I don't question my call anymore, but as a woman in ministry, other people often do. I didn't grow up with female pastors as role models so God had to sneak up on me, first calling me to urban ministry, then to church planting, and finally to be an ordained pastor. By the time that last piece fell into place, my mother and fiancé both said, "We knew that's where you would end up."

I was not a typical church planter, but I was determined to be obedient. Thirty years later I'm still in the same city pastoring the church I planted. Now, if someone else questions my validity—especially because I'm female—I think of what Jesus said: "You will know them by their fruit." I hope my fruit speaks for me.