Linda Sommerville
About Linda
I have spent much of my life helping people grow, lead, discern, and listen more deeply to God—and along the way, I have had to learn to do those same things in my own life.
My work has taken shape at the intersection of spiritual direction, leadership, education, coaching, writing, and Christian formation. I have served as a pastor, church planter, faculty member, senior academic leader, spiritual director, coach, and mentor.
Across all of those roles, the thread has been remarkably consistent: helping people become more attentive to God, more aware of themselves, and more able to live and lead with wisdom, courage, and faithfulness.
A Journey Shaped by Discernment
My own journey into spiritual direction began during a painful season of ministry.
My husband and I had come through a difficult church experience and were invited to attend a two-week leadership care program. During those two weeks, we met daily with a spiritual director who helped us process what we had experienced, listen prayerfully, and discern what God might be inviting us into next.
That experience became a turning point for me.
I discovered not only how deeply I had been helped by spiritual direction, but also that I carried many of the gifts needed to accompany others in the same way. I went on to pursue training in spiritual direction, and over the years it has become one of the primary lenses through which I understand leadership, teaching, coaching, discernment, and formation.
Learning to Lead from a Deeper Place
In our early years of ministry, my husband and I were church planters while raising two young children.
Our home was also our ministry office. Boundaries were thin, the work was deeply meaningful, and there were seasons when I was exhausted, stretched, and isolated.
That season taught me firsthand how easy it is for leaders to keep caring for everyone else while neglecting their own souls.
It also deepened my conviction that healthy rhythms, spiritual attentiveness, trusted relationships, and honest self-reflection are not luxuries for leaders. They are essential.
Formation, Not Just Information
Higher education became another important part of my journey. As both a faculty member and senior academic leader, I found great joy in helping students, faculty, and staff grow into the people God was calling them to become. I loved helping people recognize their gifts, clarify their calling, develop as leaders, teach more effectively, and grow in community.
That experience reinforced something I had already come to believe deeply:
Real learning is not just about gaining information. It is about formation.
We are changed as we reflect, practice, pay attention, engage honestly with our experiences, and integrate what we are learning into the way we actually live. That conviction shapes nearly everything I create.
Discernment as a Way of Life
Over the years, discernment became less of a practice I used occasionally and more of a way I learned to live.
Leadership, ministry, parenting, writing, vocational transitions, and seasons of deep personal loss continually invited me to listen more closely, ask better questions, and seek God’s wisdom one faithful step at a time.
I have learned that clarity rarely arrives all at once.
More often, God forms us through the process—stretching our resilience, deepening our self-awareness, and teaching us to recognize His presence in the midst of complexity.
That is one reason discernment sits at the heart of Life to the Full.
A Deep Heart for Leaders
I have a deep heart for leaders—especially those carrying significant responsibility without always having the support they need. That includes women in leadership, second-chair leaders, ministry leaders, educators, and others navigating complex seasons of calling, transition, influence, or change.
I understand the tension of leading while still listening, serving while still growing, and carrying responsibility while trying to remain connected to God.
My hope is to offer a spacious and trusted place where leaders can slow down, reflect, discern, grow, and reconnect with what matters most.
Why Life to the Full
The name Life to the Full comes from Jesus’ words in John 10:10:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
For me, that is the heart of the journey.
To live fully is to become more awake to God’s presence, more honest about what is happening within us, more connected to others, and more willing to respond to where God is leading. It is not a destination we finally reach. It is a lifelong journey of listening, growing, discerning, practicing, and becoming more fully the people God is shaping us to be.
That is what I hope Life to the Full can support in you.