Kena Hawkins Newkirk

The final value which I believe is important for effective ministry is inclusivity or acceptance. By inclusivity I mean the unconditional love extended to a person even before they believe in Jesus Christ.

I think this value has become even more importing with the recent shifts in culture. Years ago, people would first investigate and then adopt the beliefs of the organization. Church membership wasn’t just handed out arbitrarily. It was required that people attend classes before they were accepted into the community.

Today, most people don’t pick a church or small group because they agree with everything the group believes. Nowadays, people join a group because they feel accepted because they feel included. People even officially join a church at all, it is not because of what the church believes, but because the church makes them feel like they belong.

A couple years ago, I had our youth leadership team put together a set of values that they thought were important for the ministry. We brainstormed for about an hour and came up with four values: acceptance, trust, dedication, and honesty. These values were intentionally shaped around our small group ministry.

When I asked our students to put these values in order, acceptance was presented as number one. For teenagers, belonging is the first step in developing an identity. It is within a supportive community that a young person can safely “try-on” different identities and discovers the one that fits best.

Acceptance may be the defining value of the post-modern age. It is easy to see the push back against its advancement in the resurgence of racism, nationalism, and anti-immigration sentiments.

Inclusivity is exceptionally important for the people called Methodist. It is through the loving acceptance of a community of faith that new believers experience God’s prevenient grace.

Also, inclusivity itself is named is a critical virtue for The United Methodist Church in the Constitution which states that “all persons are of sacred worth.” Of course, this value is placed so highly because of the church’s history of segregation, exclusion, and even support slavery.

I believe we need to take our church’s commitment to an Open Table seriously and break down any barrier, whether intentional or unintentional so that people can experience the love of God.

What is Empowerment?

According to Dicionary.com, Empowerment is simply the “authority or power given to someone to do something.” This can mean power is transferred from one person to another or it can mean that previously untapped power is internally claimed by those who once felt powerless.

The push back to empowerment comes when we view power in the church as a zero-sum game. This means we view another person’s acquirement of power as threatening because it means we will lose power.

Sometimes it does mean that those in power must sacrifice some authority, and sometimes they get pretty upset. Rev. McAurhter recently made his feelings clear on this issue saying, “empowering women makes men weak.” He clearly views power as a finite resource, so that when women’s have some power, men have less power.

Honestly, this is not how my marriage works. My husband and I share power taking the lead in certain issues based on the situation. When we understand power as a shared and unlimited resource, any power one of us has, whether in our jobs or community, actually benefits us both as a couple.

For the church, Empowerment is particularly important in the areas of foreign and domestic missions. How many scores of well-intentioned missionaries have poured their money and time into helping their neighbor, only to make never the make any long-term difference? We try to help people in the short term by distributing clothes and offering feeding programs but hurt them in the long-term by not fighting for decent wages or fair treatment under the law, things that would give them more power.

Keeping powerless people powerless often makes us feel more powerful. This can even be true of the church’s discipline ministries. It is the church’s responsibility to nurture people into spiritual maturity, to be able to thoughtfully engage scripture and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus.

Overall, empowerment is a core value for me because it was a core value for Jesus.  In Acts 1:8 Jesus says to his disciples before he is taken up into heaven, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.“

The Holy Spirit is the ultimate empowering force in our lives as Christians. God has chosen people to be his actors in this world and to give them the power of the Holy Spirit through which to act.

I don’t know about you, but I believe the power of the Holy Spirit to be infinite, there’s more than enough empowerment to go around.

Currently, I try to foster empowerment through a Youth Leadership Team. Students must apply, attend training, and participate in meetings in order to be a part of this team.

It has borne fruit as our students are now taking leadership roles on church-wide committees. By empowering these students, there is an even greater chance that they will enter the next phase with a lifelong faith.

How do you see Empowerment working in your Faith walk? Who in your orbit could use some Empowerment?

Every few years it’s good to re-evaluate. I remember my first ministry internship at 20 years old sitting down to write a philosophy of ministry. Since then, a lot has changed.

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of reflection in preparation to go before the Board of Ordained Ministry. I’ve been asked in my paper work to identify three values which are I’m portent for me in ministry today.

