The following speech was given by LaQuenta Morgan at the CiRCE Apprenticeship graduation ceremony.
“The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.” Deuteronomy 7:7-9 (NLT)
My life is a constant testimony of God calling me out of my Egypt. In my Egypt, I was a slave to complacency and fear. It was safer to be in Egypt than to step into the unknown or to be challenged with new things. In Egypt, the food was sparce and the yoke was heavy but God desires that the food be a feast and the yoke be light.
The CiRCE Apprenticeship is part of my journey out of Egypt. Initially, I believed I was joining to become a better homeschooling mom, but God had so much more in mind. Everything hard and painful for me about The Apprenticeship – the teaching in front of peers, the critiquing of the head mentor, the impromptu speeches that brought stinging tears to the back of my eyes worked to rescue and refine me.
Finding home in the companionship of cohorts and head mentors, and the beginning and finishing of hard things has freed me from my slavish fears – the fear of starting, the fear of being known, the fear that I am not enough.
I came into The Apprenticeship knowing that I was empty, and I left having feasted to fullness. I left ready to educate my children but also to offer more of myself and all that is beautiful to my family, my friends, my community; and most importantly to my savior who continues to call me and to redeem me and to prepare a table before me.
LaQueta Morgan, RM APS Grad 2021
