Hi there! I’m Nicole Allison, author of the blog Speech Peeps and I am so honored to write over here on Faith in Practice to a group of fellow believers.
A little about me:
When I was young, I was very intrigued by missionary work and at one point in my life, thought that perhaps God was calling me into full-time ministry. However, later He made it clear to me that every facet of our lives is essentially “missionary work.” I’ve clung to this over the years and have been humbled to see how God can (and will) use any work we submit to Him in powerful ways (whether being an SLP working with a caseload of students, a blogger writing to thousands of educators, or a stay-at-home mama). I’ve been all three at different times and it’s amazing to see how no action or word is wasted, when it’s done for kingdom work (So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God-1st Corinthians 10:31).
It sounds so simple, right? And it really is simple…but HARD and at times, scary. A while back I was convicted that I had become content submitting only ONE of those things-actions-in my daily missionary work. I had somehow convinced myself that if I simply shined my light through my actions, God would be glorified and I could stop there. After all, actions do often speak louder than words and actions of love are definitely needed in any SLP position with students and mama work at home. However, since there aren’t many “actions” I can take in the blogging and social media world, I had become content by keeping quiet, “hiding my light under the bushel” as they say, or when I did, it was the easily applauded topics such as “Jesus Loves You” that everyone likes to hear. As the Lord gently convicted me, I was encouraged to use my voice for stances of truth that aren’t always easy (or popular) to state (such as my post about teaching gender specific pronouns). And although at times it has been incredibly difficult (losing business parters, close allies, and friends isn’t easy) the Lord always comes through. He’s given us the tools we require (Ephesians 6:11-18) in order to stand firm, if we only ask Him.
This post isn’t meant to spur guilt or even persuade you that every word coming from my mouth or typing fingers honors God (I have a long ways to go)! However, the Bible is clear that Christians are instructed to be faithful in both how we act AND the words we speak to glorify God (Romans 10:9). The good news is we can do that in every area of our life, in any job setting we’re in, whether it means saying a kind word to a student (or our own child), writing a note of encouragement to a fellow staff member, or gently speaking a word of truth, even when it may be difficult.
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
Thank you for reading and being a part of this group! My contact information is below if you’d ever like to reach out, I’d love to hear from you:
Thank you, Nicole Allison, for standing for truth, even when unpopular and risky. And thank you, Darla Gardner, for featuring and supporting your friend, enabling her another platform for truth.