Interview with Dawn Stahl – Part 1
By M.O.M.'s - Sandy Ohlman

Dawn Stahl will be speaking at Resurrection Life Church’s Women’s Conference, held on April 24-26th 2008. You can find more information about the conference by visiting www.reslife.org.
 

MOM: Thanks so much for sharing your life and experience with our readers. I know God is going to bless people through your testimony. I’ve known you for several years and appreciated your solid, steady heart for God and His will. For our reader’s sake, let’s jump right into the heart of the matter; describe your journey while following God’s call on your life.

Dawn: I would say the key has been the daily walk of obedience to God and within that the daily obedience and submission to the vision of my husband for our family. It isn’t easy but it’s necessary to live within the perfect will of God.

There is an “embracing” and “letting go” attitude involved in the journey. It’s been hard to let go of things that I wanted; there’s a temptation to think that I’m moving backwards, away from where I would have chosen to go. But God told me “Dawn, you think every move has been a step backward but every move was bringing you forward, toward what I want you to do.” It is a walk by faith and not by sight; in daily obedience to God Himself, wherever He may lead. It’s a daily lifestyle whether it’s worshipping or reading the Word, reaching out to a neighbor, or chaperoning a bus trip for my son’s school. God’s more concerned about who we are than what we’re doing. It’s so much more about the journey than about the destination.

MOM: I appreciate your transparency and your focus on doing life God’s way. A lot of women feel like a title or an accomplishment is some kind of stamp of approval and they make that goal the main thing. What are your thoughts on this?

Dawn: God desires to turn us into alignment – our identity is not in what we do – it is who we are in Christ. You can put me in a grocery store, behind a front desk or behind a pulpit – it doesn’t change who I am in Christ.

MOM: What has been one of the most significant lessons you have learned thus far?

Dawn: I have to come back to this: Obedience is better than sacrifice. I have to find out what God wants me to do and do it. If it’s a message – I have to find out what God wants said and deliver that message. It’s that “in season” message that will bring life to people. We can come up with a syllabus, we can come up with ‘this and that’ but to allow the breath of life to fill all that we do and breathe upon who we are – that’s what makes an impact. When we allow Him to speak through us people’s lives are touched.

Consider this: when we were created we became a living soul by the breath of God. Without that breath there is no life. It’s that simple. We need to be conscious of it as ministers; that He starts and finishes the work. Don’t finish in the flesh what was started in the spirit. Don’t rely on the arm of the flesh or the natural abilities but submit them in humility before God. We need to stop, look and listen – living prayerfully and humbly by the direction of God.

Stay tuned for part two of Dawn's Interview