While life had been far from perfect when Susan Kent felt called into ministry, she had finally reached a point of contentment. After growing up the traveling child of an oilman — most of her years spent in Texas — everything seemed to finally be going according to plan following an earlier tragedy.

After the death of her husband in West Virginia, Susan and her son moved in with her parents back in Kingwood. She opened a children’s bookstore and, during that time, she met and married Robert, and they had three children. After the early tragedy, life was seemingly good again. Then God came knocking.

“After about six and a half years of (the bookstore), God started calling me out of that into something else,” she says. “I did not want to do that. I didn’t want to leave. I loved my store.”

She tried to compromise with God, but the Lord said no. He wanted her to do something else, but He wouldn’t tell her what that was until she gave up what she already had and went all-in.

Her resistance finally broke one Sunday morning when the pastor was using an illustration about Simon Birch.

“The light came through the stained glass window and was on my face and was so bright that everything actually turned black for me,” she says. “I couldn’t see anything. It cut out everything except that I could hear the words the preacher was saying.”

The message was just for her. She knew she had to give the bookstore up completely before she could move forward into God’s calling.

“I had to get to the point where I said, ‘Okay, my whole life is yours. Whatever you want me to do.’ That’s when I felt like He was calling me into ministry. I didn’t realize it was ordained ministry at the time.”

God paved the way for her to be able to go to Asbury Seminary, and she worked as an intern at The Woodlands Methodist Church. Dr. Robb offered her a part time position under Dr. John Hull in Missions Ministry and she began her work at the church. After graduation from seminary, the church created a pastoral position for her. In the summer of 2014 Susan expanded her role to include being Pastor of Women’s Ministry and Worship.

Susan is married to Robert and they have four children: Caden, Cayley, Emma and Noah.