So as of this season of life, I’d like to share with y’all what my top three values are for doing ministry.

Ministry Value #1 – Courage

Courage has not always been a big value for me. Honestly, I once thought of courage as the juvenile lesson superimposed on Bible stories make them more applicable to young children.

Daniel and The Lion’s Den, David and Goliath, all the most fanciful Bible stories seemed to be about courage. Also, these stories seemed very similar to the fairytales I learned as a kid. I think this made ‘Courage‘ difficult to differentiate as a Christian virtue.

Even as a kid I knew I would never been in danger from literal lions or giants, so I tended to dismiss the idea of courage as something I wouldn’t actually need.

But I have had to be courageous.

I’ve come to know crippling effect of fear on God’s ministry, and I have become frustrated by people too scared to step out in faith. A lot of times that timid person was actually me.

About a year ago, one of my students was responsible for delivering the weekly testimony. She shared her favorite Bible verse, 1 John 4:18 “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…”

During her testimony, I realized for the first time how much of our political and religious divisiveness was motivated by fear. Every wedge issue, every “us-verse-them” argument is designed to make us afraid, to make us fearful of the unknown and of our neighbor.

But courage is a value intimately close to God’s heart. By some counts, the Bible says to “fear not” more than 100 times. And in nearly every divine encounter the first words spoken by God or God’s messenger is “fear not.”

We are told ” fear not” because Courage, especially that sort of fearless love John talks about, is counter to our nature. We are predisposed to fear. We are all frail, finite mortals afraid of getting hurt, so we structure our societies with walls and boundaries to keep danger, whether real or imagined, at bay.

Courage is counter to our nature as humans, but it is indispensable if we are to be called children of God.

We need courage to be strong leaders, to follow God’s vision, to step out in faith, and event to admit when we’re wrong.

The best way I have found to nourish this value within myself is through being a part of a weekly table. In thoughtful conversations, I am able to emotionally strain out all the fear which heaped upon me by news outlets and through social media. I can breakdown the fearful rhetoric, and begin to faithfully love those who are ‘other.’ And I can quite the persistent voice on fear in my own heart.

There’s strength in numbers, and I best feel the reassurance of my calling to love fearlessly when engaged in a community of believers who actually loves fearlessly.  

What about you? How has fear and Courage played a role in how you love others? Do you feel like Courage is important to ministry?

Last week I was in a meeting discussing possible upcoming events for our church. A new, exciting ministry opportunity was being discussed but it would interfere with an established tradition with one of the existing ministries of the church.

I explained that I’d be willing to forgo the establish to traditional ministry (or find a way to work around it) in order to make the new opportunity happen.

“We can change what we’re doing that day,” I said. “I mean this thing is a tradition, but it’s ‘cruise ship.'” Heads nodded in understanding.

For those who don’t know, the phrase “cruise ship ministry,” it doesn’t actually mean you’re working on a cruise ship (although cruise ship chaplains do exist). It is a phrase commonly used to refer to ministry programs designed purely to entertain an established group. It’s a party or trip or event dressed up as ministry.

Let me be clear, I actually enjoy event planning. Not all people in ministry do. I’ve been doing large scale event planning since college, and I’ve even written before about the importance of events like overnight lock-ins. But we always have to be careful about planning ministry events.

Recently, at a training retreat for youth leaders, the retreat coordinator made an off-hand comment that a better job title for us might even be “youth event planners.” He said it with a bit of a joking tone, but it is something I really wrestle with.

I hesitate to think about all the day trips and block parties I’ve organized in which not even a prayer was said before the meal. I sometimes allow myself to slip back into the role of event planner because I actually find it easier. There’s less at stake in event planning than in real ministry.

Also, more honestly, I am afraid that Jesus might not be enough for some people.

And there is something to this in scripture, Jesus taught and healed but he also fed the 5,000, offering them the modern equivalent of free pizza. He attended banquets, weddings, and even suggests that heaven is one big party (Luke 15:7).

A few weeks ago, I sat down with my Youth Leadership Team and asked for input on our upcoming retreat. I did get the typical request to organize events like a basketball tournament and a late-night round of manhunt. But I also received requests for fireside worship and space for quiet time and a prayer service.

