Sunday, December 10, 2017

How it all began...


How it all began..
I always wanted to be a counselor.  Not sure how I knew, but when it came time to talk about what I wanted to do in high school, I knew that was it.  Went to college for Psychology, not too worried about the PhD issue, but as I was finishing I was frozen because I did not know what I wanted to do.  I'll be honest, early on, severe mental illness scared me, so working at an inpatient hospital was not an area of interest.  My practicum professor steered me towards the Domestic Violence Services in Lancaster, PA.  I went through the volunteer training, learned how to facilitate groups and answer hotlines and I was hooked!!!

I worked there for the summer and then went to the Domestic Violence Shelter in Hershey PA after graduating and stayed in that line of work until I felt the pull of graduate school.  When someone was struggling with a severe depression, PTSD or addiction, we sent them to clinicians who did not always fully appreciate or understand the web that is domestic violence.  Towards the end of graduate school, I met Jesus.  Wow, that was a game changer!  I was put in connection with a Psychological Service owned and staffed by Christian clinicians who helped me merge my faith with my training.  I also met my future sister in law, my clinical director and match maker, Denise Anderson. 

That match is what brought me to Kansas, but that passion for helping the oppressed has never faded.  I have worked in many types of places with many types of people and it is a thing that stirs the very heart of me. Along with a general concern for anything weighing down the human heart I have 2 main themes: helping the grieving and advocating for the oppressed/ traumatized.  It is my calling. I have had to step away throughout my life; to have babies, to help on the farm, to provide for the family. Yet, even on the side lines,  God brought me the hurting.  I even had a scrapbook service and ended up making scrapbooks for people who had lost children, what an honor.   In late September, this year, I was on the plane coming back from a trip back east, when the women next to me just randomly shared that her daughter had died 3 months prior, suddenly and without known cause. We talked, we cried, we prayed. I have been out of counseling for 3 years now and it is time to get back in.

Which brings me to here.  The state of Kansas says I cannot have an independent mental health counseling service because I have not taken their licensing exam.  In the meanwhile, I have become more certain that Psychology does not have the answers the hurting need.  In light of that, I am going into ministry instead!! I will be providing Christian counseling services, after the beginning of the year 2018.  I will be doing this in association with Light Up The Dark and  I could not be more excited!!

Luke 4:
18"The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.

Before you protest, let me clarify. It is not I who sets the captives free, but what a privilege to point those who are hurting toward the one who can. Jesus is the only one able to set us free.


Please pray for Heather and I as we put the finishing touches together on this.  We have office space in the Mishler Building after the first of the year. I will outline what services I will be providing here shortly.



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