“I love my church and am passionate about God's calling to serve our impoverished neighbors.

When the opportunity arose, I was thrilled to be in discussions with our church leadership about a full-time position where I would lead and grow our church’s local outreach and compassion initiatives.

When I received the offer letter, the initial salary was much lower than expected, and I immediately struggled with feeling second rate. Was this what church leadership thought of me and what I brought to the table?
 
I went through the Key Relationships Lens, and God met me there. He first helped me see that my salary does not equal my worth. He asked me to trust him.
 
He then helped me see that there is a fight to be fought – but it wasn’t for my worth or salary, rather it was about helping our church grow in its ability to see the needs of the under-resourced populations in our community and learning together how to best walk alongside people with love and compassion. In this, we not only serve those in need, but we grow in Christlikeness.

God used the lens to lovingly show me that I had been way too self-focused and needed, instead, to think with the mind of Christ, trusting God with the outcome.

At the conclusion of the lens, I felt a strong sense of God’s affirmation of me and a green light to have a follow-up conversation with leadership born out of humility, authenticity, open-handedness, and love. God knows what our family needs, and I could trust he’s at work in our church, leadership, and our personal finances."