07/08/2026
I spent many years in ministry as a pastor, teacher, chaplain, and intercessor. I was always in the church—working, teaching, praying, interceding, helping, and pouring into the lives of others.
For a long time, whenever I spoke about that part of my life or mentioned a former title, I immediately followed it with, “I’m backslidden.”
I think I’m going to stop doing that.
My life took me through seasons I never anticipated, and those experiences profoundly changed the way I understand people. I believe that years ago, I had knowledge, faith, and a sincere desire to help, but if I am truthful, I lacked a level of compassion and empathy that I thought I possessed.
Then life happened.
I experienced things I never thought I would experience. I made choices I never thought I would make. I grieved. I struggled. I questioned. I needed grace instead of simply preaching about it.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I became a woman who understands people differently.
Today, my love, passion, and desire to help others is deeper than it has ever been. I no longer understand struggle only academically or spiritually. I understand what it means to live through difficult seasons, to wrestle with yourself, to lose pieces of who you thought you were, and to still discover that there is purpose on the other side.
I thank God for everything I have gone through.
The woman I was in ministry touched lives, helped people, prayed for people, and stood in the gap for many. I will no longer disqualify her or erase that season of my life because my journey became complicated.
Everything I have lived through has shaped the woman I am today.
And perhaps I am not returning as the woman I was.
Perhaps I am moving forward as the whole woman I have become.