To believe that Jesus isn’t enough is a lie from straight from the pit. But, to belive that Jesus never enjoyed a good party is a lie as well.

Like a ship navigating rough waters, we must be careful not to steer too close to each extreme.

I remember sitting in one of my religion classes during college and realizing for the first time that I was following my calling into one of the only fields left in the US in which my gender was an issue. I mean a real, line in the sand, you’re not welcome here issue.

In college, I double-majored in Communication and Religion, and it was interesting to bounce back-and-forth between worlds. My Comm classes we full of brilliant young women who have since become leaders in their field. My religion classes harbored select individuals who still held resentment toward women in leadership.

Campbell University is ambiguously Baptist, welcoming people from the far-right and somewhat left. Of course, it was not the faculty or religious authority which stood against women; they were very supportive. Rather, it was some of my fellow students who took issue. It was my classmates from whom I received the side-long glances and patronizing comments.

Having found my way to the Methodist church I enjoy a lot more support as a woman in ministry. In fact, I will go before the Board of Ordained Ministry in March to seek approval for commissioning as a provisional Elder.

But I have become keenly aware of the way sexism still presents challenges for me. I routinely attend inter-denominational meetings in which I am the only woman in the room.  I have had lay-people tell me “you’d look prettier if you smiled more.”  I have felt the wrath of men who were threatened by me (I even checked with another clergywoman I trusted who reassured me that I wasn’t alone in feeling this way).

Somedays, it feels like death by a thousand cuts, but, on the bright side, I’ve become pretty good at reading between the lines of sexism dressed-up as spirituality.

The wonderful preacher Beth Moore has been attacked by the leadership of her own denomination numerous times for serving Jesus, and some men have responded with blatant, and probably jealous, put-downs.

But the comment that still hangs in my mind is one from Pastor JD Greere, pastor of Summit Chruch in Atlanta and now Presendiet of the Southen Baptist Convention. You see, Greear actually graduated from Campbell University, and many of my dear friends and classmates were passionate members of his congregation. These were the same classmates with those side-long glances and patronizing comments.

So when people like Greear attempt to offer kindly tweets saying things like “Dear @BethMooreLPM, you’re welcome in our home any time,” it’s quite easy for me to pick up on the fact he did not say “pulpit.”

There is a difference in accepting women in ministry and not accepting women in ministry. But, as someone working in the trenches, there’s an even bigger difference between accepting women in ministry and celebrating women in ministry.

Women in church leadership really do make the church better, and we should listen to them, celebrate them, not just accept them.

I have learned that the only person who gets to choose who serves Jesus is Jesus. The Holy Spirit is like an unpredictable wind, and when God calls someone our only question should be “do they have fruit?”

It is my hope that someday every who is called into ministry would be accepted and celebrated. Of course, people don’t go into the ministry to be celebrated, at least they shouldn’t. But ministry is challenging, and if our clergy are producing good fruit, then we should all be celebrating God’s glorious harvest.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” -Mark 1:14-15

My homiletics class was taught by Dr. Smith at Candler, as a part of his class we were required to submit a few different types of sermons. We were warned at the beginning of class that our final sermon would be delivered in person in front of the entire lecture hall in one class period. We would be able to fit them all into the allotted hour and a half easily because each sermon could only be seven words or less. Seven words.

When my turn came, I approached the lectern confident that I had cracked the system. My sermon, “the Kingdom of God is at hand.” I was a bit proud to see the smile on Dr. Smith’s face, but more importantly, I believed in the few words I had preached. 

The overwhelming and awe-inspiring news that God’s dominion, over all creation, over life and death, is closer than we can imagine. The just rule of God over all things means we as God’s children are able to realize our inheritance as heirs to The Kingdom: the bodily resurrection and life eternal in perfect relationship with our Creator and the rest of creation.

So how would someone define the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom is established in individuals and communities anytime the self-revelation of God is made incarnate. Theologian Wolfheart Panaenberg makes the distinction that we do not bring about the rule of God; we do not bring the Kingdom despite our best works of charity and acts of piety. We are reminded of this fact every time we pray the prayer which Jesus taught us: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.”  

