If we've worked together, you’ll enjoy this story. But if we haven’t worked together, it’s still encouraging.
Earlier today a friend & bootcamp graduate forwarded an Instagram post and said, "This resonated with me regarding bootcamp and you...and your ‘priest’-like nature…"
I’d never thought about a "priest" like this...
Here's what the Instagram post read:
The Voice Of A Priest
The voice of a priest is primarily interested in our inner health and wholeness.
They are responsible for soul care, unmasking our pretense and uncovering our wounds. They want to help us reconnect with our core humanity and strip us of any superficiality or duplicity.
The Voice That Cuts
A season with a priest is usually uncomfortable. They are more concerned with our holiness than our happiness, our souls than our successes, our spiritual health than our material wealth.
They are very deliberate and intentional in going after anything that might pollute your heart or inhibit your growth.
They address the barriers in our character, the wounds in our souls, the offense in our hearts, and the surrender in our lives.
I felt known seeing this “priest” description.
After reading I remembered a very old note I have in storage. It dates back to when I was adopted.
Before being adopted I spent the first few months of my life with a foster care mother. When it was time for me to go, my foster care mother sent me home with a note that got stored away in a file cabinet until my early twenties...right as I was having my spiritual awakening…right as I was asking big life questions like, “Who am I really?”
This note represents more than just a message from my past. It was a God clue on my journey to discovering my true identity.
I remember the note saying that she took me to church regularly. She also wrote, "I could see him being a priest."
That last part hadn't made much sense to me until I read the Instagram post this morning.
I though, “Wow. That sounds like the priest in me.”
Here I am, Lord. Decades later. Not ordained. Not a part of a clergy. Not a part of the Catholic denomination. Not a part of religion. Just following Jesus, imperfectly. Doing what He asks of me. Taking one step at a time. OKAY with being misunderstood as I'm healing, changing, and growing. Seeking His voice because I know He has the best for me. Doing what I call Holy Spirit-led life coaching...and, as others may call it, being a priest.
The lesson: God has given you very practical clues about your true identity. And the expression of that God-given identity may look different than what you’ve seen.