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Post by witness1 on Jun 11, 2018 15:02:11 GMT -6
Hi friends. Would appreciate your prayers if you think about it. My husband was recently asked to be the interim pastor of a small baptist church, which is in addition to his full-time job as a college pastor (about 200 in his ministry) and his work as a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves. We feel like God is calling us to this church, but we have also felt stretched pretty thin these last 6 weeks. We trust that He will provide the time and energy to do what He asks of us... the issue is whether we clearly hear what He is asking and then obey. Also if you pray about this, please lift up my 9 year old daughter. There are 2 teenagers in the church and 4 kids under the age of 5 (one of whom is my 3-year old), but there is no one her age. This has been a hard change from our old church and her best friends there. She is homeschooled which makes things even harder for her. She understands that we think God is asking us to do this, that obedience brings blessing, and that she has a role to play in this new church, but she struggles with feeling like she doesn't know how to hear God yet and just has to take our word for it that this is the right thing. Also pray for the members of this church. They realize they are dying and want to do something about it. My husband preached on Hebrews 10:22-25... about drawing near to God, holding fast to our confession and confessing it to others, and meeting together in fellowship and to stir one another up to love and good works. Pray these verses take root and bring action.
Also... I miss you all. Pregnancy plus the new church has taken its toll on me. I have many ideas I want to share... hopefully I can write them down next week when I visit my parents and have help with the kids. I appreciate y'all so much!
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Post by fitz on Jun 11, 2018 16:54:27 GMT -6
I'll be praying for you guys!
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Post by barb84 on Jun 11, 2018 19:22:48 GMT -6
Prayed for you just now.
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Post by yardstick on Jun 11, 2018 19:27:20 GMT -6
Does the new church offer anything that your daughter might fit into?
It seems that much of what you described may be evaluated by the criteria of whether or not there is a role for each of you, what it is, and what capacity it will involve. If your daughter is on the short end of the stick in your current circumstances, wouldnt it be prudent to see if she will have a larger opportunity to participate in her age group at the new church?
If not, is there a church where she could, and where you and your hubby have a proportional participation to what you currently do?
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Post by witness1 on Jun 11, 2018 20:25:38 GMT -6
Very good questions. It is our prayer that there will be an opportunity for her to participate in a group her age. Of course that means that more people need to come to the church. Church revitalization and church planting are tricky things in that someone has to go first. No one with kids wants to go to a church without kids. So someone with kids has to take that step in faith and trust that God will show up. A "here I am... send me!" We are praying specifically for 5 families to join us between now and Christmas so the church will be in a more healthy place when they look for a full-time pastor.
We see her role as being that kid who welcomes the other kids who will visit and says, "I'm glad you're here!" We recently went to help with a church plant where there was one family with 5 girls, and we thought it would be a perfect fit for her. But these girls weren't welcoming and didn't include her in whatever they were playing. I don't think they are mean girls... they just weren't thinking about what their role in the Kingdom could be in intentionally welcoming new families to the church. So we see this as an exciting yet difficult opportunity for her to see that, even as a child, God can and will use her if she is willing. She gets the opportunity to serve Him by welcoming the kids who will visit. This is an important job, having experienced what it feels like to not feel welcomed, and it is a job that only she can do. I'm seeking to raise arrows to go out into the world, and I think that has to start young. Indeed we feel like God gave us a glimpse of what He will do at this church... a 7 year old girl came to church with her grandmother last week and was thrilled to see my daughter, and of course my daughter was thrilled to see her. So this little girl is more likely to come back with her grandmother knowing she has a friend.
For your last question... yes... there are plenty of churches we could join and be involved in. But this church called us specifically and said, "We're desperate. Can you help? We don't know who else to call." The part-time worship pastor was leading worship and then preaching. He did this for about 6 weeks until he called my husband. We knew during those 6 weeks that they would probably call soon, so we had a lot of time to pray about it. Then we committed to preaching for 6 weeks to see if it's something we want to commit to long-term. And we really love the people there... they are kind and really love each other and really love us and are thankful for our help. So... this is a hard calling. But this season is a sprint to the finish line. And I want to teach my daughter to store up treasure for heaven. So pray with me that God shows up and does abundantly more than we could ask or imagine!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2018 23:04:55 GMT -6
Praying for you and your whole family, witness1 Get in your new harvest field. Gods ways are often a bit different from our expectations, but HE will care for all your needs and bless you all abundantly and He will give you wisdom how to decide and to act! |
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Post by witness1 on Jun 12, 2018 4:33:11 GMT -6
Thank you Stephan!
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Post by Gary on Jun 12, 2018 9:47:24 GMT -6
Sister, thank you for sharing your heart with us about this. I will pray for you, your husband, and family. It sounds like a very busy season, but no better reason to be busy than for the Kingdom. At the same time, it's so important to find 1-2 hours at least several days out of the week, to spend time alone with God.
-Gary
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Post by stormyknight on Jun 13, 2018 8:07:23 GMT -6
But this season is a sprint to the finish line. witness1, prayers have gone up for you here. I admire your faith and commitment. I've been trying to write this several times and just can't seem to find the right words. The line you posted holds so much meaning. Running for the finish line. A focused runner would not hear the cheers and jeers from the sides, eyes firmly planted on the goal. The problem (for me, at least) is that the jeers(cares of this world) are so loud that they are extremely hard to ignore. Every time I started to write this, it turned into a 'woe is me' post. We all have our rough track to run on and it just didn't seem right for me to do that on your post asking for prayers. I really hope and pray that our Heavenly Father guides you and your husband..and daughter!.. to those who need to hear His Word. Who knows, maybe the last Gentile to 'come in' will be from hearing your husband preach the Word. We can't know that, so we must continue running that last leg with all that we have. We all need each others' prayers. More now than ever.
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Post by boraddict on Jun 13, 2018 10:05:13 GMT -6
Thank you witness1 for your inspiring courage. My hope and dreams go out to you and your family and especially to your daughter. My girls are 14 and 17 and so their pre-adolescent years are fresh in my mind.
The little boy with freckles that my youngest adored who I never met but called "Little Lucas." How beautiful and fun it was to live life through her eyes. Likewise your beautiful daughter is full of hope for the future and full of love and life. How beautiful it is that she can be an example to other children and be their strength and support in following Christ. God bless her precious and loving heart.
Thank you for your example and friendship.
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