Making Room for God in the Everyday: Kristen Garcia
Kristen Garcia serves in several areas at Freedom Church, including the nursery, prayer team, and Freedom Women. As a mother and a nurse, Kristen understands firsthand what it means to balance demanding work, motherhood, and ministry. Yet, through every season, she continues to find joy in serving others and making herself available to what God is doing.
Kristen’s love for children is what first drew her to serve in the nursery. She considers it a beautiful privilege to be part of the next generation and to pour into the lives of the little ones. While she cares for the babies, she knows their parents and grandparents are just across the hall being filled with the Word of God. Knowing that she is helping create an environment where families can encounter God makes serving in the nursery especially meaningful to her.
Prayer is another area where Kristen feels deeply connected to God’s heart. She wholeheartedly believes that prayer is powerful and considers it a privilege to pray for those in need and intercede for people she may have never even met. Her desire is to see breakthrough—to see chains broken, generational curses broken, sickness flee, financial freedom come, and prodigals return home. She longs to see people receive the guidance, protection, provision, and freedom they need. Interceding for others stirs something deep within her spirit because she wants to see God move in people's lives.
Kristen also loves being involved with Freedom Women. She values the opportunity to connect with women on every level and believes the ministry is not only for the women within the church but also for women throughout the community. She describes the group as a place where women genuinely walk through life together. When one woman celebrates a victory, they all celebrate. When one woman walks through a difficult season, they walk through it with her. They have each other's backs. In a world where life can often feel overwhelming, Kristen believes women need strong, godly relationships where they can lean on one another and know they are not alone.
Balancing motherhood, nursing, and ministry is not always easy. As a mother working demanding shifts, including overnight hours in the past, Kristen's schedule can be exhausting and unpredictable. There are days when she reaches the end of a busy day wondering if she accomplished enough. She sometimes finds herself asking whether she did everything she could for her children, her family, her patients, and even the church.
Yet, in the middle of the busyness, Kristen has found a special place of rest and renewal. Her drive to and from work has become sacred time with God. She may spend that time praying, crying, worshiping, or having what she describes as a personal “worship concert” in her car. Those moments give her time alone with God—with no distractions, children, chores, or responsibilities. It is simply her and Him, and it is during those moments that she finds herself renewed.
Kristen often feels especially connected to God while cooking dinner or driving to work. She uses those ordinary moments to listen to worship music or a sermon. She has found that whenever she listens to a sermon, there is almost always something she needs to hear or something new she learns from Scripture. For her, staying connected to God is vital because life can become incredibly busy, making it easy to become spiritually disconnected without intentionally making time for Him.
Even with the demands of being a nurse, raising her children, and serving in ministry, Kristen feels incredibly supported. She considers herself blessed with an amazing family and church family. At the same time, she recognizes how easy it is to become stretched thin because of the desire to always be there for others. She is learning that sometimes she needs to slow down and give herself permission to rest. Sometimes she has to remind herself, “Girl, you need to sit down and rest!” It is still a work in progress, but she is learning that rest is important too.
Kristen is especially grateful for the support she and her children have received from Freedom Church. From the very first day they visited, she felt welcomed and supported. For her family, Freedom Church has truly become home. She is thankful for the pastors, youth pastors, and children's pastors and knows she can turn to the prayer leaders and Freedom Women when she needs support. She feels surrounded by people who genuinely care for her family and are willing to walk alongside them.
As a mother, Kristen hopes her children see more than just a busy mom. She wants them to see a leader, a protector, a selfless mother, and a praying mom who keeps her eyes on God even in the valleys. Her prayer is that her children will see her example of serving others and develop hearts of their own that desire to love and serve people.
In this season, Kristen believes God is teaching her to truly trust Him—His timing, His plans, and His purposes. She is learning that even through seasons of change, God will work everything together for His glory and for their good. She also feels that God is teaching her patience and reminding her that she does not always need to have the last word. She laughs as she admits that those lessons are very real and definitely not always easy, but she knows she is getting there.
Through nursing, motherhood, and ministry, Kristen is learning that serving God is not about having everything perfectly balanced. It is about trusting Him in every season, making room for Him in the ordinary moments, and allowing Him to use her life to love, encourage, pray for, and serve others. Her life is a testimony that even in the midst of long shifts, sleepless nights, motherhood, and busy schedules, there is still room to say yes to God.
