Suddenly

One of the things I love about Scripture is the number of times God shows up suddenly.

As many of you know, after faithfully leading ARMS for 28 years, our founder, Stacey Womack, passed the baton at the end of 2025. After a brief leadership transition, God unexpectedly called me to serve as Executive Director in April 2026.

If you had asked me a year ago if this would be my next chapter, I would have confidently said no.

But that’s the thing about God’s “suddenly” moments – you never see them coming.

A prisoner becomes a ruler in a day. A shepherd is anointed king. A prison door flies open. The Holy Spirit falls at Pentecost. A persecutor encounters Jesus, and everything changes.

We all have a picture in our minds of what the next season of life will look like – our plans, our expectations, even our vocation. Then God steps in. And when He does, new adventures begin.

This has certainly been true for me.

For the past few years, I have had the privilege of serving as Chair of the ARMS Board. I had no idea He was preparing me for something different.

But my story with ARMS didn’t begin in the boardroom. It began fourteen years ago as a participant in the Her Journey abuse recovery program.

For those who attended our 2025 banquet, you heard a small part of that story. God used the ministry of ARMS to begin bringing healing and restoration to the deepest wounds of my life. Looking back, I can’t separate what God did in my heart from the ministry He established through ARMS years before I ever walked through its doors.

Psalm 18:16 says, “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.” What a beautiful picture of God’s grace. From on high, He reached down and rescued me.

Nearly three decades ago, He stirred Stacey Womack’s heart to start this ministry, already knowing that one day, in 2013, I would desperately need it. I would need rescuing.

My story is not unique. But it is uniquely mine. And I celebrate God’s redeeming grace in my life, which cannot be denied. I see it in my relationship with Christ, in the healing He brought all those years ago, in the lives of my two amazing daughters, and in the peace and joy we experience together as a family.

Suddenly, I find myself serving as Executive Director of this incredible ministry. I don’t know how long or short this season will be, because this ministry has never belonged to one person – it belongs to the Lord. My role is simply to be faithful for as long as He asks me to serve.

I don’t believe God is finished writing stories like mine. In fact, I believe He is still the God of “suddenly.” So, I pray for more. I pray for more sudden moments of freedom for survivors who have lost hope. I pray for sudden conviction and genuine repentance in those who have caused harm. I pray for sudden healing in families, sudden courage to leave dangerous situations, and sudden encounters with Jesus that transform lives forever.

This is why ARMS will continue going into the dark places. None of us knows what tomorrow holds. Somewhere today, someone is walking through the doors of an ARMS class carrying the same hopelessness I carried fourteen years ago. They have no idea that God is about to begin rewriting their story. That’s how His “suddenly” moments often work. Sometimes they come in an instant. Other times they begin with one step of faith toward Jesus.

We will continue to walk alongside the broken, speak truth with compassion, equip churches and communities, train leaders, and proclaim the only hope that has ever truly changed lives.

I would like to ask you to pray for us. Would you pray fervently for our staff, volunteers, board members, and ministry partners? Pray that the God of “suddenly” would continue advancing His Kingdom through ARMS. Pray for wisdom, humility, courage, financial provision, and perseverance as we face the spiritual resistance that has always accompanied this work. Pray that His grace will sustain us and that we will not grow weary. Pray that God would stir hearts to give to this ministry and be part of the “suddenly” of financial provision that we need.

The answer has never been a program.

The answer has never been an organization.

The answer has always been and always will be – Jesus.

May He receive all the glory.

~ Christine