Details Take Time
In January 2022, I was in Florida at a conference. One evening, I found myself in the car with my friend's pastor when my friend asked us to go on a Chick-fil-A run. We didn't know each other well, but we chatted about my season of sabbatical and what might be next for me. I mentioned that I was considering going back to school to get a master's so I could explore teaching positions within various universities.
As we talked, she mentioned how university life is changing rapidly and asked if I'd ever considered getting training to be a spiritual director.
I was familiar with spiritual direction and had considered looking for a spiritual director, but I had never thought about being trained as one. At the time, I listened and tucked the information away in my mind, but I wasn't sure what would come of it - if anything.
A few months later, I received an email from The Sabbath Life here in Tulsa, OK, announcing that they were opening registration for their first spiritual direction cohort.
That conversation from January sprang back to my memory. At the same time, I continued to reflect on another experience from the early days of my sabbatical. I was driving home one night on a highway with no lights. While driving, I could only see as far in front of me as my headlights were shining, and I felt in that moment the Holy Spirit showed me that the season I was in would be the same - I would only be able to see one step at a time.
I could have never known in January of 2022 that being certified to be a spiritual director would be the next step on my path, but when I applied for the program that spring, it felt like an invitation into a room that had been waiting for me.
Over the past two years, I have spent hundreds of hours reading books, writing papers, attending trainings with my cohort, wrestling with ideas, praying, learning, growing, and receiving and practicing spiritual direction.
It has been one of the most beautiful doors I have walked through, and I will forever be thankful for the ways that God prepared my heart to say yes.
If you've been reading Holy Formed for a while, then you've heard a bit about this journey as it unfolded. Today, I'm excited to share that I have officially completed my training and earned my certification as a spiritual director!
Are you interested in learning more? If so, you can visit my website for details.
If you've thought about becoming a spiritual director and are looking for a place to be certified, you can learn more here.
I'm not sure what God is up to in your life in this particular season, but I am certain that you are deeply and wholly loved and that God is in the middle of the details of your life, just as God is in the details of mine.
I hope you have a great week. Melissa