I’m a few weeks out from celebrating my anniversary of
coming to Valley Baptist Church. May 20,
2014 marks the completion of 7 years of serving Christ at this wonderful
church. I’m simply in awe of what God
has done during my time here. This isn’t
a blog to talk about church numbers to build up my resume or self-esteem. The reality is, I know how little I’ve done
and how God has been the master orchestrator behind the restart of this
wonderful church.
God’s provision over the years is highlighted through my
present circumstances. In a recent
blog, “Thankfulness
Revived”, I shared about almost losing my wife and child during the
delivery. I mentioned that there were a
number of things I was processing concerning God’s faithfulness to me. I’d like to share about His provision to us
through this trial.
As my wife came out of recovery from surgery, we slowly
learned how close to dying she and the baby came. From the very beginning the doctors were very
firm about how long the recovery would take.
Six weeks was an optimistic timeline, but they were very clear that I
needed to be there for her and the family for the duration or complications
from the surgery and blood loss would develop.
Without hesitation, I assured her that I would take a break from
everything to focus on her and the family.
No preaching, no counseling, nothing but focusing on my family during
this time. Okay, clearly I’m not six
weeks out yet, but I’m at home with my two-year old son nipping at my heels as
I type this so hopefully you get the heart of what I’m saying. Oh, and I may have slipped out under the
cloak of darkness to spend some time with the K-9 Unit of EPD a few weeks ago while
my mother-in-law was over...I guess this is my confession.
I haven’t preached since February 16 and I won’t return to
the pulpit of Valley Baptist until the first Sunday in April. Yes, not preaching is killing me, but I’ve
always said my family is my priority and I mean it. What I’m trying to say is that the reason I
can do this is through God’s provision and timing. For the last 7 years I’ve worked hard. I’m not complaining at all, I love my
calling, but it’s very normal for me to put in 60+ hours a week in
ministry. My family loves serving the
Lord and we’ve learn to balance family and ministry in a way that works for
us. Between my working from home (in
large part) and home schooling the kids we’ve learned to balance time with each
other and the heavy workload of my calling, but this isn’t really relevant to
this post.
Getting back to the point.
Back in the hospital room, when I told my wife, “Everything is going to
be fine. I’ll take the next six weeks
off to minister to you” tears filled my eyes.
Yes, I was worried about my wife, but even more so, I was thankful to
God for His provision that made my ability to say this to my wife truthfully. I truly could take this time off for God had
provided the help I needed in order to care for my family.
Throughout the restarting process, God has faithfully sent
the right people at the right time. Too
many to list so I won’t even try. A few
years ago, I started to feel like I was stretching way too thin. Things were slipping through the cracks. As a pastor, “things slipping through the
cracks” means people had shepherding needs, but I was failing to care for them
as I feel they should be. No one was
criticizing me, complaining to me, or anything like that, but my heart for the
sheep was deeply burdened. I didn’t know
how to solve this problem because I couldn’t give any more. I decided to press on and pray, as I had no
remedy in sight.
Well, a little over a year ago God set the ball in motion to
bring me help through the coming of Chaplain Ben, a Navy Chaplain who started
attending Valley Baptist Church. It
wasn’t long before we hit it off. We
share a likeminded passion for the ministry and share the same philosophy for
the church and how to care for people.
This doesn’t mean we see eye-to-eye on every theological point, but we
are in total agreement for how to handle and apply our differences of
theological positions. It was a
wonderful friendship that I would enjoy for as long as he was with us. As a former Navy man, the one thing I’ve
learned about Navy buddies is they move on.
This would be the case with Ben as well—or so I thought!
Word came that Ben would be getting out of the military and
everything changed. Long story short, we
both came to the conclusion that God was calling him to serve at Valley Baptist
Church as an associate pastor! You know,
if you asked me to describe the perfect associate pastor to serve with, I would
have described Pastor Ben to you. I
don’t say this lightly. We agree about
how ministry should be done and we have complimentary gifting. He was a chaplain in the Navy and in many
respects, Valley Baptist Church needed a chaplain-like pastor to help stop
people’s needs from slipping through the cracks.
Now, fast forward to February 2014. Pastor Ben was essentially out of the Navy
and we began planning what this partnership would look like. We spent hour’s together working through our
roles and responsibilities. I believe we
both felt comfortable with the new dynamic and we planned to introduce him formally
on March 2 and he would preach for the next three weeks so I could focus on my
family with the coming of the baby on March 7, you know, the due date. Have you heard that saying from Proverbs
16:9, “The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps”? That was sure applicable here because my plan
wasn’t inline with God’s plan at all!
Please don’t miss my sarcasm, but
wouldn’t you guess that God’s plan is way better than my plan? What better way for Pastor Ben to figure out
the ropes at Valley Baptist Church than to totally take me out of the equation? This was a win-win situation for church. Pastor Ben’s coming on staff completely freed
me to care for my family. He is so
competent and capable to serve the body, which ultimately put me at ease to
shut off my phone and email (for the most part) without worrying about the
church. Not having me around forced him
to figure out every little detail concerning the church.
As I begin to come out of hibernation,
I can’t help but to thank God for His ways.
They are so much better than my own.
I’m excited for the future of Valley Baptist Church and truly believe
our pastor team is stronger than ever because of this personal crisis of my
own. I’m more excited than ever to see
how God is going to move amongst us in the years to come!
Let me close by saying “Thank you.” I’m thankful to God for His provision. I’m thankful for the people of Valley Baptist
Church who recognize and support my priority of caring for my family. It means so much to me. In being free to minister to my family during
their time of need, I will be able to minister at Valley Baptist Church for the
long haul. Your love and support mean
more than I can adequately express.
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