A little about myself

I am a retired UM pastor but I wasn’t always a pastor. God set before me a mission when I was 14 during one summer in the late 1960’s. God called me to become a pastor. I never shared that experience with anyone for more than 40 years. As time passed, I convinced myself that God had given up on me, that I had missed my chance, that I was no longer needed as a pastor to those seeking hope. Over 15 years ago a woman asked me to go on the Walk to Emmaus but I declined. Once again I convinced myself that I had missed my chance to be a pastor. When my husband and I moved to East Texas the pastor at the church we worshiped at spoke about the Walk to Emmaus. It was then that I realized that I couldn’t run anymore from God’s call to be in a relationship with him whatever that would bring.

God responded by setting before me several small steps. I went from being a lay leader reading one scripture on Sunday mornings to filling in for pastors needing coverage during Sunday worship as a Certified Lay Minister. After that I attended Perkins School of Theology where I completed all the courses required to be a Local Licensed Pastor. At the end of June I retired from serving 2 small rural churches here in East Texas.

But that is not the end of my daily journey of faith.

I am still in essence that little girl who swung in the tire swing in the picture to the left, gazing up into the branches of the tree above and hearing the creak of the rope move back and forth on the branches. God has not changed since I swung in that old tire swing. God was present then and God remains beside me; to my right, to my left, above me, below me, behind me, and in front of me.

Each day is a new day, a day of moving deeper in my relationship with God.

I pray that it will be so for you also.

Rev. Joanne Elston