Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!”
1 Samuel 3:4
Today, I'm grateful for God's call upon my life through The United Methodist Church!
It didn't come all at once for me like it did for Samuel although I did have a children's book on this from a very young age.
My call came through various adults seeing something in me that I didn't necessarily see in myself.
I was tagged by Virginia Gray and Lucinda Scheldorf as a youth leader in training in junior high at Boston Avenue. This allowed me to help at Nite Owl Camp and Day Camp during the summer months (which were day camps for our elementary students). This led to me helping as a small group and cabin leader at 6th grade camp in high school and college.
I began to be active at the Wesley Foundation at OSU and John Rusco always made sure I visited with seminary representatives even though I had made no indication of going on for any kind of graduate studies for ministry.
As I neared graduation and was trying to determine what kind of job I would pursue, I started thinking more and more about ministry as a career. Was God calling me to do this? I certainly enjoyed my summer jobs working with youth at Boston Avenue and Stillwater First.
I remember thinking to myself, "Maybe I should try out ministry by working in a church as a youth minister." I prayed about it and kind of made a bargain with God. If I could find a job as a youth minister, it would let me see if I was being further called to be an ordained pastor.
No sooner had I finished praying than the phone rang. It was my friend Lynn Tegeler who I probably hadn't spoken with for over a year. We had worked together as college interns at Boston Avenue several years prior. She indicated that New Haven United Methodist Church in Tulsa had asked her to apply for their youth minister position. Lynn told them that she didn't feel called to be a youth minister but she had given them my name.
I about fell over.
It seemed to me that God was giving me a definite sign! Of all the interviews I had ever had, this one worried me the least. I did get the job and began to understand an internal call that went along with the external one I was receiving from others.
As a part of our denomination, one's call to ministry must be verified by the community. This is a helpful part of the discernment process.
Of course, people are called by God all the time and not necessarily to ordained work. Some people feel that their vocation is a call. Others feel called to more short-term tasks or work. We like to say that our baptism calls all Christians into ministry. Some of these feel that God is setting them apart for ordained work. The majority are called to others things through the church and beyond. Whether lay or clergy, the community helps confirm one's calling.
As we continue to move through Lent, whether you are a lay person or a pastor of some sort, what is a short-term task for which you may feel God calling you to do? It may be helpful to talk to someone else about it - get some outward confirmation for that inward call. The advantage of telling someone about it is that this makes it more likely we will follow through! This may be why when God called Samuel, his mentor Eli checked up on him.
So maybe the short-term task you are being called to do is to help someone else with theirs!
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| Sometimes my calling has led to some strange situations! |
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