Christina is a friend of our family. We met her through her husband Guillaume. Hardly ever have I met someone with a heart to serve people like Christina. She is patient and thoughtful and loves to help others. She is also a close friend of my daughter Charity. We are blessed to have her in our church and in our home for visits. I hope you enjoy, Inspiring Women: Life With Christina

Inspiring Women: Life With Christina

 

Most of my writing up to this point has been school papers or topics related to my vocation. I can enjoy hours of research and theories on topics such as counselling First Nation populations who have experienced a lifelong disconnect from their reserve or fostering good group dynamics while working within the adolescences population. Now I am faced with the challenge of writing about myself, and I must admit it’s much more difficult. I have been deeply blessed by the Inspiring Women blogs I have read thus far. I hope to be a blessing to a few of you as well.

 

A Little About Me

I didn’t grow up in the Church. When I was younger, I attended Galilean Bible Camp every summer, and I loved my time there. By the time the fall would hit the little flame inside my heart that burned for Christ was completely extinguished. When I was 16, I decided to work there for the summer and then attend as a camper. At the end of the summer, I had dove head first into the love of Christ and plan to never leave. That fall I got a car and used it to spend as much time as I could in Christian fellowship and personal study. I had 16 years to catch up on getting to know this God that I had fallen so deeply in love with.

Like so many teenagers at that age, I had the big decision of what to do after high school. I had always known I had wanted to be a counsellor.

God had his hand in leading me exactly on the right track.

The godly people I had in my life had varying views some were wary of psychology and counselling, others were supportive to a fault. God opened doors so I could attend a Christian university in Toronto, Tyndale. The first year I got a certificate in Christian Studies. Then God provided for me financially with a job as an RA. I started taking more psychology and biblical electives as I continued to work on my BA in Psychology degree. The level of education, the church I attended in Toronto, and the people I met along that journey played a large role in bringing me closer to Christ-likeness.

From there God jolted my path in a different direction. He shifted my focus from the mind to the heart.

He provided a great godly man, that complimented my character and personal flaws in a way I would have never even known to pray for.

I moved back to the Sault, and we got engaged. The summer before my last year of university we got married. He patiently and supportively journeyed through as I continued with my Master of Science in Counseling Psychology degree from Clarks Summit. Just as I was finishing my last few hundred hours of internship, we found out we are expecting a baby boy at the beginning of December.

God’s timing isn’t always what I expected, but it always seems to turn out better than I expected.

 

 

A Typical Day

I spend the weekdays heading to one of my internship sites. Which includes a variety of placements; from Northshore Family Centre (with my dog Zina as a therapy dog), the hospital inpatient/outpatient mental health unit, to the Algoma District School Board. All of which provide varying but great experiences. Often my days include counselling (psychotherapy) with youth, women, couples, patients, Christian, non-Christian, people suffering from depression, anxiety, PTSD, daily stressors and much more in both individual and group settings.

 

After work and on weekends you can find me relaxing with my husband, fellowshipping with friends, working out, officiating ringette or studying for my comprehensive exams.

 My Daily Struggles

Currently, I struggle with not knowing what exactly my future holds. I know I am going to be a mom soon and will have a completed MSc in Counseling Psychology degree. But exactly how these fit together, I don’t know. As a person who loves to plan, not knowing how God wants to use me in the near or extended future is a struggle. I thought God had already taught me how to trust him before I got married. Looking back my naivety is comical.

All praise be to Him, my trust in Him continues to grow daily.

 

 

Joys in my Day

One of the greatest joys in my day is helping others overcome negative core beliefs and cognitive dissonances. It may take ten sessions, but it is pure joy to finally see that breakthrough as someone realizes that the shame they felt was self-afflicted,and not of God. Now they can start overcoming it. It could be helping someone with depression, catch their feelings of worthlessness, check the facts, and come up with a new belief that they can start to build a new pathway in their brain that they are worthy. I get to witness those thoughts of worthlessness slowly seep away. Being able to validate with biblical truths and science, the struggles of mental illness, and provide tools for change (as I pray for God to provide healing and true heart change), is a great joy in my daily life.

If you are interested in Christian counselling in Sault Ste. Marie, check out https://thenorthcounselling.com/. If you have any questions, comments or inquiries please contact Christina at christina.williams@shaw.ca.

My Dreams

I dream of being a good wife and mother. A mother that brings her child(ren) close to Christ, so they can experience true joy, rather than just focusing on making them “happy”.  My husband and I dream of adopting child(ren). When, and how exactly that will look is another way God is showing me to trust Him.

I dream of using my experiences and education in mental health to further the kingdom of Christ. To help Christians overcome barriers that mental illness often creates between them and God. To aid non-Christians in overcoming mental illnesses in a way that allows their eyes to be opened to the things beyond this world.

 Moments with God

A professor imparted deep biblical wisdom that God has deeply inflicted on my heart; because you can only pour out what you put in. I am so thankful for all the small and large moments I get to spend with God. That is often worshiping Him, listening to podcasts or the audio bible often on the car ride to and from work, while doing chores, or rare moments of relaxation. It often includes writing papers or “doing research” on biblical topics related to counselling and personal interests. As well there are moments where through fellowship and godly mentors, God fills me. I desire to pour out a lot, I can’t do that on my own, I need to allow God to fill me.

 

Did you feel blessed by, Inspiring Women: Life With Christina? Read about another woman who reflects on married life? Read: What I Learned After Thirty Years of Marriage. 

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