Caiah Smith: Wholeheartedly, and Unto the Lord

What Shepherding Means to Caiah Smith

by Amy Boyle

To Caiah Smith, “there’s no certain way you have to or can shepherd.”

Because in her eyes, shepherding is ultimately about “including, guiding, and equipping people in a way that helps them realize their potential.” To disciple is to love people “into seeing God and how He sees them,” and “people see the difference when you love them how Christ does.”

Mentorship, friendship and the workplace, are spaces that have shaped her own experience of shepherding, and how Caiah hopes to extend it to others.

The way women decades older than herself invested in her, allowed Caiah to witness more of the Lord. Watching her mentors engage in the world and with their own kids, established accountability, and modeled a way of life that she was compelled to follow.

Friendships have also drawn her into a deeper sense of being “fully known and fully loved” through encouragement, prayer, and sharing burdens are another source of shepherding.

Even her “secular” workplace has become a sacred discipleship space, as she’s embraced forgiveness and seen Christ reflected in the shared mission of those in her organization.

She never imagined that God would use a seminar during her senior semester at Indiana Wesleyan, to introduce her to an organization and a way of working, that she would be discipled by and disciple others through, but it’s something only God could do.

On a team mostly made up of non-Christians, choosing compassion and learning to ask for and extend forgiveness in the workspace is one way she shares Christ in the workplace.

“Caring for people who are made to feel like they don’t have value,” has always been her heart beat, so it comes at no surprise that Caiah was drawn to Carey Services, a disability services organization that exists to “turn abilities into opportunities.”

As an Advancement Coordinator, Smith has been committed to the work of making room for people who are typically overlooked or made to feel unwanted, an experience she shares, “I’ve personally struggled with… and have seen how God’s grown me in.”

Serving in the disability services industry, she doesn’t have the luxury of feeling confident in her own strength or competency. And for a woman who does all things, “wholeheartedly and unto the Lord,” learning to accept her “identity isn’t found in doing things perfectly,” has been one way she’s experienced God’s presence.

Smith describes her field as one that “many people approach transactionally… creating dependency instead of seeing value and potential,” but fortunately, she “was naive enough to get into a great place,” at Carey Services.

Having known very little about working with those who have disabilities before saying “yes,” a heart for helping people to see God and how He sees them, has always been Caiah’s bend.

So naturally, her investment in the neighborhood God has placed her in goes beyond the job.

In a manner similar to what her mentors modeled for her, Smith has intentionally invested in the next generation, as a coach for Marion’s middle school girls cross country team, and in serving as a Pathways Leader in the local church on Sundays.

So wherever your flock is—whoever God may be calling you to—whether the workspace, the school district, or your local church, “there is no certain way you have to or can shepherd.”

For more stories of shepherding, visit discipleshipatwork.com.