Meet the Women at NAOBC – Ellen Morton

On Mondays, we’ll take time to meet the women of NAOBC. Five questions followed by how you can connect with the NAOBC women on social media. Today’s interview is with Ellen Morton.

Q: Tell us about yourself

A: My husband, Caleb, and I have been in Louisville together for the last six and a half years. We started the process for foster care about three years ago and are now almost finished adopting our three children: Lilly, Piper and Hudson. I am a licensed clinical social worker and I currently coordinate school-based mental health services for Wellstone Regional Hospital as well as provide direct clinical services to New Albany Floyd County Schools.

Q: Tell us about your time at NAOBC

A: We joined Ninth and O about five years ago and we love serving our church! Caleb and I are in IC1 and we arguably think our BFG is the best. We actively serve in the worship ministry and have also done retreats for Phillip Brown with the college and singles.

Q: What is a fun fact that most people wouldn’t know about you?

A: I have always had a pretty adventurous and mischievous spirit (for better or worse) so it’s hard to pick one fun fact that few people know. I suppose one thing that most people probably don’t know about me is that I love horses and I love to ride. My dream was to ride a horse on the beach, so in college… I did. Mind you, it was a beach tour. The tour guide said we could have some free time to ride…. so I did. Next thing I knew, that spirited young fella named Kiwi took off at a dashing speed…. and it was GLORIOUS until that beautiful gelding dashed straight into the ocean to go for a swim and threw me off into the water in the process. The tour guide was pretty angry with me and I’m pretty sure she rewrote her liability disclosures, but I still crossed galloping on the beach off my bucket list. So it was worth it :)

Q: What woman has made the most impact in your life?

A: One of the biggest and earliest female influences was my youth pastor’s wife, Emily Shipley. She often met with me early before church to read scripture with me, pray with me, and teach me basic chords on the guitar. She had a way with words of encouragement and she always made me feel seen. She really took me under her wing and modeled a lot of the values that I still treasure about ministry, loving the church, loving the truth of God’s word and loving Jesus.

Q: What is something the Lord has taught you in the last year?

A: Despite my mischievous and even sometimes rebellious tendencies, in which God continues to temper, grow and mature, He has continued to show his faithfulness to me and my family. During this past year, He has continued to teach and show me that my hope lies in Him and Him alone. Even if things don’t align with the plan I made for myself. His plan is better. It doesn’t matter how good I think things may be going, or how bad, or how discouraged I become, or how unlovable I may feel…. There’s absolutely nothing that I can do to stop Him from pursuing my heart and He is always, always faithful.

You can follow Ellen on Facebook and Instagram @ellenlmorton