2/10/2020
North Atlanta Church of Christ, my home church here in Atlanta, recently revealed their new vision for the next few years. We are now transforming into a “Love Forward” focused ministry.
Love Forward is explained further by “Gather, Grow, Go,” and at the vision event that we attended a couple weeks ago, I was struck by this phrase and have been thinking about what each piece of it means to me. The ministers encouraged us to be “all in” on this vision and what it means for our personal lives and the church as a whole. I have always described myself as someone who is all in through everything I choose to be involved in. Through sports in high school, every one of my jobs, and leadership positions in college and pharmacy school, I never commit to anything without being ready to give myself 100% to it. It is important to me to carry that personality trait and calling over into my spiritual life as well.
The “Grow” piece of this vision struck me particularly as a parallel to the story of Esther. In Esther 4:14, Mordecai asks, “Who knows if perhaps you were made for just such a time as this?” I often think of this verse when opportunities are presented to me, wondering if this is exactly what God had in mind when creating me. It usually goes along with things that make me uncomfortable, for example, campaigning for a leadership position or entering into a new phase of schooling, and thinking of this verse and the potential for growth helps me to step beyond my typically safe choices.
“Go” has always been a favorite part of the calling God gives to us as Christians. As an active participant in mission work since early high school, I have always loved the verses Matthew 28:19, “Go and make disciples of all the nations,” and Matthew 25:40, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did it for me.” I even started a Matthew 25 club in high school that focused on service. If you are willing to go wherever God calls you, he will use you for his good. Time and time again in the Bible and in recent history, God has used ordinary people for extraordinary things. He shows His glory through people who are willing to fully submit to His will.
For me, I’m not sure yet where God will call me to go, but I know it will be an adventure and it will all be in His hands. Brandon will have to go through the match process for residency and it will all be up to chance on where we will be moving after graduation. But “chance” or not, I know God will use us wherever we are. I hope to be an example of His love in my day to day activities, and especially as a healthcare provider, helping people through some of their most vulnerable times in life.
Another piece of the vision from our church was the phrase “Serve like never before.” I feel very lucky to be in a profession that allows me to serve constantly, whether it be to patients from behind the counter in a community pharmacy, to fellow student pharmacists through leadership positions, or to the profession as an active advocate. I hope that I will continue being able to serve with fervor throughout the remainder of pharmacy school and even more so upon graduation. Brandon and I hope to give back to the students at Lipscomb (our alma mater), by leading medical mission trips to areas of the world that are most needy. We participated in several of these during our time in undergrad, and learned so much about the medical field, and were able to serve thousands of patients who would not otherwise have received care.
God is love. Looking at the new vision for our church, no matter which way you dissect it, at the core is that God is love. If we try to embody that love in everything we do, I think the vision of “Love Forward” will be achieved.
