For much of my adult life I’ve wanted to do big things with my life–to make an impact that stood out as exceptional. My motive wasn’t for any kind of personal glorification. In fact, I really don’t like to be in the spotlight. I’m much more comfortable working on the “backstage crew”. But, I did want to make a big difference in the world. In fact, I still do.
However, my mindset has shifted regarding what this looks like. At least for my own life.
The last 9 years, I have found myself in a number of life-changing relationships. Relationships that have taught me so many things. Perhaps most importantly, that the ministry God seems to have chosen for me is a ministry of presence. It’s not a particularly spectacular or attention-catching ministry, but it’s becoming more and more evident that this ministry is my “sweet spot” in life.
I’m recognizing that showing up and inviting in are spiritual gifts.
What do I mean?
There’s nothing fancy about it. Simply put, I show up and I invite others in. Once I truly opened my eyes (and heart) to what God was up to, I began to see the many ways that showing up and inviting in are being used by God in some pretty miraculous ways. We all need people to show up for us. And we all want to be invited in. But for so many people, no one is showing up and no one is inviting in. By God’s grace, I’ve been given a supernatural compassion for people, and I want nothing more than to steward it well, and to introduce as many people as I can to the Good Shepherd.
John 10:11 ESV
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
And God has been planting seeds and providing opportunities in my life for nearly a decade to equip me for this ministry He’s called me to. It began with starting a non-profit to fill a gap in our community by providing summer meals to food-insecure families, while running a small health & wellness business here in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Through the connections made during my involvement with the summer meals program, my husband (Shea) and I felt led to become a licensed foster family. And through our experiences being involved with foster care, I was led to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster youth. These connections led to me volunteering as a Drug Court Sponsor and Celebrate Recovery Sponsor. And as I continued to learn about the stories and circumstances of the women and families I was connecting with through these experiences, my passion for whole health (mind-body-soul wellness) was reignited. Summer 2023, I applied for graduate school and began a M.S. in Counseling program at Upper Iowa University with the intent of becoming a licensed professional counselor by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, a very special friend of mine was really struggling with her mental health, and ended up in jail after a devastating relapse. In the Fall of 2023 I tried to go visit her, but our local county jail wasn’t allowing in-person visits for anyone other than clergy and attorneys. Interestingly (God is so creative), I had been meeting regularly with a mentor for about a year. This mentor, who I randomly (Again, isn’t God creative?) got connected with, happened to be the wife of Ken Quintus who had been doing jail/prison ministry in our area for years. Through this mentor relationship I was reminded that there was a jail ministry at the women’s jail. And, come to find out, it was no longer active.
I set up an appointment to meet with Sheriff Pals and the jail administrator in October, and was leading bible study at the jail by November.
After 6 months of showing up and inviting in at the jail, my passion for sharing Jesus’ love, forgiveness, and saving grace with hurting and broken women and their families has exploded. Each Monday, I get the opportunity to tell women at the jail about the Good Shepherd who wants to lead them into freedom.
Isaiah 61:1 ESV
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
I’ve been given the opportunity to share the gospel with 25+ women so far. To pray and see prayers answered with them. To minister to needs. To become a friend. To show up. To invite in.
It’s been a huge blessing in my life to stay connected with a number of the women once they were released, and God is continuing to teach me about what it looks like to keep showing up and keep inviting in. He provides endless opportunities for me to be faithful in walking out this calling. I am so blessed by these relationship opportunities. In addition to showing up at the jail, our family has continued to feel called to show up as a foster family, and for the last year we’ve been doing respite foster care. The women I sponsored at Drug Court successfully completed the program and graduated (woohoo!), so showing up for them looks like monthly lunch outings to check in and offer encouragement. Celebrate Recovery (CR) is also still something I show up for and invite others into. In fact, just last night I was able to bring a woman with me who I met at the jail back when I first started the bible study. I also show up for a weekly meet up with a dear friend who I have the privilege of sponsoring. We’ve been going through Step 4, which is all about taking an honest and spiritual inventory.
Celebrate Recovery Step 4: Moral Inventory
Step 4: We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”
(Lamentations 3:40)
Principle 4:Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.
“Blessed (favored by God) are the pure in heart.” (Matthew 5:8)
Oof. Let me tell you, Step 4 is some hard work. I’ve been working the steps myself, and can’t recommend Celebrate Recovery enough. EVERYONE has hurts, habits, or hang ups in their life, and everyone needs healing and empowerment to walk in freedom from those hurts, hang ups and habits. If you’re local to North Iowa, Celebrate Recovery meets in Mason City on Tuesday nights and Clear Lake on Thursday nights. It’s a great place to show up and invite in.
In addition to these opportunities, we’ve been blessed to share meals in our home with women I’ve met. We’ve invited in to activities our family was participating in. We’ve invited women and their families into our church family. We’ve had the opportunity to show up and help move furniture, and give rides, and provide support at court hearings. I’ve also been blessed to get to show up and meet with women 1-on-1 on Saturdays at the jail. God is so, so good.
Now, for the BIG NEWS. Assuming you’ve read this far, and are still with me.
Remember that mentor of mine? Deb Quintus. Well, one Tuesday when we met this past winter, our conversation turned to talking about the jail ministry and I learned that there was a domestic missionary support organization that she and her husband, Ken, had been connected with for their prison/jail ministry (Ken had just retired in October). That’s how I learned about InFaith.
InFaith empowers called and committed followers of Jesus Christ to share the gospel throughout the United States and to invite the least, the last, and the lost into a personal relationship with Him.
Our country is full of profound needs. People are struggling physically and spiritually. People are lonely and searching, and people need hope. The message of InFaith is that Jesus Christ meets the deepest longings of the human heart. He brings rest to the restless and hope to the hopeless. Jesus welcomes the lonely into families and strangers into communities.
Jesus changes everything!
And, InFaith has a Home Office Staff that works together to provide care and services to its Field Staff (the domestic missionaries). The Home Office Staff is called in the areas of communication, finance, and human resources and supports the Field Staff, ensuring all ministry work is governmentally and fiscally compliant.
In January 2024, I applied to join InFaith’s Domestic Missionary Field Team. I had an initial interview. Followed by an HR interview. Followed by an interview with the Executive Team. Followed by a mental health counseling interview. And I’m excited to share that I was accepted as a Candidate, with the opportunity to join the Field Staff doing the ministry work that I have already been doing. But now with the support of the InFaith Home Office Staff and the opportunity to be bi-vocational.
You can check out my Candidate Profile using this link.
I’m not sure what support and partnerships God has planned for this ministry that He has called me to, but I’m confident that I’m walking in His will for this next season of my life. And I’m excited to see what He’s going to do!
Currently I am taking two more graduate classes for summer session and doing ministry work in partnership with InFaith part-time (20 hours per week). I have one more year of coursework/internships to complete my counseling degree, and then my plan is to start my licensed counseling work in 2026, working bi-vocationally as a licensed counselor and continuing as a domestic missionary with InFaith. My hope is that support raised through InFaith will allow me to offer a significant amount of counseling services pro bono or at a highly discounted rate. I also hope to facilitate a number of free group therapy options. Support will also help provide for ministry costs (such as gas, bibles, devotional materials and journals, grocery gift cards, emergency housing hotel stays, bus and taxi tokens, etc.).
1 Peter 4:10
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Looking forward to using the gifts I’ve received to serve others as a faithful steward of the grace I’ve been given. What an honor and privilege to serve the King of Kings.
Also, I’m planning to write weekly field notes and would love to add you to my email list. There’s a section here on this page to subscribe and stay up-to-date on what’s happening with me, my family, and the ministry.
With love,
One life 
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