There are moments in life that change everything.
You don't always realize it at the time, but when you look back, you can see that's where your life took a completely different direction.
For me, it happened while I was sitting in church.
I was angry.
I had just finished my degree in Interior Design. I already had another associate's degree. I had been a Realtor. I had served 17 years in the Army.
I knew I wasn't unintelligent.
Yet it seemed like no one listened to me. I would answer a question, and people would turn around and ask someone else the exact same thing. Most of the time they got the same answer I had already given them.
After a while, it starts making you wonder if your voice even matters.
The church I was attending was new to me. My granddaughter, who I was raising at the time, had told the pastor and his wife that we needed food. They helped us through their food pantry, so I felt like I should attend a service.
That morning, the worship leader played the song "Nobody" by Casting Crowns.
One line says, "I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody who saved my soul."
As I sat there listening, something happened that I will never forget.
I heard a voice.
Not an audible voice that everyone in the room could hear, but a loud whisper that was so clear I turned around to see who had spoken.
The words were simple.
"You aren't a nobody. You are a vessel to tell others that they are somebody too."
There was no one behind me.
In that moment, I knew God had spoken to my heart.
When I got home, I couldn't stop thinking about what I had heard.
I started researching everything I could find about helping people discover their worth, their purpose, and the gifts God placed inside them.
Every search kept leading me to the same thing.
Life coaching.
So I started learning.
I earned certifications.
I read books.
I wrote workbooks.
I studied everything I could about helping people move from surviving to truly living with purpose.
Looking back now, I realize God wasn't changing my career that morning.
He was revealing my calling.
Sometimes we spend so much time waiting for someone else to tell us who we are that we miss the One who created us.
If you've been feeling unseen, unheard, or wondering if your life matters, let me remind you of something I learned that morning in church.
You are not a nobody.
You were created on purpose, for a purpose.
Sometimes all it takes is listening for the One who has been calling your name all along.