Continuing Well: What God Has Done in Me

Three and a half years ago, I began pursuing a degree through Kairos University, wondering how to prepare for the next season of life as I approached the transition to becoming an empty nester. As I look back now, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the many ways God has met me along the way. I began this program by prayerfully discerning what might lie ahead. What I wasn’t prepared for was how deeply healing this journey would become.

If I’m honest, I began this degree with a mixture of hope and fear. I have always loved discipling, teaching, and caring for people pastorally. Yet I also carried years of internal struggles, wrestling quietly with doubts about whether my gifts truly had a place to flourish. Those doubts became the starting point of this journey, and what unfolded was not just academic growth, but deep healing.

Through Scripture, thoughtful scholarship, rich conversations, and the steady guidance of mentors and professors, God began to untangle fears and reshape my understanding of who God created me to be. I was reminded again and again that my identity is first and foremost rooted in Christ — deeply loved, fully accepted, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve wherever he leads.

Even though the program was online, I never walked alone. God provided a community of faithful men and women who encouraged me, challenged me, and prayed with me. A small group of women from my Church History courses formed a WhatsApp group we affectionately call “HerStory,” where we continue to cheer one another on. Professors offered wisdom at just the right moments. My mentor team listened deeply and asked the kinds of questions that shaped not just my thinking, but my soul. And through it all, my husband faithfully supported me, especially during the many moments when I felt overwhelmed and ready to quit.

As my heart grew steadier, my confidence grew as well. The courses were not merely information to absorb, they were invitations to encounter God more deeply. Theology, church history, pastoral care, ethics — each subject became part of a larger tapestry God was weaving in my life. I began to see how careful study and spiritual formation belong together. Learning was no longer just about knowledge; it was about transformation.

This season also unfolded alongside significant personal challenges. My oldest son was struggling to adjust to adult life with his family being so far away, and I often felt helpless as a mother. I continued to grieve the loss of my father. Our youngest daughter was diagnosed with autism, reshaping our family’s daily life and stretching me in new ways. I endured months of illness that left me physically drained. And our region faced devastating floods that brought losses, sorrows, and trauma to so many.

There were days when finishing this degree felt impossible.

Yet in the midst of these trials, God was forming something deeper in me. Through spiritual disciplines, honest community, and rhythms of reflection, I learned to manage anxiety more faithfully and to trust God more fully. I became less reactive and more attentive. Less fearful and more grounded. Suffering did not disappear, but Christ met me in it.

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of this journey has been learning how to integrate what I believe with how I live. The program consistently asked not just, “What do you think?,” but “How will you practice this faithfully in your context?” Through mentoring, case studies, small groups, and real-life applications, I learned to listen more carefully, guide more thoughtfully, and respond with greater wisdom in pastoral situations.

The growth was not theoretical. It was tested in real life.

What began as a pursuit of education became a season of whole-person formation. God used study to shape my mind, community to shape my heart, and hardship to shape my character.

As I look ahead, I do so with peace. I do not feel driven by ambition, but anchored in a calling that hospitably welcomes my gifts. I want to continue discipling, teaching, mentoring, and caring for people in ways that build up the church and reflect the heart of Christ. I also hope to continue exploring chaplaincy in the future, trusting that God will open and close doors as God sees fit.

This season has reminded me that God wastes nothing — not our questions, not our wounds, not even our fears. God is faithful to complete the work God begins.

Now I am stepping into what’s next with quiet confidence, trusting the one who has led me this far, remembering that I am “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand” (Ephesians 2:10).