031014_Beverly

What does it mean to you to be a Christ Follower?

To be a Christ Follower means that we learn to do life from the perspective of living out our passions through our unique personalities with Jesus as our guide and role model. We learn from Him and we live our lives out as unique children of God.

What is one decision that you know God influenced?

One decision I made that God influenced was the decision to write Heart of the Journey. I had sensed in prayer that God was asking me to write a spiritual formation class. I sensed it so strongly that I left for church that very morning intending to speak to the head of our ministry and let them know what I was hearing. Well, before I even had a chance to mention it, the leader told me that she was sensing that I needed to write a class on spiritual formation and that she already had approval for it from the pastor in charge. I was amazed at how God had spoken to us both at the very same time about the same exact thing. Heart of the Journey was born out of this promoting. To be honest, I have not always felt understood or completely supported, but I’ve never doubted that God birthed this passion inside of me, which is what has given me the courage and the faith to go on.

Have you ever taken a leap of faith?

This may sound dramatic but every time I get up in front of a group to teach, lead a practice or a retreat – I’m taking a leap of faith.  I can do nothing to change people’s lives or convince them of anything. I’m not naturally a person who likes being ‘up in front’. But, I have seen, over and over again, is that when I do the thing I feel God has called me to do, which is to provide opportunities for people to connect with God in a very personal way, hear Jesus say they are loved and forgiven. That has been life-changing for them. I’ve seen many people have a face to face encounter with God through an imaginative prayer practice, and as a result they are affirmed in who they are in who they are in Christ. I’ve witnessed people hearing from God through times of reflecting on scripture through a practice called Lactio Divina. I’ve seen people leave our class being more confident in their areas of gifting and calling. Some have even gone on to lead a ministry. One man shared that he was on the verge of suicide; his life was so out of control. Our class was going to be his last stop before taking some kind of action for the worst. He left a changed person, and today he is happily married. I’ve seen people break through barriers and bondage into more freedom in Christ. I could go on and on. Many times a person will take the Heart of the Journey class two or three times, which may seem a little crazy, but it is because they want the concepts and the practices to become a part of the fabric of their lives and lead to real change – guess what? It does! So that is why I do it.