In life, there are unexpected, life-changing moments that speak so loudly that years later they still resonate and comfort.

One such experience happened to me in the spring of 2002.

Larry and I had founded VFC, and we both served as pastors. The year before we had both traveled to India to minister to pastors from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan for 2 weeks. I ministered in churches and at Women’s conferences throughout the US having been ordained for nine years.

Yet, because of my upbringing and many opinionated people in the church at large, I still struggled with being a woman minister. These doubts and fears were not imagined but real, as magazines with women ministers on the cover were removed from the retail counters, and male leaders in denominations and para-church organizations were telling well-known female teachers to, “go home!” I wanted to hide the call of God in my life because I was not confrontational, and I was decidedly shy. Yet God was using me to impact lives worldwide.

My “aha” moment happened in Plains, GA at the Sunday School class of former President Jimmy Carter. My sweet niece had invited me to join her for a fun weekend in Americus, Ga. that was to culminate on Sunday morning in Plains. She arranged for our tickets to the class, and we expectantly arrived at church to hear Jimmy Carter teach!

As the class started he invited all ministers to stand, introduce themselves, and share their ministry location. The sanctuary was packed with ministers from around the world. My niece poked me in the ribs and said, “Stand up.” The usher had spotted the interaction, shoved the mic in my face, and smiled. I was “outed.”

I introduced myself and declared that my husband and I were founders and co-pastors at Victory Fellowship Church in Thomasville, Ga. I managed to sit down without fainting and thought to myself “I just talked to the former President of the United States!!”

The introductions swept across the sanctuary, and I finally calmed my heart and settled back for the lesson.

President Carter, said, “I would like to ask the lady pastor from Thomasville, Ga. to open the class in prayer.” As my niece poked me again, the usher approached me and said with great authority, “Stand up, hold the mic to your mouth, and speak loudly.”

The grace was there, and I prayed the opening prayer for President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School Class. It changed my life! Thank you, President Jimmy Carter.

If God could arrange the details of the weekend and have the highest authority in the United States invite me to pray, I could and would accept my destiny as a bold, unwavering minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ! My love for my Savior would never be hidden again because of doubt and fear.

This week President Jimmy Carter met Jesus face to face after 100 years on this earth. He will be in the presence of the Lord for eternity.

I am eternally thankful that God doesn’t quit speaking to us until we get the message! He is patient, kind, and longsuffering until all the doubt and fear is defeated!

As the Lord charged Joshua after Moses’ death in Joshua 1:1-9 NLT, I heard the message that day in Plains, GA. “After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said,  “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—  from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’  No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

“Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD, your God is with you wherever you go.”