I certainly do NOT feel like an expert in any area of my life. I am on a journey of growth to be more like Christ as I sort out my personal issues, weakness and mistakes.
What I do have, however, are experiences that I’ve learned from and maybe, just possibly, if I share these experiences, others can learn from them too.
DAUGHTER
I am first and foremost a daughter. A daughter to my parents who raised me to know and love Jesus, but even more so, a daughter of the King. God has uniquely made me (though sometimes I question his design choices) to be equipped, gifted and qualified to handle all that this life has to offer. A time of searching what I should be doing with my talents, relationships and personal well being are what led me to the process of pursuing my long time desire to share, teach and write.
WIFE
Being married is absolutely the greatest blessing of my life. Life is hard, and as much as I depend on Jesus to give me comfort, security and guidance, I won’t get to feel his physical support and presence until we meet in heaven. My husband, however, is God’s gift to me. A physical representation of His love, support, security and presence for me to feel now. Is my husband perfect, of course not, but he’s perfect for me. I need his strengths and he needs mine. We help each other stretch and grow, we support each other, confront each other, forgive each other, laugh at each other, enjoy each other and all the while, we look to Christ to be our guide and our strength. I can’t imagine doing life without my man.
MOTHER
Oh, how I love my kids! I love their unique and crazy and loud and passionate and sensitive and daring and cautious and full of life little selves. My children are a close second to my greatest blessing. I have learned so much about my heavenly father in the process of learning to parent in a biblical way. My 5 kids keep me busy, and until now, consumed all of my time, energy, motivation and sanity. Now that my youngest is 15 months and we’ve wrapped a tight little bow on our family number (thanks to my husbands recent vasectomy), I feel challenged to pull myself out of the survival instinct mode of being pregnant or nursing and to see what the the world has to offer now. While I’m plowing through my 4th and 5th time training explorative and testing toddlers, I’m also approaching some new unknown territory. My oldest is ten now which means he’s a “tween” (kids from age 10-12 that are between the kid stage and the teen stage) and I’m stepping into a whole new role of parenting the dreaded awkward stages of puberty, the drive to independence and the desire to give him wings to let him fly. I have a lot to learn!
TEACHER
I love learning and I love teaching! So much so, that I continued my education and earned my Bachelor’s degree because I was still single and didn’t have any reason not to! I wanted to set an example to my future kids that education is important. My degree was in Christian Ministry and Communication because I felt my life purpose was to be a wife, a mom and to serve the church and I wanted to be equipped to do that. Once I completed school I became a trainer at a banking call center and taught new trainees how to provide “Excellent Customer Service”, at the same time, I served in the church teaching kiddos in children’s ministry and finally, I stepped into the role of teacher extraordinaire of my school aged children. I’ve homeschooled my kids for 5 years now and, though it’s not been easy, it has been rewarding and truly educational for me! I’ve also loved teaching women’s bible studies and discipleship groups over the years and wondered if maybe women’s ministry was part of God’s plan for my future.
I don’t know where all of this will lead me, but I know God is stirring the pot in my heart and mind and what has been floating to the surface is that it’s time to share what I’ve learned so far. I’m ready to surrender to His plan, whatever it is.
Tiffany Joy Chapman 