If you haven’t met Tenille yet, you are missing out! This big-hearted, straight-shooting Mum of two and a half, who can’t stand the veggies on her plate to touch, has an irrational fear of touching cotton wool and is addicted to Sudoku. More importantly, she is one of our Heart and Soul people; Tenille just gets it. She has got the vision under her skin and she is with us, heart and soul. During the week, Tenille works as an optical dispenser, where she has countless opportunities to bless people with her loving nature and down-to-earth humour.

Tenille has served many roles throughout many years of attending Energizer Church. Right now, one of the areas that she devotes her time to is being a Nourish Writer. Last year, the Nourish Women’s ministry decided to extend their reach beyond the monthly meetings and into lounge-rooms and offices around Hobart with the birth of the Nourish blog, making sisterhood and encouragement available to women wherever they happened to be. It wasn’t long before Tenille caught the vision and decided to get involved. Through her personal stories, shared bravely with the online Nourish community, wisdom and biblical insights, Tenille has proved to be absolutely vital to the growth of the blog. By making her life available through her stories, Tenille is showing women that they are supported and that it is okay to be vulnerable.

“Since I’ve started writing blogs for Church, it’s made a space in my world for something I used to be really good at but then really started neglecting due to having to prioritise things in a way that I didn’t like,” says Tenille. Writing has unleashed her imagination, unlocked as she sits in the presence of God. “[Serving the house] has helped me understand what being planted looks like. Some of the situations I have encountered have caused me to look outside the square and really draw on God, which has grown my personal understanding of how much he loves the Church. It has enlarged my view of the bigger picture.”

Tenille has no doubt that others would benefit from finding their fit in the house just as much as she has; “I would say serving is another way to engage with others. It will take your relationship with God to the next level.” According to Tenille, building the church by using our God-given gifts and talents is a fantastic way to be an encouragement to others and be encouraged by them; “Iron sharpens irons, it goes both ways!”

By Jen Grubb