Suddenly My Calling Was Too Strong to Ignore

Here’s how a brain injury and birds led me to open a Christian counseling practice 

It was in high school that I began noticing how often people came to me for “counsel.” I was somewhat shy and insecure so I didn’t know how to cultivate this gift yet. However, in college, this part of me began to flourish as friends and dorm-mates consistently came to me for advice about faith, prayer needs, emotional struggles, and relationship counseling. 

After graduation, I spent the next 18 years as a youth pastor in Michigan and then Vancouver, WA. As part of my ministry during those years, I was frequently engaging in Christian counseling. Everything from depression and anxiety to marriage and divorce became regular appointments. I found great joy coming alongside these hurting souls and seeing them bravely take steps to grow healthy hearts and minds. During this time, I was asked many times for a referral to a Christian therapist. I gladly recommended the wonderful faith-based therapy associates I knew of, little knowing that I myself was moving towards my own Christian counseling practice.

In the summer of 2015, I suffered a brain injury that took me out of pastoral ministry for nearly a year. When I came back to work, the church graciously changed my role to Associate Pastor as the demands of youth ministry were too difficult for my still-in-recovery-brain. This new opportunity opened the door for even more people to come to me for mentorship, coaching, and spiritual direction. Suddenly, I found myself constantly occupied with couples counseling, parenting counseling, youth counseling, and recovery counseling. These conversations spanned topics like alcohol, drug, and sex addiction, questions about faith, and people’s pursuit of vocational calling.

Even though this aspect of ministry was not technically in my job description, I couldn’t get away from it! In fact, at one point I was asked, “please stop meeting with people one-on-one as your time will be better spent reaching larger groups of people.” But even they eventually saw that my true gifting was in Christian counseling rather than church leadership. 

During the long recovery of my brain injury, I began appreciating birds. Yes, birds. This discovery had been growing in me for years, but now it was in full swing. Besides the fact that they fly, sing and have feathers, I became fascinated with their behaviors, migration habits, and survival techniques. Through the process of trying to identify every bird in Clark County, I started to dwell on the teachings of Jesus regarding birds. He taught us to “look at the birds.” I soon realized that God designed birds to, among other things, teach us not to worry, help us remember we’re loved, and remind us He’s always with us. It was as if the two beautiful worlds of Christian counseling and bird-watching were colliding to make an epic scene of compassion in my life. Thus was born the idea of Sparrow Christian Counseling. 

In pursuit of this calling, I became a licensed and credentialed pastoral counselor through the International Fellowship of Ministries and began taking classes through the National Christian Counselors Association to pursue my MA. I obtained my credentials through Prepare-Enrich to offer more effective couples therapy and learned from the Genesis Process how to help in addiction recovery. It has been an extremely encouraging journey to learn how to better serve the hurting people in my community by providing affordable Christian counseling.

Whatever it is that lead you to Sparrow Christian Counseling, know that hope is near.
You don’t have to do this alone. Let’s talk.