While Bread of Life is an organization, it only exists through the people who participate, lead and contribute. We want to introduce you to some of those people. Today, meet Lisa Sargent.

Lisa is a current member of the Community of Practice and recently finished a term on our Board as Treasurer/ Secretary. Her involvement goes back many years as she has participated in multiple programs here alongside with her involvement in a local congregation.

On her involvement with the Board from December 2019-June 2022:

My experience on the Board absolutely surpassed what I had as expectations. I was just hoping that we would come out the other end and I really didn’t know what that was going to mean. Maybe it was time for us to understand that we had done the work that we were meant to do. The time that we had together we experienced so many blessings and so many really wonderful experiences.

Working with the other individuals on the Board was truly a spiritual experience. And if you’ve ever been on a Board you know it’s usually about the business of the organization. And there was all that, but it was done in such a way that there was so much more. There was a depth of companionship, collegiality, the spirit of God was with us the entire time. We came out the other side and we are sounder financially now than any other time that I have been involved with Bread of Life. That doesn’t mean we have a lot of money. We are at a solid of enough place that we can occasionally take a chance, move into something that’s a little unknown and do that knowing that it’s a good risk to take.

It was a truly, truly blessed experience. The experience with Bread of Life allows me to live more freely and fully in my own personal life and to take more chances and live into being a little braver. That feels like part of the gift of the experience I’ve had at Bread of Life, specifically working with the Board.

On the Community of Practice:

With the Community of Practice I can already see the deepening of my spiritual walk and how that will enhance the life that I’ll have in the future and the life of the people that my life touches. I have come to understand how what I do and say affects everybody that I encounter in so many different ways. The more that I can bring caring and love and respect and curiosity into the world, the better my little corner of the world will be.

People that are part of the Community of Practice, the desire is that what they receive through the organization feeds them and encourages them to go out and plant seeds elsewhere and make a difference in their world in whatever way they are called to do that. There are so many ways that our world is suffering nowadays and there is a desire to make a positive difference out there and to help enable the people who come to Bread of Life to step out and do that. The desire is to take it in and then be able to give it out even more.

On why she became involved:

I first encountered Bread of Life when I was attending church and felt very comfortable there, but there was this feeling inside that I had that I needed something more. I had several people encourage me to look into the spiritual direction internship. In that program I grew in ways that I didn’t even know existed. I felt that I was going into this program in order to grow my relationship with God, to help other people find their faith and their relationship with God and deepen that, and that was true. But there was also a very strong part that had to do with getting to know myself better. Getting to know who I was, who I am and in some respects learning to accept and love the person I am.

Not only was everyone else a loveable human being and should be treated with respect and care, it’s absolutely true for yourself as well. I’ve experienced personal healing in ways that I absolutely did not anticipate.