Welcome to another Monday Matters!
I’m excited to share someone with you who has been a great encouragement to me.
I first met Kristen Tucker as a client over 5 years ago when she bought a home in the Wilmington area and contacted me for homeowners insurance.
As we stayed in touch, I was thrilled to learn that she had become ordained under Concord Baptist Association.
Recently, I started seeing these devotionals pop up on my Facebook feed.
I’ll let her tell you the rest of the story!!
Monday Matters: Message in a Post
A guest post by Kristen Tucker
The date was February 21, 2002.
I will never forget the day I felt God bring peace into my tiny residence hall room while I was an undergraduate at East Carolina University.
I was sitting at my desk, trying to study, when I heard God clearly tell me that I will encourage others in Christian writing. I immediately called my mom to share with her this crazy and improbable story. She both affirmed and confirmed what I felt like I had heard. Her encouragement was simply, “Go for it!”
This was not the answer I was looking for, it terrified me. But, this calling demanded action. I took out a piece of notebook paper and started writing down themes.
In a couple of weeks, I had all my notes in a file folder ready to begin. I went home for spring break and left my folder at school, sure to start when I returned.
It was as I returned from spring break that I received the devastating news that my grandmother had passed away. It was my first experience losing a family member and I was so discouraged. There’s no way I could write now. My file folder went into my filing cabinet and I didn’t pull it out again.
Eleven years later, I found myself – at the age of 31 – sitting on my couch when I felt God speak again. It was Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013.
God was asking me to write.
I decided to write a short post each day during Holy Week to educate my Facebook friends about this special, somber week in our faith. Then, on Easter Sunday, celebrate and praise, “He is RISEN!”
Each morning as I wrote and posted the writing I would get likes and comments.
It immediately became interactive.
As Holy Week concluded with Easter Sunday, I thought my duty was done. I had written what I felt called to write.
However, a lot of my friends started contacting me asking why I had stopped. I tried to explain that it was just for Holy Week, but they weren’t having it. Again, I felt God’s Spirit confirm this within me. It was time.
So, I began Message in a Post.
Since that time, every weekday morning, I greet the day at 5:00 a.m. I embrace my own quiet time with God and I write what I feel He has led me to write.
“Each day in our busy lives, we strive for direction, a word from God and peace in the midst of our troubles.” – Kristen Tucker, Message in a Post
It’s hard to believe I am approaching one year of posts.
As I reflected while writing this, I realized that Matt asked me to write for Monday Matters exactly 12 years after I was called to write while in my college residence hall room!
Message in a Post has changed my life! The encouragement from readers has affirmed what God has done through this experience in the lives of so many. God made his word interactive and a community has been born!
I invite you to stop by and read these daily devotions and thank you for sharing in this message today!
On the journey TOGETHER,
Kristen Tucker
Kristen Tucker currently works as the Assistant Director of Residence Life at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She graduated from East Carolina University with an undergraduate degree in Family Relations and Child Development. She has a Master of Arts from Appalachian State in College Student Development and a Master of Divinity in Christian Education from Campbell University.
Please join me in following Kristen and Message in a Post.
Thanks for stopping by this edition of Monday Matters - sharing thoughts, stories and encouragement to help you live richly! If you have a story to share or a question to ask, please contact me via email at [email protected]. Additionally, you can enter your email address above to join the Monday Matters community! Thanks! Matt
What a beautiful testimony of walking in obedience! It is encouraging to read. Thank you for sharing your story, Kristen!
Thank you so much Laura! I appreciate Matt and all his support with Message in a Post. I am very fortunate to have such great friends and “big fans!” God is doing this all and turning my world upside down in the process! It has been a great experience and I look forward to continuing to see what happens! Have a great day and again thank you for your words!