God has a plan. He has a plan for each one of his precious children. He knows what we are destined to become and how we will accomplish that task. A friend from my women’s bible study told me this and it rings so true.
“If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.”
He knows we will have love and heartache. We will have joy and sorrows. When I am unsure of what I should do, I am very hesitant on how to proceed. I tend to doubt my path that has been laid out by my God. I must remind myself to trust and put my faith in God. Proverbs 3:5-6 helps me remember to – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
I was an early childhood educator for the state of Oklahoma for the past 15 years. I taught kindergarten and first graders in Oklahoma City Public Schools and Edmond Public Schools. Teaching young children brought a joy into my life that I didn’t know was possible. I absolutely loved teaching them, yet learning from them at the same time.
When we began St. Luke’s Edmond at Sequoyah Middle School on March 30, 2014, I was volunteering in the Children’s Ministry area every Sunday. I would help set up the Children’s area, greet, lead Children’s church, teach our elementary children and tear down our equipment/materials every Sunday, all while still teaching in my elementary classroom throughout the week. It was a very exciting time during our church! I had a front row seat to watch our Children’s Ministry begin and become a family of faith in Edmond.
Within the first year, St. Luke’s Edmond was meeting at Sequoyah Middle School, my husband and I became pregnant with our first child. As the spring of 2015 arrived, I had to inform Josh Attaway that I would no longer be able to volunteer in the Children’s Ministry area. It was at this point I was asked if I would consider leaving the public-school classroom and become the Director of Children’s Ministry in Edmond. It was with a very heavy heart that I declined. In my heart and soul, I knew I was supposed to stay in the public-school classroom. I was a teacher. I was not meant to work at St. Luke’s Edmond.
Little did I know, God was laying the groundwork to get me ready for a huge change and leave the classroom. I did not know that the same immense happiness I experienced teaching my young children for 15 years would be even bigger and better when I began as the Director of Children’s Ministry at St. Luke’s Edmond in 2022. God had big plans for me, and he continued to push me to move forward, even though I was nervous. I am still a work in progress, but I try to remind myself I need to surrender all to God.
– Jocelyn Morgan, Edmond Campus Director of Children’s Ministry
