city was just as fun and memorable. The little town where our conference was held was so quaint and beautiful, as well. We stayed north of London in a town called Hoddesdon. I enjoyed just walking the streets and meeting the people (especially those with dogs)! I mention that because it was so amazing to me to watch the people’s guard come down when I asked about their dogs and told them about mine. They were so willing to talk and smile and laugh – it was really cool! One of the last things I did in town was stop at a local Fish & Chips place and eat the iconic British meal – along with mushy peas! It was a perfect end to a perfect trip.
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| Buckingham Palace |
MINISTRY
Outside of work and church, I have been able to be involved in other
ministries, the biggest being the TN WMU. I was asked to be on their LEAD team
this year which basically means I serve when needed, especially in the area of
children’s missions. I got to write a bunch for them this year. I wrote the
children’s lesson for the TN state missions offering, as well as some of the
fall children’s missions conference material. As far as the Begin Anew
ministry, I wasn’t as involved as I have been in the past due to other
responsibilities, but I did get to volunteer a few times, as well as attend
both graduations this year and watch ladies who I was able to get to know over
the past couple of years graduate with their high school equivalency degree – one lady taking
her last test 7 times and finally passing! Yep, I cried.
FAMILY
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| 2018 Children's Missions Conference |
FAMILY
While we don’t get to see as much of each other as we wish, my family
is doing well and we try to see one another as much as we possibly can. We took a family vacation this year to Savannah, GA and had a lovely time there. Our house in East TN finally sold in the spring, so that was an answer to prayer. This
year brought some changes, however. Currently every member of my family is
living in a different state. Looking at our family app is really strange as we
are spread out over the Southeast.
My mom has been in Kentucky a good portion of the year caring for her family. She originally came to help out with her mother (my grandmother), as she is getting older in age, but has turned into being able to help out in other ways. This year her sister (my aunt) lost her husband to cancer. My mom has been able to be there for her during this time which has been a big blessing. My dad is still working as an administrator in Alabama and Lauren is still at Liberty University working as one of their event planners (getting bigger and bigger projects as time goes on).
Another change is Meredith who got a job with Chick-fil-A Corporate!
After four or so years at a public accounting firm in Atlanta, she applied for
and got a job with the accounting department at CFA. It has been a needed and
wonderful move for her. CFA is based out of Atlanta so there was no need to
move from her home. There’s so much I could write about how the work environment
is for her at CFA, but I can sum it up by saying, Chick-fil-A truly cares about
their employees. We all know they care about their customers, but it 100% bleeds
over to their employees as well. We are all so happy for her and God is
blessing her there already!
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| In the Chick-fil-A founder's office |
And of course, sweet Ollie is our constant source of smiles, snuggles, and laughs. We love him so!
TO WRAP IT UP
For a while now, I have wrapped up the year with a word. Truth be told,
I’ve struggled with a word for this year – there have been highs and there have
been lows; how do you sum up all of that with a word? But as I read back over my year as it is written here, the word that
comes to mind is “FILLED.” I have been filled this year with love from family, friends,
and of course, kiddos. My family is always a Facetime or text away when I am
feeling down or full of anxiety. When all the hard stuff was going on at work,
so many friends reached out with their prayers and thoughts. There are so many
times when kids run up to me outside of class and wrap me in a huge hug or tell
me that they want me to come see them baptized or that they put into practice
something we learned on a missions night. I have been filled this year with the
presence of the Lord through seeing Him in a different way than I have before by
attending the Tuesday night Kairos service. I have been filled with deepening friendships and new ones, as well! I have been filled with so many amazing
opportunities to serve Him this year through missions and ministry opportunities
where I have been able to use the gifts and talents He has given me. My dream
to visit London was filled this year AND I got to serve Him there – a two-for-one
special!
What I want to do with this word, however, is to carry it with me into
this new year. I know that God will continue to fill me with much more than I
could even imagine and am excited for a new year of being filled in, of, and
through Him! The verse I began the blog with is Romans 15:13 and it says, “May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that
you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Oh, how I pray you
will pray this verse over me this coming year. There are days and times where I
can be pulled down by hardships or anxiety or sadness and having joy, peace,
and trust just doesn’t seem possible. I think it’s like that for all of us,
especially as we grow and begin to see what the world and everything in it
looks like and how it behaves. My favorite verse is Philippians 4:8 and I have it literally
everywhere I could get overwhelmed (except maybe my car…with Nashville traffic, I should probably
change that) … anyways, this verse says to think of the things that are lovely,
true, noble, excellent, admirable, and so on. With Philippians 4:8,
Romans 15:13 becomes possible. I love it when Scripture intertwines itself together! Thank you in advance for praying this verse over
me.
I don't know what 2019 is going to look like, but as this new year dawns, I pray I will continue to fill and be filled. So, here’s to a new year of being filled … filled in Him!
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