I’ve said once before that I felt silly calling these monthly emails “newsletters” since they don’t really contain much “news,” but here we go again! I have another bit of news to share with you all that I am very excited about! By sharing this news, I will be sharing a new piece of my testimony that very few people know about.

The reason I am excited to share this new chapter with you all is because it is further evidence of the goodness of God we can experience in His Word. I was reading Momma’s Bible when He called me to this venture. And that makes it all-the-more special to me.

One more tidbit before I share my news: this news is the reason for my May newsletter, “Do You Hear Marching in the Trees?” It might be interesting once you read today’s newsletter to skim back over May’s letter because I truly was preaching to myself when I wrote it.

So without further ado… (drumroll please) Today I was accepted as the worship leader of Greensboro Baptist Church. WOW! It feels surreal to announce that publicly! I am excited, nervous, scared, honored, and nearly every emotion under the sun about this new step in my ministry. But if I had to choose one emotion, it would be honored; honored that God would call me to this position and that the church would trust me with this responsibility.

However, if I were not ONE HUNDRED percent positive that God is the one who led me to this, I could not do it. Period. Promise. Even with His calling, I have had sleepless nights and have been so scared. So I hope you will follow along for a few minutes as I explain how I KNOW this is all His doing.

Before Jason and I moved to Greensboro, we attended Bridgeway Church of Waynesboro, Mississippi, and together we grew in our walk with the Lord more than we ever had before. We knew after our very first service that we were meant to be there. It was the perfect church for us. Brother DeJuan Walley blessed us immensely with his teachings, and our best friends became our Sunday School class. When we felt led to move away, leaving this church was one of the hardest parts.

But we were hopeful. We just knew that we would walk through the doors of a church here and have that same feeling. We were wrong. We visited nearly every church within a sixty mile radius and we were still unsure what to do. There was never that immediate “this is it feeling.”

Jason can testify; I pulled up my bootstraps and said, “I got this.” I was pushy. I tried to figure it all out on my own. Not only did I try to overstep my husband’s role as our spiritual leader, but I wasn’t relying on God either. No wonder we were confused.

Once I finally got to the point of exasperation, my husband told me, “I think we should be at Greensboro Baptist. We pass by it every Sunday, and that’s where our neighbors and community are. We should be serving our community.”

And I knew he was right. The problem was, they currently had no pastor, no music minister, and no youth pastor. So when we committed ourselves to our local church, we knew it was a commitment to serve. But really, shouldn’t that be the way it is?

When you think about it, the fact that the church was still operating under those conditions is a testament to the church in itself. Members were stepping up, and the congregation was remaining faithful to attend. Since then, we have called a wonderful next generation minister who is doing an amazing job with our youth ministry. Our youth group is growing, and they are all excited to come to church, and that is a great blessing. And as of today, we now also have a worship leader.

There are currently approximately 500 Baptist churches in the state of Alabama in search of a pastor, and Mississippi is similar. It takes a lot of faith to believe that God will lead the right man to our church as our pastor, but that is exactly what our church continues to pray and believe.

Now that you understand where we were coming from and what kind of church we were joining, you will better understand why I was eager to find a place to serve. So I got involved in the choir, I began helping teach Sunday school, and I joined the children’s ministry team.

But there’s a really important conversation I need to fill you in on. When Jason and I finally made the decision to join Greensboro Baptist, I called Mom, of course. When I told her the situation the church was in, she immediately said, “Well, you could lead the music!” I laughed and told her I didn’t think I was qualified.

After some time singing in the choir, a couple of people also mentioned that idea. I know God will sometimes use words of affirmation to lead his followers, so the idea was becoming more real to me. But at the same time, so was the idea of taking on other possible responsibilities within the church. Oh, and not to mention, God also recently has called me to write a book, and I’m still a wife, mom, and teacher. So whether the idea was even feasible was a real concern to me.

Although I felt somewhat confident where God was leading me, I just wasn’t positive. I shared with my family my thoughts and asked for their prayers. Then once again, just like when I knew I was supposed to write a book but was unsure of the how, I told God, “Just open doors and lead me. I trust you to reveal your plan to me in your time.”

Once again, he did. I’m beginning to think this whole patience thing isn’t a bad idea.

Some months went by, then one Sunday morning, we had a visiting pastor share a simple but moving sermon solely on James 4:17: “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” I really enjoyed his message but didn’t feel personally convicted by any good I ought to be doing. But I listened and appreciated his personal testimony of how he had recently been convicted by this Scripture.

After the service, we had a women’s luncheon. As we were gathering, another sweet friend in the church also asked me if I had considered leading the music. I told her that I had, actually, but that there were other possibilities I was also considering. I said, “I feel like I need a sign from God on which direction He wants me to serve.”

I then enjoyed our luncheon and the rest of the day with my family. The sermon didn’t cross my mind again that day.

The following morning, my Bible reading was out of 1 Chronicles. If you’re not familiar with that book of the Bible, there’s a good bit of it that chronicles the lineage of who begat whom. So in my position, when I read that day’s scripture, I was pondering what I would write my devotional about for that day. Then I came across these verses:

“4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.”

When I read those verses, I had the following thought process: Okay, I can use these verses and pull a couple of Psalms about worshipping God and then write my devotion on the importance of praising in the temple… It’s interesting that the day after the sermon about knowing a good thing to do and not doing it is the day that I write a devotion about David appointing people to lead the praise and worship. I wonder if God is trying to tell me something.

