An Inspired Chat with Tonya Blessing

Tonya Blessing shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Tonya, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Are you walking a path—or wandering?
Sometimes I walk, and sometimes I wander. And sometimes walking and wandering happen at the same time.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a pastor in Malta, Montana. When you “google” Malta, you won’t see my small town, but will instead view the blue/green breathtakingly beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Malta is home to approximately 2,000 people. Mostly cattle folk. In the fall, as the wheat tassles and dances in the breeze, it almost looks like the sea. The “amber waves of grain” bowing and bending with the rhythm of nature.

Pastoring ranchers is both enlightening and entertaining. Their stories of burly billy goats, snow-white lambs, and soft-nosed calves make me smile. Their stories of lightening strikes, blue tongue disease, and new born animals frozen in the bitter elements make me shiver and sigh.

I am constantly searching for video clips, cowboy songs, and pictures of rural living to use as sermon illustrations.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
In my early 20’s, my husband and I attended a local church in Littleton, Colorado. The pastor’s wife, Betty, invited me to speak at a ladies’ luncheon. I had never prepared a sermon and didn’t know how to begin the process. I called a friend, who was a pastor, and borrowed the notes from a sermon about Jehoshaphat.

King Jehoshapaht and the nation of Israel faced a formidable enemy. Victory would not come by human strength and strategy. The people prayed, praised God, and prevailed.

After sharing my borrowed sermon, Betty talked with me about pursuing ministry as a vocation. Her encouragement put me on a life-long spiritual journey.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
People will have opinions about who you are, what you should accomplish, where you should go, when you should stand and sit, and how you should live your life. Opinions are thoughts of sometone else about you and do not define you. Don’t live your life based on how others see you. Live your life based on how God sees you – fearfully and wonderfully made.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
Last year, I took a class on sermon preparation and presentation. The curriculum stated that the least effective example to use in a sermon is yourself. I completely disagree. I want people to see me as I truly am. The good, the bad, and the ugly exist in all of us, and when brought to light in a loving environment, those things are transformed into feats of battle and scars of victory.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What will you regret not doing? 
My husband told me about a people group that he and my brother met in Namibia. The community was extremely remote. The adults made charcoal. Put together houses of cardboard and tin were covered in black smoke and filth. The shoeless children’s smiles seemed to light the sky, and their laughtered diminished the languish of poverty. There were no schools. My husband and I made plans to spend a season among the people. I had dreams of holding stained hands in prayer, drawing letters in the dirt, and enjoying belly laughs among smiling faces. The pandemic came. Namibia delayed opening her borders, and my husband and I, out of necessity, returned to America.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MaltaAssemblyOfGod.com
• Facebook: Tonya Jewel Blessing