JourneyOnline
By Cherylynne Gostelow, Principal and CEO Calvary Christian College
I have learned that responding to God’s call is the (often) ‘hard’ (but always) right thing to do – especially when it makes no sense to me!
Across my life, I have known what it is to be in the place to which God has called me and what it is to be in the place I am insistent is right for me.
In 2015 God made me aware of Calvary Christian College in Carbrook/Springwood while I was happily resident in Western Australia – a migrant who settled there in 1995.
It took until late 2016 for me to follow that up, and I took up an appointment as Deputy Principal in January 2017. Leaving my then 3-year-old granddaughter and both adult daughters behind made no sense to me. I loved my home, my friends and all that WA meant to me. BUT there was this unmistakable call.
A few short weeks after I landed in Queensland, Adam Low preached the 2017 Vision Sunday sermon on Joshua 3. I left the church and headed straight for Target, where I bought a frame that stands on my desk to this day. This frame, with the ‘memorial stone’ I picked up in the service as a sign of my acceptance of my calling to this place and obedience to God no matter what he asked of me, still stands on my desk and is an encouragement- particularly when the whirlwind of the day gets in the way of the quiet voice of God.
In the frame are the key points of Adam’s sermon:
Stay close to the presence of God
“then you will know which way to go”
Consecrate yourselves
“For tomorrow God will do amazing things among you”
Courageously Obey
“Go and stand in the river”
Don’t look back
“these stones are to be a memorial”
These words have become my practice and are the foundation for my time at Calvary. All I can say is God is more than faithful, and serving him in Queensland has been my most recent and most exciting and exacting adventure with him.
I love that he is the God of “immeasurably more”, not only in what he gifts us with but also in what he does with us when we yield to his direction.
PS My children followed me East in 2019 and 2022, respectively, and my granddaughter, now 10 years old, attends Calvary Christian College. I serve the God who gives us immeasurably more than we can ever hope or ask for!
