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Tiffany Kellogg
Some of you may know, I have a BA in Mathematics. I never had any intentions of becoming a minister. I never even thought about it when my grandfather was a minister. Truly, the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me is when God called me to ministry. I would like to share part of my call with you.
I started working with the youth at FBC-OKC as a volunteer in 2003. The current youth minister asked me to join him as a female chaperon to a youth camp called PASSPORT. I agreed to go along and was excited about the time away from the foreclosure office at the mortgage company sometime in June.
When we arrived at the camp, I was surprised to see so many youth interacting with others outside of their own churches. The atmosphere was welcoming and warm so with every face you met you felt you had found a friend. The week was fantastic and eye opening into the lives of the youth I am around so often. It was fun and exciting with the girls that had become my sisters. Thursday of that week, the adult leaders went to a bible study and instead of a lesson we were introduced to Nick Foster the Camp Coordinator and Director of the Samuel Project. Nick described the Samuel Project as a way to reach out to those youth who may have experienced a call to ministry and need to be affirmed and embraced in their decisions. Nick asked us to watch the Samuel Project video to clearly understand what he was trying to say.
As I watched the video, something inside me began to spin. At first, it was hard to understand why my emotions were reeling on all axis. My mind was trying to watch the video as Nick had asked us to do, but my mind was trying to understand what my heart was saying. I felt like I was locked in a box and someone had thrown the key out. I wanted to run and scream, to escape, but I did not know why. I started to squirm a little; nervous for some strange reason, uncomfortable sitting in a chair; and forced to watch a video. Then my brain won and took control of the emotions. I started to listen to the video. Testimony after testimony of adults my age and older describing their call to ministry…why they did not listen to it as a child. Then, I can’t explain how, I was questioning MY call to ministry. I remember thinking I haven’t been called. Why am I questioning something that has never happened to me? I continued to listen to the testimonies. I thought, I have a BA in Mathematics…then a testimony came on of a seminary student who had already finished his degree in something else but felt called to ministry. Then I thought, I come from a divorced family, God would not want me. A testimony came on saying that God calls all people and not always the ones with the perfect family lives. A third time after the video had ended I questioned my age and being called too late in the game. A man in the group with us stood up and made some comments on the video and that he was called into the ministry at a later age in my life.
By that time, I had asked too many questions and received too many answers. I felt exhausted, confused and struck by lightening. This is just part of the story, but I wanted you to see how God spoke to me. Before this happened, I thought that God only spoke to people back in Biblical days. He never spoke to people my age or of this earth. I had never heard people talk about moments like this with God so I just didn't’ t know it could happen. I was wrong, dead wrong, and I know it now. God’s love is amazing. God’s need is amazing. God needs me and I am ready for whatever he wants. My call is the most incredible discovery I have ever experienced about myself.
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