Introducing...Chantelle Funk

This is Chantelle Funk and her family. She and her husband are entrepreneurs establishing a business in Kelowna while they raise two young sons. Chantelle also serves on the Board of Directors at Bethany College where she passionately challenges us to think creatively in our ministry. She brings her workplace fundraising experience and her business skills to the board and helps in focusing our mission: Nurturing Disciples and Training Leaders to Serve. Life for Chantelle is lived in relationship with God as she brings the issues of her life honestly and directly to Him. Here are some insightful and challenging words from her.
~Howie Wall, President

Be joyful always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). I get the praying thing, I get the giving thanks bit, but being joyful ALWAYS?!?!? What about most of the time? I think I was born cynical and jaded and have had to work my way up to being content in every situation but God is trying to show me that it is possible to live up another step – with joy. Always. Joyce Meyer said something that I wrote on my calendar: “An attitude of trust releases joy in our lives.” I read it every time I passed my calendar for two weeks. On January 13 my husband had a seizure out of the blue (later revealed to be a benign brain tumour) and after a long day trying to take care of our business and kids and being at the hospital, I walked past my calendar and read that quote again. At a moment when I had every excuse NOT to be joyful or feel joyful, I CHOSE to trust – whatever, whenever, I trust you Lord, my times are in your hands. And the next few weeks my joy increased even as all my circumstances gave reasons for the opposite.

The verse God gave me for 2011 is from John 15:5 “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.” The chapter goes on to talk about love and obedience and then in verse 11: “I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.” And there it is – another step in my journey of learning about joy. I dwell in Christ, cut off from everything but him, I obey his commands, I live as a flow-through of his love; receiving it and giving back out to others – and His joy is complete and overflowing in my life. I may have to look on the bright side of things after all.

Chantelle Funk (nee Priebe)