Compassion's CEO, Wess Stafford, is asking people to share a story of people who have encouraged or influenced them in some way. The following is my response and I decided to share it with you!
If you would like more information about sharing your story, visit http://blog.compassion.com/share-your-story/
It is almost impossible to narrow the number of people who have helped throughout my life. When I think of the people who spoke into my life, I seem to remember one line they spoke that seemed to change the entire direction of my life or some event that solidified the cement of who I would become. These people generally gave into my life in multiple ways over months or even years, but one thing they said or did seems to be where I place a peg on the timeline of who I am.
When I was in 8th grade, I went through a time when I felt very depressed. I hated going to school and just didn't see how things in my life were ever going to ever improve. I saw a couple counselors at my school, but nothing seemed to work. Then one morning, I was teary-eyed and talking to one of my friends and my teacher overheard me, probably not for the first time. He looked straight at me and said, "Young lady, you need to get yourself to church!". He then told me that I didn't need to let people effect me and that I needed to find God and what he wanted for me. He could have gotten into trouble for talking to me about Christianity as my teacher, so he really went out on a limb. For some reason, I listened and began going to church with my sister. The depression left and that was really the start of a whole new life for me.
I became a Christian as a freshman in high school, but the following summer I started hanging around some of the wrong people and skipping church. I felt I could justify it, though, because I was babysitting late on Saturday nights and I needed the money! My youth leader told me she needed to speak to me after service one Sunday. She said she was concerned with my actions and felt that I needed to consider my choices more closely. I was indignant. I told her there was nothing wrong and I was upset that she was insinuating that I was acting inappropriately. Then my sister stepped around the corner in tears. She said, "I asked her to talk to you. I am worried about you." And at that moment, all of the fight left me, because my sister really cared about me. The older sister that usually thought I was a pest and had her own cool life.
Then I met the man who would become my husband in my sophomore year. I could write a book about all of the ways he has bolstered my faith in God and myself. He went to a Pastor's conference with our pastor who was mentoring him about a year later. When he returned home, he said something like, "God has told me that I should go to Asbury College and since you're engaged to me, you'll have to go with me. But I think this would be really good for you. You are really smart and talented and I think you and I will really grow and love it there." Now, this wasn't the smoothest introduction to the conversation and it was not what I had planned, but he knew me and he wanted to encourage me to do what was best for me, not just for him. It was one of the most monumental decisions of our lives. It stretched me, taught me, and blessed me so much, that I now know for certain that it was God's will.
But during that same time, I thought that I could possibly change Josh's mind about this "moving 400 miles away" idea. So we started visiting other Christian colleges that were closer. When I was talking to our pastor about none of the colleges fitting us, except that they were closer, he said, "It doesn't matter if you are 400 or 40 miles away, none of them will be like home. You'll have to make any place you go home. Your home is with your husband." That was the day that I decided to give in and move. He was absolutely right, of course, and I have used that bit of information so many times since!
When I was in college, I had a public relations teacher who drove me insane with her red pen. Every paper I submitted would be returned to me with red ink on virtually every line and it had to be corrected and resubmitted. When she handed it back to me - with a lovely smile on her face - it would again be covered in red ink! I would have to correct it and resubmit it. And again. And again. But through her red pen and her confident diligence, she taught me how to write well. She showed me that the secret to a great piece of writing isn't in the rough draft, but in the editing. I think that is a lesson I that goes beyond just the written word! (Dr. Hurlow, if you are reading this, forgive me for any edit-worthy material!)
After I graduated from college, I landed what felt like a dream job. It was in my field of study and it was a fairly advanced position for someone fresh out of college. I quickly became a workaholic and I was miserable, but didn't want to admit it. I had set the bar so high for myself that I didn't have any room for failure or even for anyone else in my life. I didn't notice it as acutely as when I visited with my dear friend from college, Elizabeth. She always has had a way of seeing through my absurdity and hitting me with the truth. One visit, I was telling her about why I couldn't do this or I had to do that because my job position. She basically told me flat out that I wasn't my job title and asked me who all of these people were who I felt expected so much. I realized then that I had become a person even I didn't like and shortly after I quit that job. I realized that I had made it an idol in my life and was using it as my gauge for success.
And the list could go on and on...When I look back at the people who have really influenced me the most, it definitely wasn't just the ones who told me what I wanted to hear, but it was what I needed. Some of the most powerful words in my life have been a loving rebuke!
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