title: Encountering the God of Surprises: Transformed by Joy
author: Susan Melene Grittman
description: Susan Grittman is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church. She brings to her writing and ministry a breadth of experience from several years as a high school teacher, mother of two, and 18 years as lead or associate pastor in diverse settings: large and small churches; large city, small town, suburban churches; Anglo, African-American, and multicultural congregations. Under her leadership two of her churches were nominated for the Small Membership Church of the Year award in her district. While serving in cross-cultural ministry, her congregation received the Excellence in Ministries Award from the Committee on Religion and Race of the Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. She has mentored candidates for ordained ministry, served on her district leadership team, but, most importantly according to Susan, are the many children and adults in communities she has served who have professed faith in Christ, received hope and healing and changed the direction of their lives to serve Jesus Christ with joy. She and her husband, David, have two grown children. Susan loves nature, adventure, travel, puzzles, photography, scrapbooking family memories, music and worship, serving God and quality time with family and friends.
zlib_text: An Unexpected Joy
  
  
  by
  
  
  Susan Hatler
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  An Unexpected Joy
  
  
  Copyright © 2016 by Susan Hatler
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
  above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced
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  (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the
  prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book. This is a work
  of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either
  the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
  
  
  
  
  
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