Does God Really Listen?
Here are the ways that He responded to us:
- Praying for a year / given crystal clear direction on March 22nd about retiring
- We were unified in obeying God / regardless of painful loss
- God worked independantly on my wifes heart to prepare her
- He gave us mentors who could help us through the process
- My last Youth Pastor's Conference was perfectly directed towards our needs] 1) My mentor Dr. Cook was there and gave us great advice 2) The subject for the week focused on knowing when it was time to transition (1st time in 19years of the conference) 3) We were given the opportunity to say good bye to life long ministry friends in youth ministry
- We had the chance to serve at a great church locally -at the last minute (as we were praying for God's will) the job fell through.
- Faith was very supportive - the Elders, staff and students never made us feel badly for the difficult time we put them through
- We had a 7 month farewell - can I just say this is relationship suicide! It is very hard for everyone involved to have a farewell that last over 3 weeks. God made every moment enjoyable and well worth it. There was only the perfect kind of farewell for me and my family (as opposed to my former Pastor who was accused of being in sin by some people)
- I was given the best summer of my youth ministry ever. The Tanzania missions trip was without a doubt the halmark moment of my ministry at Faith for myself.
- The Lord allowed me to enjoy the Tanzania trip and stay focused on the ministry at hand.
- I was networked for a possible position with a Free Church in Redding. I sent out my resume before Tanzania - they never received it. This cost me the interview, which was frustrating at the time. Still God was at work. Just having known about that position was God's way of proving to me that in the end He was directing my paths.
- I was praying that where ever the Lord would put us, it wouldn't be too difficult on the children and Jeanine. This would be the first time they moved and they all have deep relationships with people in Santa Clarita and Jeanine's parents liver there. She has never lived more than 30min away from her parents. Bill and Nancy are a very big part of our lives. This would be very hard for Jeanine to be put somewhere in limited contact.
- In January I was scouting our winter camp trip with a friend - he and I were praying together on the top of June Mt. while skiing. He asked what I wanted prayer for and I told him I was dissappointed in the drop off in speaking engagements at camps. The previous summer I was able to speak at three camps including Hume Lake. I really thought that the Lord was opening a door of ministry there for me. So we prayed that the Lord would give me another opportunity. Two hours later, driving through the Owens valley, I received a call from a friend of mine, Wayne Herbst. Wayne is the director of Campus by the Sea high school camps and he was asking me to speak again this coming summer. This was really odd because they usually cycle the speakers every four years. It had been one year since I had spoken. As it turned out, this would be my very last camp, last time at Campus by the Sea, and the perfect end to 21 years of Youth Ministry. Much of my ministry has been out at that camp. Also, by asking me to speak, my family was able to come out as well. We were given a week together with friends for one last time. It was a great way to finish out with my students as well. Just because of one prayer!!!! I couldn't have asked for a better situation.
- No job offers by third week of August - technically I am done at with the Youth Group by mid September and I have been able to set up a transitionary team to work with the group until the next youth pastor
- August 23rd - I was contacted by Kevin Kompland -EFCA continent leader for African missions - recruiting me to be part of the team in Dar Es Salaam.
- August 23rd - I was contacted by Hume Lake about possibly being the Pastor for the staff
- August 23rd - I was contacted by Concord Bible Church about being their Sr. Pastor.
- September 1st - Interview with committee - answered prayer in helping our hearts to intantly know if we would fit with this church
- September 12th - given the best send off ever by my staff and students. Memories of years of ministry that was a blessing and more than I could have ever imagined - I had spent years praying that I would be faithful to the end / that if I was blessed with a send off, there would be integrity behind my ministry and not a negative feel - this was an answer to 20 years of ministry
- September 18th - to travel to Denver to spend a week in Seminary seminars - had been praying for an opportunity to get caught up on school.
- September 13th - was asked to give our answer to the committee about candidating. I asked to wait one more day - there was the possibility of something locally - a real long shot - friend of a friend thing - but out of my control. I would give it one more day to see if the Lord would have them contact me. No contact - I accepted candidating on the 14th - I was called on the 15th by this local possibility. It would have made our process very difficult and confusing with our flesh. We would have loved to stay in Santa Clarita and here was the chance. But the Lord made the choice for us - what perfect timing!! How do you get answers to prayer like that? It's amazing!!
- October 29th - given a wonderful send off by the church that wasn't one of those really, really sad events. Thank you for the Mariachi Band!!! The best worship time I have ever had with people I love - they all came through for me to provide a memory that I will never forget
- October 8th - voted in by the church as their new Sr. Pastor (unanimous vote).
- Remember the Redding Job? The man who was recommended by their committee had been a candidate at previously at Concord Bible. It wasn't God's plan for him to be their and instead directed him to the only job that I knew of in July. Remember my prayer to have the Lord watch over my family? Concord is next to the Ocean (my family loves the beach) it is 20 min. from Jeanine's sister and the kids cousins and 20min from our best friends in Benicia. Concord was the one place in the whole world that the Lord could have put us that would be comfortable for my family. By moving the former candidate at C.B.C. out to Redding the Lord created an opportunity for us at Concord.
- We were able to find a house in our budget and that met all the criteria that we were praying for. We wanted to be able to have a house where we could do Bible Studies and host events for the church. We wanted to keep our dog, we wanted to be in the Clayton School District and we wanted to be close to the church. All that, and only a couple of days to find a rental - the Lord provided a house that is far too much for what we need but has served in a great capacity. The best part is that the owner came down $500 per month in rent from his original posting so that we could live there.
- Someone at C.B.C. gave us a gift of $12,000.00 for us to help us with housing. This gift was so tremendous. We were facing double payments of which we could only afford for one month. We didn't have any money in savings for a $5,000.00 deposit on the house. Everything about our move was seamless.
- The last prayer request was that we would sell our house. It was on the market starting mid-June. We didn't have an offer all summer and even when we left. We left an empty house and just trusted God that He was going to sell it. Like I said, I could afford to make double payments up until December. We received the greatest Christmas gift when our realtor called and told us that we had a buyer. Then it fell out of escrow, yet we still trusted. As you can read on an earlier posting, I stated that I had the faith the God was going to sell the house by the end of the year. We closed on December 30th!!!! We paid off our cars, we are debt free, we have money in the bank, and we took a vacation to Italy!!!!!
Our close friends the Patchins are in Ministry in the Bay area. We have been praying for the past couple of years that the Lord would send them help because of the needs that their 2year old son has. Not only do we get to be reunited with them - we get to be part of that anaswer to prayer!!!!
More than any prayer request - the Lord has made it abundantly obvious that we were meant to serve at this church. It is the perfect fit for where we are as a family and where I am in just starting out as a Sr. Pastor. They gave me a chance and I have been blessed because of it.
Now - try just stepping out of the boat would ya? I have to say, we wouldn't have experienced this unless we stepped out in faith. I am the most blessed man on earth.
