My Journey to Montgomery
Recently, I made the announcement that my wife and are moving to Montgomery, Alabama to start a full time children's ministry position. It has been a long painstaking process and I am only finishing the leaving part. However, I thought I would share a few words on the journey God has brought me through.
During the first week in June, I felt a stirring in my heart. I felt that God was leading me away from Clearwater to a new place. I was so shocked by this realization that I sat on it for three days before I told my wife. I continued to feel the quickening and decided to tell my wife, update my resume, and pray for one month. If I was going to move my family and leave Clearwater, I needed to be sure this is what God wants me to do.
After a month of prayer, I realized that this is what God wants me to do. I notified some pastors who know me, my senior pastor, and district offices in the region. It was slow going at first. I had a couple of leads, but ultimately, they did not suit my needs.
Once these leads fell through I decided to take a different tack. I am a certified high school math teacher. I thought I was following the will of God and pursued teaching in my home town in Georgia. After all the paperwork was done and all the hoops were jumped through, I was down to the week before school started in that county and no word. On top of that I was going on a week-long cruise! It was a stressful time, but God's peace was with me. I remembered that God's timing is perfect, and there was just too much going on in Clearwater and my personal life to essentially pick up and move over a weekend. Thankfully the school jobs did not play out, but I learned a valuable lesson. Even though I have a degree in teaching high school math, I do not want to do that with the rest of my life. I want to do what God called me to do, which is ministry.
Lost, with no leads, I resigned myself to wait on the Lord. About a week later I discovered an article in Relevant Magazine about making life decisions. The article had some good points; the biggest one for me was to google for job positions. Even though I google for everything else, I had never thought of googling for a ministry job. So just to see if it was even possible, I tried it out. Boy, was I surprised.
The next month was filled with resume sending and interviews. The whole time, I believe God was training me for the place he wants me. Through the providence of God, I received a call from a pastor in Montgomery. After a few conversations and a trip up there, I knew this is where God wanted me. So next week that's where I 'm going. I'm leaving the church I have spent most of my adult life in and moving to a city where I don't know anyone.
But, I am not afraid. If there is one thing I have learned through this process is that God will take care of me. I have no reason to worry. I can trust God. As long as I continue to do my due diligence, God will be there with the rest.
God is always preparing us for the next step. Even though we may not know what that step is, hindsight is always 20/20. What do you think God is preparing you for?
During the first week in June, I felt a stirring in my heart. I felt that God was leading me away from Clearwater to a new place. I was so shocked by this realization that I sat on it for three days before I told my wife. I continued to feel the quickening and decided to tell my wife, update my resume, and pray for one month. If I was going to move my family and leave Clearwater, I needed to be sure this is what God wants me to do.
After a month of prayer, I realized that this is what God wants me to do. I notified some pastors who know me, my senior pastor, and district offices in the region. It was slow going at first. I had a couple of leads, but ultimately, they did not suit my needs.
Once these leads fell through I decided to take a different tack. I am a certified high school math teacher. I thought I was following the will of God and pursued teaching in my home town in Georgia. After all the paperwork was done and all the hoops were jumped through, I was down to the week before school started in that county and no word. On top of that I was going on a week-long cruise! It was a stressful time, but God's peace was with me. I remembered that God's timing is perfect, and there was just too much going on in Clearwater and my personal life to essentially pick up and move over a weekend. Thankfully the school jobs did not play out, but I learned a valuable lesson. Even though I have a degree in teaching high school math, I do not want to do that with the rest of my life. I want to do what God called me to do, which is ministry.
Lost, with no leads, I resigned myself to wait on the Lord. About a week later I discovered an article in Relevant Magazine about making life decisions. The article had some good points; the biggest one for me was to google for job positions. Even though I google for everything else, I had never thought of googling for a ministry job. So just to see if it was even possible, I tried it out. Boy, was I surprised.
The next month was filled with resume sending and interviews. The whole time, I believe God was training me for the place he wants me. Through the providence of God, I received a call from a pastor in Montgomery. After a few conversations and a trip up there, I knew this is where God wanted me. So next week that's where I 'm going. I'm leaving the church I have spent most of my adult life in and moving to a city where I don't know anyone.
But, I am not afraid. If there is one thing I have learned through this process is that God will take care of me. I have no reason to worry. I can trust God. As long as I continue to do my due diligence, God will be there with the rest.
God is always preparing us for the next step. Even though we may not know what that step is, hindsight is always 20/20. What do you think God is preparing you for?
