God Uses Ordinary People

By Gwendolyn Gantt

God Uses Ordinary People is "a delightful and inspiring read..." From humble beginnings, God transformed the author, a self-confessed "ordinary" woman into an extraordinary influencer and servant-leader for the kingdom. God Uses Ordinary People by Elder Gwendolyn Gantt interweaves timeless, biblical principles with an insp

• Language: English
• Publisher: ELOHAI International Publishing & Media
• Release date: Apr 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781953535467

Gwendolyn Gantt

Elder Gwendolyn Gantt is a native of Durham, North Carolina. She is married to Maxwell Gantt. Together they have three adult children, one daughter-in-law, and a growing tribe of nine grandchildren. Elder Gantt started her spiritual journey working as the youth director for many years. Currently, while serving as the community outreach director at her church she leads a weekly drive-through food giveaway serving groceries to hundreds of families. She has a team of approximately 100 volunteers. Elder Gantt also serves as the outreach director for the non-profit organization, Project Bright Future Mentoring Program, Inc., under the leadership of Executive Pastor Clarence Dow.

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Ordinary People – In The Beginning Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV)

Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Chapter 1

In the Beginning

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and He made man and woman. I was far from imagining that so many people would be blessed and encouraged from hearing the story of my life and how God has chosen to use ordinary me.

Join me on this road through history. I love the stories in the scripture where people are called by God to do something special for Him. These people are just like you and me, just common, ordinary people. Take a look at some of the people from the Bible who God used:

Moses was living on the back side of the desert, a total failure as the prince of Egypt, and God called him to deliver a nation.

How about Nehemiah? He was living in Persia in complete obscurity serving as a cupbearer to a king, and God called him to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem.

Mary was a teenage girl living in Nazareth when God called her to be the mother of the Messiah.

Simon Peter would have lived and died an ordinary fisherman except Jesus called him to establish the church.

I, too, am just an ordinary person who grew up in Durham, North Carolina. Come and go with me on this journey.

Little known facts about ORDINARY ME:

I love street ministry.

I love to laugh and have fun.

I am happy-go-lucky.

Growing up, I was very quiet and shy and always made every attempt to get along with everyone.

In my young adult years, I was an alto singer in a community gospel choir.

I like to dance (within reason) unapologetically, and I’m most happy when dancing and praising my Lord and Savior.

I preached a sermon a few years ago entitled, So You Think You Can Dance. With this said, if you invite me to your party, please don’t expect me to sit still. I don’t mind doing the opening prayer or the closing prayer at your party, but I promise you I will dance at least once. More importantly, I love to dance and praise the LORD.

I know that I am God’s workmanship. I am so grateful God thought enough of me to create me to do His work in the world. He desires that I accomplish great things for Him. The Lord prepared those good things He wanted me to do before I was born. It means a lot to me that God thought enough of me to create me for good works. My desire is to make Jesus’ name known and to bring glory to His name.

Four Strikes

Some may think I have four strikes against me which could potentially prevent my success in life. I come boldly to tell the world that God uses ORDINARY PEOPLE and my God says He has already taken strikes for me. As I was journaling about my upbringing, I came to realize I find it most difficult and humbling to talk about me, myself, and I…ORDINARY ME. More importantly, I find it easy to talk about what the Lord has done in my life and how He has used me for His glory. In my younger years, I would often think about how to be successful in life. I realized the world might say a person like me has four strikes against her to prevent her from becoming successful.

Strike One – I’m a Female

There has been much discussion and research on gender equality. In fact some research has proven society generally favors men over women for many opportunities such as:

Jobs

Promotions

Equal Pay

Voting Rights

Economic Rights

In my early career I worked in labor jobs which required me to perform equal to men, yet with less pay. I have been overlooked for promotions when performing equal work as my male counterparts. As I think back over my life, I remember applying for a position at the same government agency where my husband worked, however, my skills did not land me the job because I was told that my husband and I could not work at the same agency. Essentially, I have been overlooked for positions for which I was qualified and had the knowledge and ability to perform.

Facts: Unequal Pay Rates

During my young adult years, women and men worked in very different occupations. Overall men’s jobs paid higher than women’s jobs. The chart below shows the percentages of jobs held by men and women and their associated, unequal earnings based on a 2009 report from the United States

Department of Labor.1

Male/Female Product Cost Comparison

Even as I shop for daily items, I have noticed that female products such as razors, shampoo, and conditioners are more costly than male products. In fact, some products cost more only because they are marketed for females with more elaborate packaging, including colors that are more vibrant than men’s products.

Women Facts on Voting Rights

On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment went into effect. This amendment granted women the right to vote. In the 1800s, women fought to win the right to vote, but it was decades before the amendment was passed and women earned equal voting rights as their male counterparts.

Strike Two – I’m from North Carolina

I was born and raised in the South and I relocated to the North (Washington, D.C.) in 1979. Historically, people tend to think that those of us from the South are less progressive than people from the North. I can remember being misunderstood on many jobs because of my Southern accent. In fact, I was interviewed for a front desk position and was automatically disqualified due to my accent. I felt perhaps I was not a good fit for the front desk.

Relocating

After serving in the military and relocating to the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia area), I found that people thought a young, quiet girl from North Carolina did not fit in many social gatherings. My circle of friends was small and I was okay with that. These were in my younger years. I guess I could summarize this by saying I didn’t fit in because of my lack of social ethics. I didn’t smoke weed or cigarettes nor use profanity as my first language like some of my colleagues. By this stage in my life, I relied heavily on the biblical Golden Rule, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Other North Carolina stereotypes and perceptions include:

We all smoke or dip tobacco… (Just because we grow it, it doesn’t mean we smoke it.)

Often others mocked our use of ma’am, sir, y’all, etc.

People from North Carolina have improper grammar and broken English.

Debates on pulled pork barbecue recipes and the principles of vinegar vs. tomato-based recipes

On many of my jobs most people assumed everyone from North Carolina lived on a farm and raised cattle. Oftentimes when I went home to visit, many people on my job would ask me to bring back roasted pigs and fresh collard greens. I can remember explaining that I purchased my food from the same place they bought their food which was from the local grocery stores.

Strike Three – I’m African American

In my early career in the federal government, many African Americans were not recognized for the