2018 in Retrospect

“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!

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 4^th year of teaching 5^th grade. This year have a group of kids that I taught on Wednesday nights when they were in 2^nd 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 5^th 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 5^th 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.

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!)

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.

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.

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!

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!

2017 in Retrospect

“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

- Philippians 1:6

It’s hard to fathom that a new year is upon us. It seems like I just wrote my annual retrospect for the previous year and now it’s time for this year’s! In all honesty, the retrospects are more for me than anyone else. They help me reflect on the blessings of the Lord and what He has done in my life. Many times reflecting on these memories make me smile or remember special moments from what I share. It is always a good reminder to me of Philippians 1:6 that “…He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it...” There’s definitely some more completing going on, but day by day His blessings are evident. So…you ready for a look back at 2017? I know I am!

Work

Per the SBC Chief Parliamentarian’s nomination, I was awarded the (unofficial, but official-to-me-and-that’s-all-that-matters) SBC Nerd of the Year! That shoe sure fits me! In all seriousness, though (and forgive me for saying the same thing every year), I love my job and where I work. I love the Southern Baptist Convention. I love working with our SBC entities. I love meeting new people who are a part of our denomination. I love helping to preserve history (which is the main part of my job). And I love seeing, hearing, and experiencing all that we are doing to advance the Kingdom. If that makes me a nerd, then so-be-it. I gladly accept it and you can make me a t-shirt and give me some nerdy glasses!

As with every year, the major event for work was the SBC Annual Meeting. This year we held our meeting in Phoenix, Arizona! Yes, it was hot…but not as hot as the week after we left when it got into the hundred-degree weather. The annual meeting was pretty eventful news-wise. If you’re interested, you can check out more information about that on our Baptist Press website. The reasoning behind our making news, however, caused some strong emotion within the arena. One of my jobs at our annual meeting is to coordinate the microphone monitors and pages. If they have any issues with people who come to the microphone to speak, they come consult with me. Due to the emotion in the room, let’s just say I was consulted quite a number of times this year. It’s not my first rodeo dealing with passionate people, but it is always a little out of my comfort zone. Everything worked out, though, and I think next time I will bring the essential oil “Stress Away” with me and have it on an ongoing spray cycle so that it can calm people down…ha ha!

The annual meeting also brought me my first midnight print-run. I’d hear stories from back in the day about our daily publication being sent off at midnight, but I’ve been blessed over the past two years to not have to experience that tiredness. Not this year! While waiting for some content that was being discussed in a late meeting, I had to hold the printing until midnight. It worked out, but let’s just say the next morning I was Tired (with emphasis on that capital “T”). It’s part of the experience, though, and my philosophy is “take-it-as-it-comes and enjoy every minute” and of course I did!

Throughout this year there were also some other projects and special events that I got to be a part of at work. We celebrated our 100^th Anniversary as an Executive Committee and somehow, my photo made the Baptist Press news release about our anniversary party…but I didn’t know until I read the article. It’s just all around a wonderful place and family to work in and with and I cherish every moment!

Our Executive Committee, and my job, wouldn’t exist without your giving to the Cooperative Program! Thank you to all those who support SBC causes, including ours! We strive to do our best for you as we all cooperate together to spread the good news of Christ through all we do.

Church

Brentwood Baptist may be a big church, but when you find your niche, you really have a good community of people that surrounds and supports you. For me, that community is the children’s ministry (and no, not just the kids). I love the people I work with at the church and enjoy serving with them throughout the week. I am still the 5^th grade Sunday School director/teacher and love being a part of these kids’ lives at such a pivotal age. It is so neat to watch the transformation that happens in their lives from the start of our class to the end of our class. Although rather large, our class affords these kids the opportunity to get to know one another (they’ve all never been in the same class before) before they begin the student ministry where everything else will be new and unknown.

