My Epic Journey

At Grace Point, we have Connection Cookouts.  These cookouts are designed for us to get to know newer families in the church and those families to get to know us better as well.  Terry (our senior pastor) and Kelly open their home for this event.  It creates an informal setting for intentional connections and discussion.

Tonight’s and last week’s were.  I really enjoyed getting to know these newer families.

After 11 years of putting off my Master’s degree the time to pursue it is now.  Though the following take up a lot of my time; husband, father of 3 and full-time student ministry, I feel it is vitally important to take this next step now.

Three things have helped make this decision:

1. A church, Grace Point Community, that values furthering education to point of attaching that to a part of our benefits package as a staff member.
2. A Senior Pastor, Terry Lewis, that is CONSTANTLY in a learning mindset. In fact he is currently in the middle of his Doctor of Ministry program.  He is always challenging us and pushing us to grow in our faith and in our understanding.
3. A wife that is VERY supportive.  Without Anna encouraging this it would be impossible to pursue.
4. A volunteer staff that loves me and EPIC ministry and rallies behind the students and each other to accomplish what needs to be done.

So, I am now a Master of Professional Counseling student at Liberty University (Lynchburg, VA).  For the next 12 weeks my posts on this site may be sporadic but hope to keep up.

Below is the course description for the class I am currently in:

COUN 501:  COUNSELOR PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY, FUNCTION, AND ETHICS

This course introduces students to concepts regarding the professional functioning of counselors, including history, roles, professional organizations, ethics, legalities, standards, and credentialing.
Current issues in therapeutic practice in a variety of professional settings are explored.
This course provides students with an understanding of various aspects of professional functioning as a counselor. Some of these aspects include the following: the relevance of personal identity to professional identity; the function of professional ethical codes and standards; ethical/legal considerations; the development of a biblical worldview regarding counseling; the history and development of counseling as a profession and as a distinct ministry of the church; roles, functions, and relationships with other providers; technology; professional organizations, primarily including
the AACC and ACA, with emphasis on divisions/branches, affiliates, benefits, activities, member services, current emphases, credentialing, certification/licensure, and accreditation; public policy and professional advocacy; advocacy on behalf of clients; and current challenges/opportunities facing today’s counselor.

I work with an AMAZING group of guys!!!  Really.  I LOVE to come to office everyday because I know that I will be loved, pushed, cared for, challenged and stretched and will be encouraged to do the same to the other staff.

At Grace Point, Terry stresses the importance of TEAMWORK.  Whether it is our Pastor Pow-Wows, or staff meetings, base coach (ministry team) meetings or elder’s meetings, the word “TEAMWORK” seems to always come up.  But not only does Terry stress the word, he practices it as well and that makes all the difference. 

But it doesn’t stop there!  I have an AMAZING group of EPIC leaders who I LOVE more than they will ever know.  I love them because we work well as a team because we are friends working toward a common goal–changing the lives of students!!!

So in honor of Terry and as a thanks for being such GREAT team leader and to show my appreciate to my EPIC leaders, I thought I would post this video I found on TEAMWORK.  Hope you enjoy!!!