Mary Pandiani
Mary, a JIB (Jesus-Image-Bearer), seeks to see all life through the lens of “learn[ing] the unforced rhythms of grace” as she walks with the Triune God. Whether strolling through the woods across the street with her English Springer Spaniel, cycling for a 100 miler to support World Bicycle Relief, teaching classes for a high school diploma to Spanish-speaking adult students, Mary enjoys the variety that life brings in all the ways God is at work and play.
Enjoying family – four grandkids and one more on the way – she thrives in the ongoing building of relationships with a blended family. With one daughter, Alison (21), from her late Youth Pastor husband, Mary now is married to Bill, a loving and supportive husband, who has three adult daughters, Melissa, Julie, and Sarah, to make an immediate family of six. After 16 years together, the family has grown with two son-in-laws and grandchildren. Life is never dull.
In between the welcomed chaos of family and activity, Mary also savors times of quiet that come communally and personally. Whether offering spiritual direction to individuals, facilitating courses such as Soul Tending and Living From the Heart (www.selahcenter.org), or attending to Soul Care companion groups, Mary intentionally cultivates places of sacred space for those who desire to know God more. As a foundation for that calling, Mary endeavors to commit regularly to pausing, listening, and responding to God’s invitation in the love, sacrifice, and hope of the triune presence.
In addition to being a certified Spiritual Director, Mary holds a Personal and Professional Development Coaching certification under her business of Pandiani Consulting. Providing over twenty-five years of coaching, consulting, and training for adults and youth who desire positive and significant change in their lives, Mary motivates and champions individuals, small groups, and organizations. In the educational, para-church, church, non-profit and business sectors, she offers opportunities for development towards personal and professional capacity. Attending to vocation (calling), community (relationships and service) and spiritual (heart-soul-mind), Mary facilitates a five hour “Compass Map” coaching examination whereby people in transition come away with a road map for next steps. Additional coaching helps in providi
ng awareness and action for an integrated life in the pursuit of well being both individually and communally.
In the unique calling of her life of being a bridge between places and people, Mary travels with purpose. Whether to the Holy Land whereby she supports a fledgling ministry of Healing the Living Stones (http://healinglivingstones.com) for Christian Palestinians or New Delhi whereby she assists in the accreditation of Catalyst (http://catalystindia.org), a non-profit serving the under-served street young women, Mary sees her role as a encourager, vision dreamer, and networker of what God can do in those ministries. In addition, she does the same connecting with non-profits in the local region such as the Leadership Foundations (www.leadership foundations.org), Northwest Furniture Bank (nwfurniturebank.org), and Kingdom Story (http://thekingdomstory.org) that serves young leaders here and in China. Mary pursues God’s calling as the place that Frederick Buechner describes as “where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
A love of learning undergirds all of Mary’s pursuits. From UCLA with a BA in Psychology to Point Loma University for a Teaching Certification to Fuller Seminary for a Masters in Global Learning, Mary now participates in the DMin program of Leadership and Global Perspective at George Fox Seminary. Hoping to steward this season of life well, Mary plans to pursue a dissertation in Aging Gracefully by addressing the spiritual component. Through the discipline of reading, writing and regular cohort interaction, Mary spends much of her time “freaking her brain into junk parts” (quote by late husband) in order that God may put it back together for her to live in humility, on-going creativity, and life-giving encounters.
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