As I sit here to reflect on my past four years here at Singing Oaks, I found myself drawn to a particular verse—
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.” 1 Peter 4: 10-11
Singing Oaks, you have been my constant and steady home for four years. Through my uncertainties and fumblings that come along with college life, this church has remained constant. I started here as a confused freshman just trying to make some friends. I never knew that when I decided I wanted to volunteer with the children’s ministry that my life would take such a drastic turn.
A lot of you who know me, know that I love to plan and be in charge. I was not this way before college. I grew into this part of me when I discovered my spiritual gift; Children’s ministry. For a while I ignored the fact that despite being unhappy in school, I was filled with joy when working as Laurie Templeton’s intern. I kept stumbling through college, and found even more joy when I worked as Beau Davis’ intern during the summer of 2014. This internship introduced me to the side of me that loved planning activities and events. I began putting this newfound love into practice with the college ministry. This new side of me blossomed and I realized I was happiest when I was serving the church.
Through all of this, I finally realized that I wanted to pursue a life of ministry and have been working towards that goal for the past year now. God is taking me places I never dreamed of four years ago, and allowing me to see and feel things I never have before. Thank you, Singing Oaks for sharing your love, your children, your smiles, and your steadiness with me. Thank you for allowing me to come in and find my Spiritual Gift.
