I Have a Dream

Grateful.. that is the word that comes to mind when I think of how blessed I am to be affirmed in my calling to ministry! Over the past 3 years, I have been wrestling with this idea of being 'called to ministry'  I didn't know what that meant (and still am not quite sure) but I do know one thing-- or atleast I think I know. I do not feel called to childrens ministry or womens ministry. To some of you, you may say Why not? or You would be great at that. But to me, it reminds me of so many women who feel as though those are her only 2 options when it comes to leadership roles in a church.

I'm called to be a pastor. I don't know exactly what that means for my life, or where that will lead me in the future. I don't know what associations I will one day be kicked out of, or the friends I may lose over the years because of my profession. I don't know how many snickers will be spoken behind my back or the sexist remarks I may receive because I am a woman who is called into ministy and who is called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ from behind a pulpit. But in all honesty-- I don't care. I will fight the hard fight and I, through the power of Christ will win not only the battle, but also the war.

My prayer is that one day when I have a daughter of my own that she will be able to grow up in a world where being a pastor and being a female do not have to be oxymorons to one another. My prayer is that my daughter will be able to follow the call of God and be hired as a pastor of a church in the same way that her male colleague will be hired.

Over the past couple of years, I have been blessed by hearing some of the most beautiful women preachers I know preach. Each of those women are huge inpirations to me and have given me more encouragement to fight the fight to be a preacher. These are the beautiful women who have inspired me on my journey of ministry thus far:

Marilee Betz is a beautiful woman of God who is currently a student at McAfee. I have heard her preach on two different occasions and both times  I was amazed at how the Lord blessed her and the gift of preaching that she has been given.

Christine Jones is another beautiful woman who I look up to as a fellow woman pastor. She has encouraged me on more occasions than I can even explain. She is not only an amazing professor, talented preacher, and an incredible academic advisor and mentor, she is also a beautiful mom. I would rank her preaching to that of Colleen Burroughs and Julie Pennington Russell. She is such an amazing person and I am so thankful that I have gotten to know her during my time at Carson-Newman.

Julie Pennington Russell. WOW! This woman has an incredible gift from The Lord. I don't understand how much beauty God has blessed her with! It's incredible to see the power of the holy spirit when this woman brings The Word. Each time I have heard her preach I have left being more blessed than I could even explain. As I develop my preaching skills, I pray that my skills will be half as great as hers. Julie is the pastor of FBC Decatur, GA.

Colleen Burroughs. This woman has an incredible spirit to serve God. It was incredible to hear Colleen preach at a chapel service this fall and to get to spend some time with her after hearing her preach. Colleen and her husband David founded Passport Camps. If you have never met this beautiful woman of God, you are truly missing out. She definitely has a gift from God.

Molly Brummett. I have only met Molly twice but as I heard her preach a couple of months ago, her style reminded me of a combination of Julie Pennington Russell and Colleen Burroughs. It is beautiful to see Molly and how The Lord has blessed her. Molly comes from an amazing family who supports her and her calling unconditionally and it is beautiful and a true blessing to hear her preach.

Another beautiful woman pastor that I have grown to love and adore is Rhonda Blevins. I have only met her once but during our time together I was incredbily intrigued by her beautiful personality. I hope that over the next several years that I will have the opportunity to get to know her better.

Lastly, a sweet sweet woman in my life who inspires me daily with her beautiful spirit is Mrs. Nenette Measells. She is such a sweet heart and constantly has a smile on her face! I have really enjoyed getting to know her and hearing her preach.

This past week, my pastor from my home church, Derik Hamby, sent me a picture that his first grade daughter had made at school. They were writing on the idea of Martin Luther King's I have a dream and this is what she said, "I have a dream that I will be a preacher and I will preach about God. and I will preach about Jesus. I will work at a church. I will preach on a stage. I hope my dream will come true." When I read this, I cried. Actually I wept. I wept because I believe this is a true calling from God. It's beautiful to see the sheer faith of a child. If only I could have that faith. If only I could make decisions on faith rather than fear. I thought this was a beautiful reminder that God calls us all to God's side with our child like faith.

I'm preaching at my home church in two weeks and I pray that Rachel is sitting in the audience and that she can see a woman preaching. My prayer is that she will always know and understand that her dreams will come true and that a calling can come at the beautiful age of 7. I'm excited to see what God is going to do in that little girls life!

Hope you all have a great week! If you read my blog, I'd love it if you would follow me! =)

Blessings,
Jaime