In the Spring of 2023, I completed my 2 year training with Sustainable Faith and became a certified Spiritual Director.  I have been companioning with a few people for over two years now, and have prayerfully decided to put this on our website to see how God expands this part of our ministry.
 

While Spiritual Direction has been around for centuries, it is still somewhat unknown in many areas; however it is becoming more widespread and I find that really exciting.  God is interested in every detail of our lives, and our personal relationship with Him is the most important thing, above all other relationships and aspects of our life, work, and ministry.  I believe that every person should have someone in their life helping them attend to their relationship with God.  I know my own journey of meeting with my spiritual director has been life changing.  It has strengthened my walk with God, has awakened me to see God working in everything, and has helped me stay attune to His voice more carefully.

So what is Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual Direction is the ministry of deep listening and guidance; helping people listen to God and to
notice how He is working, moving, and speaking in their life.  The real director in Spiritual Direction
is the Holy Spirit.  I like to say that I am just the spiritual companion, along for the ride. I love to walk
alongside others and watch God do all the work.  The holy “aha” moments are incredible to see!  In
his book, Sacred Companions, David Benner defines Spiritual Direction as “increasing awareness of
God in the midst of life experiences and facilitating surrender to God”. 

 

What Spiritual Direction is Not:
Sometimes hearing the definition of what something is NOT can be very helpful.  Here is an excerpt
from soulshepherding.org by Bill Gaultiere:
 

“The spiritual director offers the gift of holy listening – reflecting Jesus’ love and empathy for others to help them experience God and follow the Spirit’s leading, while providing guidance for their relationship with God.” (Bill Gaultiere, Soul Shepherding)

Spiritual direction is not the same as Christian discipleship, counseling, or coaching.  While there can be
areas of overlap, spiritual direction is unique.

Discipleship usually follows a program of lessons from the Bible on becoming more like Jesus.
Spiritual direction does not follow a curriculum–it is customized to the person seeking God’s presence
and guidance.

Counseling focuses on resolving specific problems with mental health, compulsive behavior, and
relational conflict. It’s natural for stressors and hurts to surface in spiritual direction, but the focus is
less on solving those problems and more on understanding the person’s experience with God.
 

Coaching helps leaders and other people to set and realize their goals to advance their life or work. In
spiritual direction the goals are to improve their relationship with God and become more like Jesus.

Ironically, spiritual direction is not directive.  It’s not advice-giving, teaching, or trying to get people to
believe and do the right things.  Instead, it’s collaborative, empathetic, and prayerful.  Simply put, spiritual direction is a conversational and prayerful relationship of seeking God together through the journey of life.  It focuses on the client’s personal experiences with God.  It can foster discipleship to Jesus, emotional and relational health, and reaching God-inspired goals.

Spiritual Direction sessions are an hour in length and typically occur once a month, in person or over
zoom.   If you desire to grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord, and Spiritual Direction is something you are interested in exploring, please reach out to me for more details, cost, and any questions you may have.

I can’t wait to hear from you.

Blessings,
Deb
cell: 802-546-2746
email: thelodgeministries@gmail.com