Hey guys and gals (Clint, here),
So... Ill just get right to it. Recently I was called by the Samaritan Counseling Center to be the Director/Coordinator for two programs! One is called "Heart for Heroes," I will be working with Active Duty military members or Veteran's and their families in all walks of life. There is a long list of things I can do, but I will not bore you with the details or terms, but I will say that this community here, in Shreveport, and throughout the country, needs to be reached and helped in a BIG way. The second program is called "Clergy and Congregation Care'. It will be designed to help Pastor's and Congregations in all sorts of amazing and fun ways. I will be providing support, counseling, consulting, and group education for Churches and community groups. I will also be educating and teaching the community and Churches on being first responder's to PTSD and other psychological struggles that people face in our communities and congregations. This has all happened very fast and I have been blessed to have been able to work this job on the side with my full time job as a Marriage and Family Therapist doing in home family therapy for the Multi-Sytemic Model here in Shreveport. Right now with Samaritan, we are doing a lot of public relations work and attempting to get these programs off and running. I don't know what God will do with this in the future, but I am willing to risk and trust that whatever it is it will be glorifying to Him and will lead the broken to Christ's Healing love. This is an amazing opportunity and we are in awe of how God has prepared me for this.
I have been to Seminary, I am a Military Veteran, and I am a Marriage and Family Therapist! Who would have thought that all of these things would be put together and that God would have designed a job perfectly suited to those three things! I am speechless still and in awe of how God has such a huge view of our lives and we can only see tiny parts. I can now look back on a lot of hard work, pain, and sacrifice and realize that God had it under control this whole time. Along the way I knew that and trusted in that, but to be on this end of it I am still shocked and dumbfounded at how much I do not deserve any of this and yet God continues to shower and bless us anyway.
My last message is about this past weekend. I decided that I really felt that with this new position and work with Churches and Pastors I needed to step it up a notch, so I decided that I would make it official and become an Ordained Minister as well. This process is not easy, but God made it so once again. The service was this weekend October the 7th and let me tell you God was there and once again showed off big time :)
My Pastor from high school, Steve Speer, my Uncle Jeff, and a family friend Brother Kevin Boles did an amazing service and made it personal and special for me and my family. Molly Jo Johnson sang "Alive" by Natalie Grant and just WOW is all I can say. One of my favorite parts of the whole ceremony was when my Dad asked if he could say a few things. Now my Dad is not a public speaker and suffers from anxiety and heart trouble, so for him to even attempt to speak in front of a group of people is a SACRIFICE in and of itself. He said that he must have gotten the Holy Spirit because what followed was truly amazing. He stood in front of my family and friends and was vulnerable, loving, kind, and humble. He spoke of being proud of me and of his thankfulness in my sacrifices for him and to him. He told some stories about teaching me to ride a bike and of how arguing with a psychologist or therapist can be difficult :), but that we always work it out for God's glory! He called me a man he is proud of and he shed a few tears and a big hug! Now I am not going to say all he said and I cannot express the thanks I have for the support he gave in that moment, but it was truly a God thing. It was as if God said to me directly "Thank you Clint for being obedient here is a little taste of how good I am when you follow what I ask. My yoke truly is easy!!" I mean I am again humbled by how great God is and by how faithful is is to those of us who love Him. All Glory and Honor and Praise be to Him!! I am so thankful for my family and community support and for all of you who have been there over the years and those who will continue to be there in the future. I hope that I can continue to make my family and God proud so that on the day I kneel before Him, He will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"
