Ministry Experience: I’ve been in full-time pastoral ministry with the Christian & Missionary Alliance since 2001.
Current Work: I divide my time between being a Spiritual Director at OpenSpaceforGod.com and serving as the Prayer Coordinator for the Central District Office of the C&MA.
Education: Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Direction (Loyola University-Chicago), Masters in Theological Studies (Trinity International University), BSBA in Accounting (Bowling Green State University).
Contact Info: OpenSpaceforGod@gmail.com
My Journey to Spiritual Direction
I went searching for God “out there” as if He were external to me and lo and behold, I found Him in genuine ways through church community and beautiful services. But then I could no longer find him there, so I went searching for God “in here” and lo and behold, as I stepped into the realm of self-understanding, I found Him there also. But then over time that wore off too and I could no longer find Him “out there” or “in here” though both were monumental parts of my journey. In many ways, I’ve stopped searching for God and simply chose to be still and know He is God (Ps 46:10). Now, I am finding the I AM right where I am in everyday life. Ironically, I find Him all the time now. There will always be other twists and turns and honestly, I’m in some right now. For my first twists and turns, I navigated those without the companionship of a spiritual director. Now that I’ve tasted what it’s like to have an extra set of eyes and ears spotting the movements of God in and through my life, I wouldn’t go without it and it makes me want to accompany others as a spiritual director.
Available Services
• Spiritual Direction (ongoing, monthly)
• Group Spiritual Direction (ongoing, monthly)
• Discernment Package (3 sessions): You’re making a key decision and you desire to discover what’s influencing your process and ultimate decision. We never steer you in a direction we think you should go, rather, rather we help you pay attention in such a way that the path ahead unfolds to you.
• Strategic Pastoral Counseling Package (3 – 5 sessions): The design of these sessions is movement. Most trouble spots in our lives are intertwined with numerous facets of our lives and personalities and don’t have quick fixes. We can get stalled out, lost, disoriented and overwhelmed. The short-term nature of these sessions allows us to zero in on a pressing area of concern and by focusing on it, creating movement again where on-going growth over time can continue.
• Spiritual Assessment Package: A one-time session for 90 minutes and a 60 minute follow-up to go over a prayerfully and personally developed written pathway you can use for the next 3 to 6 months to help you discover where God is working in your life.
• Break Free Retreat: A weekend intensive for church communities who want to offer their congregation a safe place to explore the impact their past is having on their present. This retreat isn't the kind where you're told what you should do when you get home, we do it together, as a group, and the result is freedom.
• Workshops: hands on learning environments where 50% of the time is spent in teaching sessions and 50% using various aspects of the teaching in activator exercises that brings learning to life.
• Seminars: 70% teaching with a practical bent for use on your own, 20% Q&A and 10% sample starter exercises done in large group to illustrate.
• Speaking Engagements & Retreats
Spiritual Direction & Finding our true self
Now I become myself. It's taken time, many years and places. I have been dissolved and shaken. Worn other people’s faces. What a long time it can take to become the person one has always been. How often in the process we mask ourselves in faces that are not our own. How much dissolving and shaking of ego we must endure before we discover our deep identity, the true self within every human being.." (Mary Sarton / Parker J. Palmer)