Calling Stories: Amy Willers' need to create in 2020
Welcome to the newest installment of Calling Stories, a refreshed and reimagined series of guest posts for Ordinary Time. In the past two autumns, I’ve hosted a series of guest posts called Work Stories. This year I've reimagined the series to embrace a wider vision of calling and to add some sweet bonus features for my Patreon community. Go here to learn how to join in Calling Conversations with our guest contributors.
Virtual summer story time for Church of the Apostles’ Kids
I’m delighted to welcome Amy Willers back to the series. In 2018, Amy shared with us her work story in the context of a pretty significant change in her season of life: Calling In A Life Transition. One of the reasons I’m excited to have Amy share with us her update is that I’ve been able to watch first hand how Amy’s navigated the complexities of work and callings in the tumult of 2020. I’ve also been a direct beneficiary of the ways Amy, as the Children’s Ministry Director at our church, has pivoted to meet the needs of our church’s children. It’s been remarkable to watch how love shapeshifts in 2020. Amy’s a beautiful example not only in what she’s been able to produce but in the honesty with which she’s navigated the unexpected this year.
While her daily work looks different in some ways since Amy first shared with us in 2018, I think you’ll receive the same encouragement from her commitment to “do little things with great love”. I also encourage you to notice how Amy was able to listen to God’s direction in the middle of feeling loss and restlessness and how God met her profoundly in an unexpected place.
What do you understand more clearly about who you are called to be and what you are called to do?
When asked recently whether I would consider a different job in the future, I answered, “All I know is that right now, I’m doing what I want to be doing.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized how freeing it is to know that as truth! There have been many seasons of restlessness in my life (including early on in the pandemic), but this is one of the few times I’ve known that what I am doing, is exactly what I want to be doing, and what I should be doing.
Even in the disrupted rhythms of life, what is something you still can't not do related to your work or callings?
I have been more and more affirmed in my need to create (and I know this is not specific to me, I recommend this to everyone, more on that later). In fact, early in the pandemic, I felt that familiar sense of restlessness, as I am sure many people did when our lives turned upside-down! I remember distinctly one day begging God for direction, as my kids were doing remote learning, and I felt like I was drowning and losing any sense of me. And in that conversation with God, I knew I had to take an online art class that I had been wanting to take but was always “too busy”. (But if I’m honest, I hadn’t taken it because I was too scared.) As soon as I took it, something in me changed. It was like my heart exploded with longing and doors suddenly flew open in my mind and I couldn’t stop drawing! Suddenly, not only was I discovering new skills, I was settling into a new calling and a newfound rest for my soul. With every minute spent making art, I knew I was glorifying God at the same time. At the time, I didn’t know why or if any of it had point. But even though taking the classes and creating art began as an act of obedience, it has really been God offering me a new kind of rest. [Tamara’s note: I’ve made Amy promise to tell us more about this experience and resource in our Patreon Calling Conversations in October!]
What's no longer an option for you because of what you've learned or experienced during this season? Where have you seen unexpected "green lights" for your calling(s) in this season?
In my work as Children’s Ministry Director, I spent many hours, over the course of weeks, brainstorming safe and creative ways to restart Sunday School this fall. But suddenly it hit me: there was no good way for us to do it (I know other churches have done it successfully, but because of the logistics of our building and services, we just could not). It was a sad day (probably much longer) for me when I realized this. In fact, I remember saying at a staff meeting, “What am I even doing here? Why am I even getting paid?” I was quickly assured I was a necessary member of the staff no matter what, but that didn’t help to shake the sadness or useless feeling I had about my job, as I questioned my calling in this time.
I prayed and reached out to parents and other children’s ministry pastors/directors and soon I had a plan. And not a plan that I felt would just have to do, but a plan that I was excited about! I have said all along, one of the things I’ve actually enjoyed about the pandemic, was all the creative ideas that have come out of it - and here I was stepping into that.
How have you been able to join God where he's already at work in and through your vocational life rather than "inject" God into the work you'd planned to do?
As I said previously, God was opening up my doors in my desire to create, which sometimes feels like a luxury we don’t have time for, especially right now. But for me, as I stepped into the new plan for Sunday School, I am learning new ways to be creative. I’ve had to hone new skills in design, website management, and video production. [Tamara’s note: I’ve asked Amy to share more about this in our Patreon Calling Conversations too!]
What does Sabbath look like for you right now?
I fully believe we are all called to be creative beings and it is one way we can worship our Creative God. But not only is it a way of worship, I believe it is a means of soul-rest. In my case, I took that art class at the beginning of the pandemic and was able to find joy and fulfillment in something that seemed pretty frivolous (though now can see how it opened up other doors later on). But I knew in my soul it was not. I was worshipping, I was feeling irrepressible joy, my soul felt at peace in those times I took to do something “just for fun”. For me, Sabbath rest occurs in creating.
See what Virtual Sunday School at Church of the Apostles looks like this fall!
Learning to illustrate faces with her daughter, Audrey.
Apostles kids getting silly on Zoom.
Amy works part-time as Children’s Ministry Director for Church of the Apostles in Bridgeport, CT. She also authored a children’s book based on a story from her childhood, “Amy’s New Puppy”, (available on Amazon) and a new book coming soon, and blogs semi-regularly at amybarkerwillers.com. Amy loves crafts, reading fiction, singing loudly in the house by herself, writing, and being with her family. She and her husband, Ryan, have a daughter, Audrey, and a son, David.