Through this prayer, the children of God ask for the Kingdom, and God brings forth the realm of the Kingdom through the self-revelation in the person of Jesus Christ, God made flesh. This is why John the Baptist and Jesus begin their ministries proclaiming “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” At the same time, Jesus’s ministry and passion were just the beginning, just the foundation, of the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom. 

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is made flesh again, albeit less perfectly than in the person of Christ. With each new heart that is baptized by the Holy Spirit, the realm of God expands. With each act of justice and mercy, God’s will is done. Slowly, like a city being built, brick-by-brick, The Kingdom advances.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. – Proverbs 17:17

There’s something special about staying up all night with dozens of your favorite teenagers.  This year’s back-to-school lock-in was nearly canceled due to some logistical nightmares, but in the end, we were able to host two other churches in our new youth space for worship before staying up all night at a skating rink.

I thought for sure our kids would be cranky and burnt out on skating by 2 AM, mostly because I was grumpy and burnt out before we even got to the skating rink.  I hate skating, and our lock-in didn’t change that fact. But I was delighted to discover the skating talents of our students and adult leaders!

Covered in blisters, bruises, and begging for sleep, we returned to the church. Half of our students drifted off on the ride home while some started laughing deliriously.  By the time we made it back, everyone was ready to crash on giant bean-bags before getting picked-up.

Later that day, my husband was laughing, saying there’s something special about staying up all night.  It a situation which bonds you, and I can see what he means. When people are grumpy or goofy from fatigue, then our guard is down.  Conversations are looser and more honest.  Something as simple as lack of sleep can serve as a shared struggle perfect for forging relationships.

The thing is, it’s a new school year for our students, and there will be a lot of real struggles and challenges which go along with the new year.  Failing a test, getting cut from the team, losing a friendship. We all experience individual struggles and challenges, but there’s something about a shared burden which bonds us together.  And, perhaps, if we have experienced a few of the same burdens together, like lack of sleep, we are more open to sharing our individual burdens when times get tough.

Proverbs 17:17 is true, a brother or sister in Christ is born for a time of adversity.  We need Jesus-centered friendship to make it through the challenges of life. However, the bonds of Christian friendship are also born during a time of adversity, even if that adversity is a lack of sleep and some skating blisters.

May God’s blessing be with all of the students, teachers, and life-long-learners starting a new season of education, and may we all stick together through the challenges ahead as brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God.

 

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  – 1 John 4:18

Since my last post, I took care to censor any comments concerning The UMC General Conference in St. Louis this week.  I watched and read and texted friends, but I held off posting anything because I wanted to formulate my words carefully.  Well,  here is my story.

I was a religion major in college, and as part of my degree requirements, I was supposed to take an ethics class. At the end of the course, we were to write a paper on any ethical dilemma we wanted to choose.  I chose to write my essay on a topic on something I was genuinely conflicted about: the ordination of gay clergy.

This was an issue that hit home for me because I was raised in the Presbyterian Church USA, which was deliberating that next year on the subject.  PCUSA ultimately decided to accept gay clergy causing the expected split in the church.

I spent hours on my paper, trying to figure out what the PCUSA was on about with accepting LGBTQ people.  I had not experienced many gay people, especially gay people of faith.  When all was said and done, I turn in my passionate research paper with the following carefully worded conclusion:

‘…At this time, I cannot endorse the acceptance of LGBTQ people in church leadership.’

That was my honest opinion as a freshman in college, and, as God would have it, that was the same year a good friend of mine tearfully came out to me as gay.

I was one of the first people outside his family to know, and his family had not been taking it well. My friend, who was a devoted Christian, was sent by his parents to faith-based conversion therapy.  He’d spent the better part of the summer in counseling in an attempt to make him straight.  The result was depression, self-loathing, and the contemplation of suicide.

Eventually, he changed schools to put distance between himself and his parents, and we ended up drifting apart. The impact on our relationship left a lasting impression.  I could see in him the strong presence of the Holy Spirit and passion for Jesus mixed with confusion and frustration over his sexuality.

Through our relationship, I learned more about faith and ethics than my any class had ever taught me. My mind changed, and I knew that God would never have intended my friend to go through such agony in deciding between faith and sexuality.

