Care - Navigators Train – Develop

How Spiritual Direction Has Changed Me and My Ministry

Jin Rood April 29, 2025

By Jin Rood, World Missions – As my husband, Mark, and I were completing our final year overseas, discerning where God was leading us next, I felt drawn toward a ministry of care. A mentor suggested I explore spiritual direction, and I was immediately intrigued. This form of caregiving focuses on deepening an individual’s relationship with God. Richard Foster explains, “Spiritual direction involves a process through which one person helps another person understand what God is doing and saying.”

Mile Markers of Spiritual Formation

Glenn Balsis April 29, 2025

By Glenn Balsis, TDC – Often I gauge my highway travel by mile markers to help me understand where I am as I drive. For my spiritual journey, I’ve realized that I need a spiritual director to help me assess those mile markers in my walk with God. Coaching, mentoring, and discipling all have valued places within my life with God, but spiritual direction has offered a unique encounter with God.

With Me on My Journey

Jo Newell April 29, 2025

By Jo Newell, TDC

God walked so faithfully and kindly with me in the year following our only son Nathaniel’s death. He met me often through people, almost daily in nature, and usually through His Word. As I was approaching the first anniversary, I sensed from Him that He wanted me to seek a companion to accompany me as I continued this heartbreaking journey.

Dangit, Jo!

Lyndi Lee Markus April 29, 2025

By Lyndi Lee Markus, TDC –
“Dangit, Jo!” I exclaimed to my spiritual director. Except I did not use the word dangit. I had come to our session discouraged to the point of tears, stuck in anxious thinking that left me hopeless and powerless. Her question had both lovingly and uncomfortably dislodged me from my rut. How was she so wise?

The Light of Christ

Amanda Torres April 29, 2025

By Amanda Torres, Collegiate – As she struck a match to light the candle for our spiritual direction session, I heard my director say the familiar words she opens with time and time again, “The Light of Christ—who is with us, for us, and in us.” I needed this simple yet profound reminder to sink in deeply on this particular day. I was 21 weeks pregnant, and it was the day after the anatomy scan where my husband and I had found out there was something wrong with our daughter’s heart.

Safe Spaces of Silence in Spiritual Direction

Luke Kleveland April 29, 2025

By Luke Kleveland, TDC – Before COVID, I would not have imagined doing spiritual direction with anyone. In fact, if you had asked me about this five years ago, I probably would have looked at you in confusion because I didn’t really know what it was, and then with skepticism because I thought it was purely mystical stuff. Little did I know how my journey with Jesus would change my perspective.

Black and White to Color: Rewiring My Brain for Intimacy

Dave Mead September 23, 2024

“I just wish you could connect with me better, and relate to me at a deeper level,” my wife said. It didn’t sound mad this time—but it was with heartbreaking sadness. After decades of marriage, we were once again having this weighty conversation. My dismissive attachment style wanted to run

Riding the Waves of Transition

Serene Chua July 22, 2024

Transitions can be hard, especially those that aren’t expected. But even for the ones we long for, there are still lessons to learn, emotions to sort out and most of all, places where we can meet with the Lord. I had always wanted to be married. In my mid 20s,

The Reality You Feared: Practical Steps for Making it Through

Austin Olinger July 22, 2024

I had been crying loudly for 15 minutes. My wife was laying peacefully and mostly non-responsive in bed next to me. Cancer had been taking her life for over a year and she was days away from breathing her last breath at age 38. I was at the end of

An Empty Place

Mark Rood July 22, 2024

With our belongings loaded onto a ship for the journey back to the U.S., I find myself sitting among the dust bunnies on the floor of our vacant Tokyo home, pondering the significance of the past 24 beautiful and complicated years. The farewells are over, our missionary roles are finished,