Our children’s ministry revamped our Wednesday night program this year and it has turned out to be a very popular and intriguing program in which we’ve had many kids come to be a part. Named “Impact,” this program appeals to kids’ gifts and talents and offers 8-10 varying classes (art, sign language, construction, sports/games, cooking, etc.) for children to choose and learn how they can serve God and make an impact for Him through that task. My role in this new program is as the missions class leader (does that really surprise you?). It has been THE BEST to get back into that role of teaching kids missions and I have loved opening the world to my group of kids. I have also gotten to coordinate missions nights for the whole Impact group once a month and that has been really great as well. The classes are semester-long, so beginning in January, I will have a new group of kids to teach and I can’t wait!

Taught kids about how missionaries use henna hand art to tell Bible stories

Ministry

This fall I worked with the TN WMU and their annual children’s missions conferences. We went to three locations across the state and I got to watch children learn and grow in their missions knowledge. I had the opportunity to write the mission fair activities which was fun for me, especially when I saw my ideas become reality at the mission fair! I also had the chance to be the host in the opening/closing session a couple of times which, although out of my comfort zone, was fun and different.

I discussed last year that I had started working with Begin Anew of Middle Tennessee (formerly Christian Women’s Job Corp) and this job continued in full force. As the childcare coordinator for the downtown Nashville site, I led the childcare workers in caring for children whose mothers were being tutored in order to pass tests to obtain their high school equivalency degree. I really am inspired by these women who seek better lives for their children by working so hard to pass these tests. This year I was able to witness two moms who I have watched walk this journey graduate and the smiles on their faces were nothing short of huge! We recently found out that one lady who has been with the program for ten years passed her last test after taking it 16 times and will get her high school equivalency degree! I screamed when I heard the news! Glory to God!

With all that said, it hasn’t always been easy. Spiritual warfare and outside influences have ravaged these ladies, as well as their children. My heart broke quite a number of times to hear of deaths of loved ones, hospital stays, as well as just day-to-day stories. It has been a blessing for me to be light in these dark times for, especially the kids. I pray that the things I taught and the attitudes I held were ones that brought light and planted seeds in their hearts.

I decided later in the year that, with my full-time job increasing in demand, all I am involved in outside of this ministry, as well as other factors, that it was better for me to take a step back from this ministry for the time being. I will go back in a few months as a volunteer, but my time as the childcare coordinator has come to an end. It will be strange not being there weekly, however, I know that for me, this is the right decision at this point and that God will provide a new way for me to use my gifts outside of work and church. I can’t wait to see what that might be!

Family

A lot happened with my family this year. As far as my parents, my dad worked his first full year at FBC in Enterprise, AL. In June, my mom finally joined him, quitting her job at the adult daycare in East TN, of which she loved so much. It was the right thing, though, because they needed to be together! Our family home in East TN is still on the market and we hope it will sell soon, if you don’t mind we’d appreciate a prayer or two about it.

Meredith continues to live in Atlanta as an auditor. She has gotten really involved in a Johnson Ferry church plant called Christ Covenant and absolutely loves it. She’s on the nominations team as well as the greeter team! This summer, she took about a month long trip to Asia to visit some friends. She also visited her Compassion International sponsor child in the Philippines. The pictures from that trip would just melt your heart!

Lauren had a very eventful year. At the beginning of the year, she was a part of a college fashion show where she designed clothes for children with special needs. She won the “Best Children’s Wear” award for her designs. I have to tell you; I was nothing short of beaming with pride watching her dream become reality at this fashion show. The models of her designs were awesome too, it was so so amazing! In May, Lauren graduated from college! We all traveled to Liberty University to watch her graduate and who should show up to her graduation, but the President of the United States! Ok, President Trump wasn’t just there for Lauren…but still, hearing and being in the same vicinity as a sitting president was pretty cool.

Following graduation, Lauren moved in with me for the summer in Nashville. She served as the intern of my church’s special needs ministry. She got to plan a couple of events, as well as work with special needs children, which of course you know she loved! It was such a blessing to have a family member close by this summer and I am so grateful that we were able to share the summer together (when we were both in town, of course)! Following the summer, Lauren got a job as an event coordinator for Liberty University and moved back to Lynchburg to begin her new job there. She hit the ground running and has been super busy planning and organizing various events for the school (especially weddings).

