When I graduated from college I desired, along with my husband, to be an engaged member of a faith community. I wanted to become a CPA and to balance all that with the addition of raising a family at some point.
By age 35, I was living in the reality of all of it and found myself in a miserable place. No one was more surprised than me by that realization. It was painful and confusing. This was NOT how it was supposed to be when you were married to a Christian man, working a part-time professional job, raising a family and leading various ministries in the church.
As God does with so many, He let me get to the end of myself and then He had something to work with. I was desperate enough that I was willing to let go of what I thought I knew and follow Him into new places. Without realizing it at the time He was moving me from success to significance. But that journey was through the valley of the shadow of death, where I learned to fear no evil and to believe that He was always with me.
The Halftime Institute turned out to be one of the ways God demonstrated His willingness to be with me in this transition. Because I had attended something called Listen To My Life through Leadership Network, I was invited to attend a follow up session through Halftime called “Her Journey." That was four years ago in May of 2010.
“Her Journey” invited me to:
- Name the passions that God had been developing in me
- Determine how I desired to be helpful to others
- Identify the group of people I feel most drawn towards
- Discover the doubts, questions and fears that were necessary for me to address with God
A year, or so, after the Halftime Institute Launch Event, I found myself sharing with a friend over lunch what I was discovering about myself and my desires to serve. Unbeknownst to me, things I was describing matched up with needs being realized inside the organization she leads. After she listened to me, she shared what she was noticing about the connections. We left that lunch to wait and pray. Five months later, Debbie Swindoll, Executive Director of ECSW – Evangelical Center for Spiritual Wisdom – invited me to join the staff as the Director of Leadership Development for Life with God. It was a thrilling day!
The truth is as I train leaders and personally lead Life with God groups. I live out the things named during my time at Halftime. We invite people to follow God, through interaction with the Word, the Spirit and the Body of Christ. Believers learn to build strong deep relationships that affect personal transformation over time. They learn to discover God amidst daily life. I train leaders to take that journey with others. I encourage them as they do so. I can’t imagine a sweeter spot to be!
I am thankful for the role the Halftime Institute played in providing me a process to recognize my passions, help me clarify my purpose, prompt further exploration and encourage me to walk in hope towards the future God had planned for me. Thank God, there was a way out from miserable!
Written by: Cheri Hudspith
