{"id":46,"date":"2009-11-23T02:12:03","date_gmt":"2009-11-23T02:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihsteps.com\/wordpress\/?p=46"},"modified":"2009-11-23T02:12:03","modified_gmt":"2009-11-23T02:12:03","slug":"iris-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/?p=46","title":{"rendered":"Iris Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"home-2\"<\/p>\n

As a young child, I experienced an illness that left me with disabilities and an uncertainty about
my own skills and talents.  This led to a passionate pursuit to find the one true God.  I eventually
accepted  Christ  as  my  Savior  as  a  teenager,  and  my  desire  to  know  Him  better  became  even
stronger.  Because  I  grew up in a Jewish home, it was a challenge to develop my relationship
with the Lord.  And, I did not want to hurt my family, especially my mother and grandmother. 
During  this  time,  my  parents  divorced,  and  my  father  found  the  Lord.    So,  through  Christian
neighbors and friends and my father, I found the fellowship I needed.
 
After I graduated from high school, I made a firmer commitment to the Lord because I was no
longer under my mother\u2019s roof.  At college, I met my future husband, and we began worshipping
together at a local assembly.  We have continued to worship at Assembly of God churches over
the years wherever we found ourselves living across the country.
 
The first few years of our marriage presented many challenges with my health issues, disabilities,
finances,  etc.  But, it was during those difficult times that  I  experienced  the spiritual growth  I
needed to fulfill the call God had on my life.  
 
All  of  this  led  me  to  start  In  His  Steps  Ministries  (IHS)  as  a  ministry  associate  with  Joni  and
Friends (JAF).  My affiliation with JAF has taught me that what we go through in life will be
used to reach others for the Lord.  <\/p>\n

\u201cPraise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, <\/p>\n

who comforts us in all our troubles, so
that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. <\/p>\n

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort
overflows.\u201d  (II  Corinthians  1:3-5,  NIV)    I  recently  obtained  ministry  credentials  through  the
International Ministerial Fellowship.
 
Presently, I write a newsletter and host a web site for those, disabled or not, who are hurting or
struggling in life.  Through IHS, my husband and I reach out with encouragement to individuals
to give them a hope for the future through Christ.  \u201cFor I know the plans that I have for you,
\u201cdeclares the LORD, \u201cplans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.\u201d 
(Jeremiah 29:11, NAS)
 
Three  friends  (Tammy,  Cathy,  and  Becky),  who  have  always  had  a  calling  to  write,  are
contributors to the newsletter and web site.  God provided an opportunity for them to answer this
call,  and  they  are  doing  just  that.    Merinda,  a  retired  schoolteacher,  is  another  friend  who
contributes writing.  She also reads the newsletter for an audio edition on the web site.  I am very
grateful for these women of the Lord, and I hope their writings will bless all of you as much as
they have blessed me.  I also pray that this whole ministry can serve and encourage you as you
read the words that God has put on our hearts to reach out to you.
 
May  God\u2019s  love  and  grace  surround  you  as  you  journey  with  Him  to  find  your  calling  and
destiny.
 
Blessings to all,
Iris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a young child, I experienced an illness that left me with disabilities and an uncertainty about my own skills and talents.  This led to a passionate pursuit to find the one true God.  I eventually accepted  Christ  as  my  Savior  as  a  teenager,  and  my  desire  to  know  Him  better  became  even stronger.  Because  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}