I copied down the verses from 1 Corinthians, then I got my phone and googled: “Psalms about praise and worship.” That was it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Two different verses from Psalms popped up, and I read those. Under the second verse was a question that said, “What is the meaning of James 4:17?” with a dropdown button option. Not remembering what that verse was, I clicked the button.

There are some moments in life people will never forget.

The moment I read, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them,” is one of those moments for me.

I had googled Psalms about praise and worship. But God. In all his sovereignty, power, knowledge, and ability, made a verse appear that had nothing to do with what I searched for. The very same verse I had just wondered if God was trying to speak to me about.

When I read it, I knew. I began trembling, smiling, crying. There is something so awesome about seeking God in prayer about something and KNOWING that he moved in your life to provide the answer.

As soon as I finished my devotion for the day, I went and shared the experience with Jason. He cried too (but don’t tell him I told you). He also knew that was my answer. I had just said I needed a sign from God the day before, and He answered in a way I would have never expected.

Over the next couple of weeks, I began doing some research and studying for what I was about to do. I created a resume and poured over it probably fifteen times. Then one Wednesday evening, I got to choir practice a little late hoping no one would see me. I slipped down the hall to the office, and I placed my resume in the door. I was able to get upstairs undetected to the choir room. I had the shakes and adrenaline pumping the whole practice.

You can imagine my nerves then, when at the end of the service the following Sunday, the church member who had been volunteering his time to lead the choir for months, called us to the choir room to talk for a few minutes. What he shared with us was not what I was expecting. He had just been diagnosed with a health concern that was going to make it difficult to keep leading the choir as he had been. I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me as I heard the news. We covered him in prayer, and I ask for your prayers for him and his family as well.

I felt completely overwhelmed after that news. I couldn’t believe the timing. If ever I doubted God’s calling, there was no doubt in my mind after that. God was not only ordering my own steps; he was orchestrating my steps to pick up where someone else’s were ending. Waiting on God and his perfect timing truly is worth it.

I met with the search committee not long after, and they asked if I would be willing to fill in as interim until some things were squared away and the church could vote on my application. I agreed, of course.

Let me just say, even though I did not doubt God’s calling, I did doubt my ability. I was unbelievably scared. As I mentioned before, I had some sleepless nights. I would go over and over and over the songs I was planning in my mind, what I should say, what others might think. I was a mess.

Finally, I had to have a little talk with myself. I had to remind myself of people God called in the Bible, like Moses, and several others who weren’t qualified for what he was asking them to do. In fact, they were often some of the least likely candidates, like David. Those men were not able to accomplish their calling because of their own abilities but because of God’s power at work through them.

One of my new favorite verses is Romans 15:4: “For whatsoever things were written in times past, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Thinking about stories like Moses and David truly did give me hope that I could do this because God would do it through me. I am simply his vessel.

I literally told myself: “You don’t have to be confident in yourself, but you have got to be confident in your calling and the One who called you.”

While I still do get nervous, I choose not to fear. I choose to believe that the God who began a good work in me will see it through to completion.

I understand that this newsletter is all about me, but I am writing it with you in mind hoping that you will also see God’s hand in it. Because I know that I am not the only one waiting to get direction from God. I know I’m not the only one who experiences fear once you do get that direction.

If you find yourself in one of those places, I hope and pray my story brings you encouragement to wait on God and trust him to direct you. I also hope it will give you the courage to follow his direction, because you never know who is praying for someone like you to pick up their torch.

And I want you to consider this: I was reading my Bible when God spoke to me. Sometimes we tend to overcomplicate things, but simply reading his Word has so many benefits.

Romans 12:2 tells us not to conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Then we will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Would I be writing this newsletter and sharing this news with you all today if I had not been renewing my mind with scripture? Possibly. God is all-powerful. But I have a feeling it was much easier for me to decipher his will because of being in his word.

My passion and prayer are that the words I share give other people a desire to be in God’s Word. Not just read it, but to love it and depend upon it as my mother did and as I have learned to. Because once you experience the joy, peace, and hope that come from living, breathing scripture, you want other Christians to know it as well. And I pray everyone reading this does.

One day as I was speaking with my mother-in-law about applying to lead the music, I expressed to her how much I wish I could share this news with Mom.

If you didn’t know my mom personally, you should know that she is where I got my love for praise and worship. She sang in the choir and played the piano and organ faithfully. I have many memories sitting next to her in the choir, her pointing to the sheet music and teaching me how to follow along. The sincerity of her worship was always evident to everyone who was blessed to witness it.

My mother-in-law responded to me by saying, “But don’t you know she’s been up there right alongside God planning this with him all along?” We both laughed and cried.

Who knows? Maybe she does know that I took her suggestion. Maybe she is up there with God saying, “I told her she should do that!” Plus, I was reading her Bible when my moment of revelation came.

I’d like to believe she knows.

But even if she doesn’t yet, I will have a whole eternity to fill her in one day.

If this story resonates with you, if you relate to the experiences I described today, I would sincerely love to hear from you. It would bring me so much joy to hear from my readers and how God has spoken to you.

If you know anyone who is seeking God for direction, I would be honored if you felt led to share my story with them using the following link:

https://stillwaterswritings.kit.com/5149215172

May God bless you all with Still Waters.

Love,

JulieAnna