Ever since I was young - maybe 7 or 8 years old, I remember getting a kick out of church!  We used to attend with our Grandma and aunts and uncles in small town Saskatchewan.  I remember my sister, Paula, being given a coin for the offering and inevitably she would drop it and it would roll loudly on the hardwood floor.  Once I was old enough to read and know the Lord's Prayer, I would participate in the hymns and prayer.  Loudly!  My aunts and older cousins would snicker as they usually were more moderate in their singing and praying.
After church, we might go to Grandma's house and being Sunday afternoon, there wasn't much on television back then before satellite and cable options.  So Paula and I would set up a T.V. tray and Grandma's hymnal and "play church".  Must have been entertaining for the adults, our renditions of the songs and of the sermon!  Something about worship services resonated with me.
Fifteen or so years later, I would be participating in worship services myself, married to a pastor and learning to lead the singing.  I especially enjoyed planning theme or holiday services, which aren't all that often in any given calendar year.  But somehow, I got ideas and inspiration and loved to put together special events.
Then, in September, 1994, Walter and I, along with a few other couples and families, began a ministry in an inner city community centre.  This was more than "playing church".  It required commitment, effort, and spiritual fortitude to keep going when numbers were low or responses were slow.  As much fun as it was to plan the services at times, often I felt discouraged and overwhelmed.
As the ministry grew, I learned it required more than Sunday services to grow a church body.  There was visiting, late night phone counseling, picking people up for the services and hospital runs!  Then there were mid-week Bible studies, baptisms and baby dedications not to mention planning special events like Christmas programs and Thanksgiving dinners.
My Bible education and vocational training was put to good use in the first year of our church-planting endeavour; but God began to challenge me personally.  I  needed healing in my own heart.  I needed to engage in the healing journey before I could lead others.  So I took some counseling, some seminars, did some reading and even began to pursue a counseling degree.
In all of that, I experienced some amazing healing and deep times with my Lord.  I also wondered if the formal degree was necessary.  God directed me to hone my skills and lead small groups or do individual ministry with women in particular without the master's level in education.  What I saw was that the Lord did use me and He opened up the hearts of other women to trust me with their stories and their pain.  What a privilege and honour!
I am reminded of Luke 12:48b as I recall this journey in my life.  I was a young and inexperienced missionary and fairly new wife and mother of 3 toddlers as we began Healing Hearts Ministry.  And God somehow found me (us!) to be trustworthy enough to give this ministry a try.  Here is what Jesus said in this verse:   "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
I feel this sums up the past 20 years for me.  God has given me many opportunities, blessed with me with many precious friends and entrusted me with a strong leader/visionary husband and 3 unique and gifted children!  But it has not been an easy road.  Much has been demanded and required of me, of our marriage and our family life in the process.  Oh, God has been faithful!  He has been our strength and protector!  He has provided everything we have needed.
I see this verse as not only a reminder of how the Lord has sustained us but a call to the future challenges as the ministry grows.  We will be called upon to travel, listen, give counsel, share truth, pray, pray, pray!  Much more than "playing church" on Sunday mornings!
I trust in the Lord to supply all I will need as He requires more and more for a fruitful ministry.