The biggest family change this year was that we got a dog! Ollie (Oliver) has been such a blessed addition to our lives and we all love him so so much! We got him in May and Lauren and I raised him over the summer. Puppy raising is H.A.R.D., but the kisses and snuggles make up for it!  Ollie loves to be around people (not so much dogs) and so Lauren and I found that it would be better off for him to live in a place where he could get a lot of attention. Since I live alone, and Lauren has roommates, it was decided Ollie would live with Lauren in Virginia and I would have visiting privileges J We own him equally, but this is honestly, the best arrangement for him right now because he would be so lonely in Nashville with me gone all day until late afternoon. As I write this, however, I am spending some quality time with this sweet one and he is snuggled against my leg taking a nap with his little tongue sticking out – it’s soooooooo cute!

I wish my whole entire family could be together more often, but we make sure to make the most of each moment that we are together – most recently at Christmas (which I hosted at my place). It was such a special time of being together, remembering old memories, making plans for the future, and of course, loving on sweet Ollie! I look forward to the next time we are all together and hope that it will be very, very soon!

Thirty

This year I turned the big 3-0! Gosh, that doesn't even seem real, but it is. I had a wonderful birthday and my sweet friends took me out to get a makeover. Ollie was also a sweet part of my birthday gift, and later in the year, I traded in my car for a really cute, used, blue Honda HRV (since my old car had been around in my life for 10 or so years). I'm so grateful for all God has done for and in me these past thirty years and look forward to what He provides for me, especially in this new decade!

Prayers

As always, I greatly appreciate your prayers as I continue to serve the Lord in all I do. Pray for inspiration and determination in my work at the SBC, as well as for our 2018 summer annual meeting that the Lord will give us all strength during those long days, but that He will ultimately be glorified and exalted in all that happens. Pray for me as I continue to teach kids at church and that they will have mission-minded hearts and minds to reach their friends and neighbors for Jesus. Pray for me as I take a step back from the ministry I have been a part of for a couple of years; please pray for a renewed spirit and that God will show me the next path he has for me in serving Him outside of work and church. He is such a good God and I cannot wait to see the doors He opens for me in the coming year; pray those doors will be evident to me.

Thank you for your prayers for my family; they mean so much and I hope that you will pray with me that our East TN house will sell soon so that we can close that chapter of our lives.

Word of the Year

I attempt to choose a word each year that sums up the ending year; it’s always interesting to look back at the words I’ve chosen and see how beautifully they summed up that year’s events. I’ve thought a lot about this year’s word and what I have chosen is the word “FOCUS.” This year I placed a lot of focus on my job, on the various classes I have taught at church, on the Begin Anew ministry I worked at, on raising and watching a puppy, on living life on my own in a big city, and much more. I have also focused a lot on my relationship with Jesus. I have more to focus on in my journey with Christ and I plan to carry this focus with me into the new year.

I will say this about focus. It’s important to be focused on what you do because it helps you to constantly examine what is going on around you. When you focus, you evaluate things and strive to make them better. I have to have focus quite a bit in my job at the SBC because I am responsible for publications in which things need to be accurate and complete. There are times that my focus falters and mistakes happen, but it’s through those mistakes I learn. In life, it’s the same way. Being focused in life means that you pay attention to the things going on so that your life (especially in Christ) is of one accord and complete in Him. There are times that your focus may falter, but it will be through those seemingly tumultuous times that you learn and grow in your knowledge and your faith in Christ.

Remember the verse at the beginning of this blog? “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it!” He’s going to complete the good work in our lives…we just have to stay focused on Him and keep on keeping on! 

In 2018, I plan to keep on keeping on in the Lord and I know that the desires and dreams that I have, He will be faithful to complete; I just have to wait upon Him and stay focused!

Here’s to you 2017…2018, I’m focusing in on you!