As God would have it, that was not the last person of faith who ‘came-out’ to me as gay or questioning their sexuality.  Being affirming of a person’s sexuality and faith has been a critical part of my ministry, primarily as a minister to young people.

Needless to say, I was upset by the vote on Tuesday for the Traditional Plan which condemns LGBTQ leadership in the church and reinforces sanctions on those who officiate same-sex weddings.  Although having studied Methodist polity and history, I also think a crucial problem for The UMC is conferencing on an international level (Dr. Jan Love has a great article on this.) It destroys the ability to contextualize ministry and follow the movements of the Holy Spirit.

I was also upset because a conservative hard line makes ministry with young people nearly a non-starter. Young people represented an overwhelming minority of people seated at the Genera Conference, so their voices were effectively silenced despite being the future of the church. (Bishop William Willimon also has a lot to say on this issue.) Moreover, I worry about my ability to minister to young people who are discovering their sexuality and increasingly more invested in diversity. I currently work in an area that offers very few options for LGBTQ people of faith and their allies, and I’m not sure where they would go.

However, I woke up on Wednesday filled with new hope for a few reasons.  First, I know that my Methodist LGBTQ friends and those who are allies are devastated by the dark night of this decisions. I’ve been down this road before in the PCUSA, so I know there will be an end to this current season of suffering. Right now, people are hurting, but I know from personal experience that there will be a resolution. This General Conference has created some open wounds, but now real work can begin.

Second, I was marvelously encouraged by the outpouring of LGBTQ support that I saw on Social Media, within North Georgia leadership and in meetings in my local church. It warms my heart to see love and acceptance reaching out against exclusion and bigotry. Not everyone feels that way. I was addressed by some conservative-leaning people on Wednesday who wrongfully assumed I was as joyous as they were at the result of the vote. Regardless of your stance on the matter, I not sure celebration at the expense of another is the right response anywhere in the United Methodist Church right now. Nevertheless, my friends, leaders, and role models in ministry have responded in affirming love.

Finally, I feel hopeful because I see a kind of affirmation from Jesus in being on the “losing side.” Jesus, whose mantra was the “the first shall be last,” and “blessed are those who mourn” and “love your neighbor” and “take up your cross,” never promised that following him would be easy. If this current moment is a struggle, it means the convictions we are striving for are real and significant.

As I write this, our local church is preparing the for its first step in processing this vote, a service of prayer and communion. I know there will be many broken hearts and worried minds at their service. Yet, I know in my soul God is still working here.

I spent President’s Day weekend with nine of my favorite preteens on the FFUMC Confirmation Retreat to Saint Simons Island.  A big part of this retreat was discovering and testing out the Spiritual Gifts of these young people.  As they begin the process of joining the church, we want them also to start thinking about what their roles will be in the body of Christ.

One of the ways we did this was by having them engage in several different team-building activities, the first of which left tempers heated and emotions high. Our students were tasked with making a specific structure out of toothpicks and gumdrops. The catch was that only one of them could see the structure and had to describe it to a mediator who delivered messages but was unable actually to help put the gumdrop creation together.

It sounds like fun, and it could be fun and enjoyable if everyone had been using their gifts lovingly. As it was, some were overstepping, some were disengaged, some were spoken over, some were distracting, and some were not being heard.  It was a perfect example of how churches seem to work.

All of us who belong to the Body of Christ are tasked with the job of ministry. But what is ministry? What is it supposed to look like? How is it supposed to work?

Just like the gumdrops and toothpicks, every church begins with the same materials for ministry: worship, service, community, scripture.  But each church puts those materials together in a unique way.  Well-functioning churches can understand God’s plan, organize effectively, and work together towards God’s vision for their community.  Well-functioning churches are able to first and foremost practice love, and only after this harness their gifts to do ministry.

Paul famously calls this “the more excellent way” in 1 Corinthians 12, and encourages people to desire love above all else.

As the weekend went on, our students became much better at the other team-building challenges.  Students began to internalize the values of teamwork, communication, listening, but ultimately they were better understanding how to love each other.  They finished their final challenge of putting together pieces of a painting with cheerful attitudes and extreme patience.

