As my first time with you, I’d like to tell you a little about myself
and about some transitions in my life – transitions that we all have and how we
respond to them.
I married the love of my life,
Randy, at the age of 18 while he was 20. We grew up in the same little country
church and met when I was in 6th grade and he was in the 8th
grade. I’m still head of heels for
him! J I
worked while he finished college and we had our first child 3 years later,
followed by 2 others. More about being a
mom and Gigi (grandmother), later! I’ve
been a stay at home mom, had my own business with Discovery Toys (LOVED this
job!!), worked in a doctor’s office part-time, worked many years as assistant
to the principal in the school district so I could have the same schedule as my
kids, and finally after the kids left home, became the Preteen/Children’s
Minister (part-time) at church. When I
am passionate about something, I put my whole being into it, so Randy said I
went from a 40 hour full-time work week at school, to a 65 hour part-time and half the pay work
week at church! J But God had given me a vision and passion to
revamp our whole ministry to reach more children and truly make a difference in
their lives. But that is another
story! My life has been full of transitions and I have no doubt yours has
been, too!
I have been a staff wife for 42
years and have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly! I’ve thrown suitcases
in the middle of the floor (mentally!)
and told God to get us out of here!! J That didn’t work, by
the way! I learned the hard way how
prayer gossip works – Randy shared something with me and I shared it with a
friend asking for prayer. Next thing I
knew, he heard about it from someone and knew the only person he shared his
concern with was me. Uh-Oh!! Prayer gossip is rampant, I’ve learned.
Two years ago, God revealed that
after 15 years, I had completed the vision He had given me and it was time for
another transition. He brought the
person who would take this ministry to the next level and I trained her for a
year before officially “retiring” last May.
The church gave Randy, my husband, sabbatical time and we used it to
travel last summer and fall to some places on our bucket list. We have a little hybrid travel trailer and
after spending 5 solid weeks in it, we decided we still love each other and
enjoy being together! It was a precious
time and we had so much fun!!
Another
transition. Upon returning from our
time away, I visited an adult Sunday School class. That very day, I knew sitting in a class was
not for me! Besides, it was WAY too
different from the way we do Sunday School in the Children’s Ministry! J So I began greeting at the entrance to our
Children’s building and hugging on parents, kids and substituting in the baby
classes after the greeting time. It was
OK, but still didn’t seem what God had for me – so I continued to wait for His direction – that is always the hard
part!! One day the Preschool
Coordinator asked if I would consider teaching a Young Adult Ladies Class for
women who just haven’t connected with Sunday School. (They don’t feel
comfortable in a couple’s class because their husband’s don’t attend, they are
single again, they are an older single, etc…)
It was to be a class located in a room off the Preschool hallway, so it
would be close to those who had young children – they would be near them. And since we wanted to reach women in our
community, who might never have attended Sunday School, we wanted a class
location that would not be intimidating.
I prayed about it and tentatively said I would try, but that I was NOT a teacher!! I’m a leader, encourager, hugger,
organizer, and relational, but we would need to find a Bible Study approach
with a DVD teacher! J
We made up a class roll of women we knew
who weren’t attending, I contacted all of them, created a fun environment in
the room and we began. The first Sunday
we had 6, the next Sunday we had 12, and the 3rd Sunday we had
18. After 6 weeks, we have 21 on the
class roll. What really surprised us was
that we had women from early 20’s to their 70’s!! God took our willingness to
try something unique and different, and has blessed our socks off!! We are taking every single person’s gift in
our class and using it to minister to others.
We have a class photographer, a breakfast club team, mission organizers,
encouragement teams, social media team, Ladies Night Out team, and whatever
else we need to make sure all of us are connected!
Life
is full of transitions and as I get to know you more, maybe the
transitions we all go through will be made easier because of our friendships
and sharing of our experiences! God has a plan for us and I can hardly wait for
the journey with you!!
Pam Holman
Staff
Wife – 42 years
Currently
at FBC Lubbock – 34 years
Worked
with Preteen / Children’s Ministry – 15 years
Currently
teaching a ladies intergenerational Sunday School Bible Study class
Words
that describe me: energetic, creative, positive,
passionate, fun-loving, encouraging, compassionate
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