When Lauri and I were newly married, the area we chose to serve in our church was in the youth ministry. Man, we were young, energetic, enthusiastic and… YOUNG! We didn’t know much about student ministry, but we did like teenagers and wanted to see them grow deeper in Jesus. We attended and served in the weekly youth meetings, went on most of the youth trips and led small groups. It was amazing how quickly serving in the student ministry became an important dynamic in our lives.
We had been serving a little over 5 years when our youth pastor left our church for another ministry. He was a great guy and an awesome youth pastor. We learned so much from him about Christian living and loving teenagers and hated to see him leave.
For some reason, he and our church leadership asked me to lead the youth program until a new youth pastor was found. I have no idea why they chose me, but I was available, passionate about students and self-employed — so I could arrange my schedule to do it.
Over the next 8 months God really did a work in our lives and I discovered to my wonder that I loved doing ministry. The Holy Spirit was prodding me in a new life-direction. I remember sitting in my car with my father one day and I knew that I had to tell someone… I blurted out, “Dad, God wants me to go into ministry.” That day was the first time that I had said it out loud.
I was 28 years old, had a 1 year old son and done everything in my life possible to avoid career ministry… yet
God’s calling on my life was undeniable. Nine months later, I was sitting in my new church office at the New London Alliance Church on my first day there… I had just finished my devotions, and I remember thinking so clearly… “Now what do I do?”
Nine months later… phew… that nine months was INTENSE. A Mustang GT sold (we couldn’t afford the insurance on a youth pastor salary), a business ended, the application process with the C&MA for ministry completed, a licensing doctrinal interview conducted… and actually passed, and a move to an entirely new community. It was so hectic… so scary… and so awesome. What a rush! We were living on the wild-side. Change was coming so quickly; we had no idea what we were doing, so we just let go of control over our lives and hung on to Jesus.
Today I often wonder, what would my life have been like if I had continued to deny God’s plan? Very different I am sure… and while Lauri and my lives would probably have continued just fine… we sure would have missed out on a ton of blessings. It’s scary sometimes… stepping out in faith to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives — but what a ride it can be!
Over the years the ride has continued. The Holy Spirit has provided new challenges and they are sometimes intimidating… sometimes even scary… but they are always a blessing and full of joy. I love the adventure of living for Jesus!
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