This weekend, there is a Called General Conference in The United Methodist Church, and I have spent a little time preparing my students for what this conference will mean for the church.  When I think about the tears, frustrations, and apathy our Confirmands experienced building a simple gumdrop structure, I cannot fathom how difficult this event will probably be.

My prayer is that Conference attendees will ultimately attend to a more excellent way.  I hope that the cacophony of loveless, fearful gongs and cymbals will be silenced. That we would have equal concern for one another.  I hope that we would protect one another, trust one another, and persevere with one another. And I pray, just as I prayed for our Confirmands, that a generous unity would win the day so that the Lord’s will can be done.

I’m writing this blog post the darkness of my bedroom with an ice pack on my head. I’m primarily using the talk to text feature because I can hardly open my eyes. The brightness of my screen is difficult to handle.

I have a migraine. I get migraines a lot, and I’ve been getting migraines and headaches since around first grade.

I’m pretty used to them now. I work through migraines when I can and try to ignore them until they become too debilitating.

Migraines are a chronic illness, and chronic illnesses function so much different than any severe or curable disease. If you have any kind of chronic illness you can understand the feeling of reluctant acceptance in dealing with your pain.

For the most part, I try to minimize the impact migraines have all my life when discussing them. I don’t want people to feel bad for me or make exceptions for me. I’m not writing this post to make excuses.  There are people with severe and/or life-threatening illnesses, and I don’t want my migraines to garner sympathy from them, I really don’t need it.  However, when I try to contextualize my headaches or any chronic illness, I am always drawn to the story of the woman with hemorrhaging who was healed when she reached out to touch Jesus.

Mark 5:25-34 tells the story of the woman who spends all of her fortunes trying to find a cure for her chronic disease which caused her to bleed uncontrollably for twelve years. When nothing worked, she pushed through the crowd around Jesus just to touch the fringes of his robe. For this last-ditch effort taken in faith, the woman is finally rewarded with healing.

“Daughter, your faith has made you well,” says Jesus, “go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

What’s even more amazing about this story is that Jesus is actually on his way to heal a young girl who is terminally ill.  Everyone’s attention in the story is focused on getting Jesus to the young girl’s bedside, but Jesus stops to acknowledge the healing of this woman whose life was not endangered, but whose quality of life was in ruins.

Many commentaries are quick to point out that the woman’s bleeding disorder caused her social isolation because it meant she was ritualistically unclean. People avoided her because of her chronic illness making it all the more tragic. But, I’ve always found this anecdote to be rather unnecessary.  Illness always fosters social isolation, and chronic illness fosters chronic isolation, even for people today. We don’t need to import an ancient purity code for this to be true.

Isolation is caused in many ways. It can be caused when people don’t understand the illness, such as with depression or mental illness, or because the person suffering is unable to fully engage with others due to pain or diminished ability, such as migraines or arthritis. Life-threatening illness set a person apart too due to the frailty of the person or even the inability to fully connect with others because they simply cannot relate.

As for myself, I have spent countless hours in dark rooms with ice packs.  I’ve missed parties and struggled through obligations in terrible pain. Again, I don’t really want sympathy. What I do want to be an advocate for my own healing.

In the past, I have often looked at 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 when trying to understand my migraines. In the passage, Paul says that he pleads with God to be relieved from mysterious suffering he calls “a thorn in my flesh.”  God does not relieve him. Instead, he is told: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

This is one way to think about chronic illness, but I’m starting to think it should always be read in conjunction with the story of this woman. She had been suffering for 12 years, and likely everyone he used to be invested in her healing has grown weary or become distracted. She doesn’t receive get-well-soon cards, and her problem isn’t flashy.  But she never gave up on being healed and becoming whole. She lived with tenacious hope.  Her illness may have never made the prayer list at church, but she didn’t give in.  She was the strongest advocate of her own healing. She took charge and sought out Jesus, she didn’t wait for others to bring Jesus to her.

To be honest, I am not as sure as this woman that I will be healed of my migraines. I wish I had faith like her.  But for now, I am inspired by her story.  I love that she was her own advocate.  She pushed through the crowd.  She reached out for Jesus. I hope I can be as bold as her in working towards wholeness in Christ. And I look forward to the day when no one will experience isolation or pain.