Meet Kendall

Meet Kendall, our newest staff member at Scarlet Hope!

I grew up in a very southern city called Huntsville, AL. A little fun fact…Huntsville is known for its Space and Rocket Center, arsenal/army base, high population of engineers, and its beautiful scenery, being located in a valley and completely surrounded by luscious, green mountains. My mom always describes it as a place where rocket scientist meets Bubba. Needless to say Huntsville was a very interesting but also wonderful place to grow up. I attended The University of Alabama in Huntsville for my first two years of college, due to some health issues that caused me to need to be near my family. Once I became healthier the Lord opened up many doors for me to be able to finish out my degree at Boyce College in Louisville, KY. Little did I know how much I would fall in love with this city that I now call home! At Boyce I studied Biblical Counseling, and I graduated in 2013. I loved and enjoyed my degree so much that I truly miss being in the classroom at times. I’m constantly trying to stay up to date on the newest books and techniques in the biblical counseling world, and I hope to finish my Biblical Counseling certification in the next year or so.

I was hired on as a full time case manager. This means I get to dedicate all of my time and energy towards meeting one on one with women and building relationships with them. This includes, but is not limited to, helping with intakes of the new ladies who come into our ministry, pairing ladies with resources in the community, helping the ladies make goals and establish steps to accomplish them, providing support and a safe place to share struggles, giving the ladies hope and encouragement in Christ, and many things like this. Essentially I am striving to empower and equip the women we work with to live an even healthier life spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically, of which they are more than capable.

I can remember as early as middle school that the Lord first began impressing on my heart a love for listening to others, and a desire to help my friends with their problems. The Lord continued to increase this passion, which eventually lead to me pursuing a counseling degree. I distinctly remember that night when I surrendered to pursuing the counseling degree. I was a sophomore at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, just sitting in my dorm room with my roommate. My roommate had began her studies at Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Christian Counseling before transferring to UAH. We were looking at her counseling books as I shared with her my dream of becoming some sort of counselor or social worker one day, but also some of the reservations I had. The reservations mainly consisted of feeling inadequate for this calling, scared of messing up someone’s life, fear of failure, and the list went on and on. I loved the idea of counseling and felt the Lord calling me to it for years, but I was simply terrified and felt the weighty responsibility of caring for another person’s soul. Yet, that night in my dorm room the Lord swooped in and quieted all of my fears. I went to bed that night knowing I could not run away from this calling, and I knew the Lord would equip me. I have reflected many a times on that night, especially when doubts have crept in. The Lord in His kindness has continued to confirm time and time again that this is the path He has chosen for me, whether that was through encouragement through another profession or friend, many job and volunteer opportunities in my field to gain experience, a passion for it, or most importantly, His Word. Passages like 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 speak of our sufficiency in Christ as being that which qualifies us to be ministers of the gospel. I hold these truths near to my heart.

It’s so hard to pick just a few! I will say that getting to partner with the Lord in sharing the hope of the gospel and its transforming powers with other women is both an honor and a blessing. In Luke 4 Jesus explains that He has come to fulfill the prophecy found in Isaiah 61 that speaks of one coming who will bring good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, set the captives free, and unbind prisoners. As followers of Christ He calls us to partner with Him in this ministry (2 Corinthians 5:16-21).  So, the fact that I get to share this with others as my job is an amazing blessing that I never want to take for granted. I absolutely love the staff I get to work with as well. These women are godly, inspiring, encouraging, and hilarious. They provide such great support and accountability. It is a rare thing to find a job that you are passionate about, a ministry that you love, and coworkers that feel like family. Let’s be real though, no job is perfect, but these things make the hard and challenging days at work a little easier to push through and keep going.

In my spare time you can find me relaxing with my husband, Brandon, and our nine month old puppy, Ellie. Brandon and I love eating out at local restaurants in Louisville, especially sushi, and we’re never without some sort of coupon or Groupon, because Brandon is the king of finding deals. We also enjoy watching documentaries and thought-provoking films, and then discussing the themes later on. We are definitely old souls by nature. I recharge by chatting with a girlfriend over a cup of tea, reading, working out, watching make-up tutorials, journaling, and attempting DIY projects for our home.