Sorry this is a day later than the normal schedule. Yesterday ending up being a pretty rough day, and I would greatly appreciate the prayers of anyone who reads this. I'm fighting a pretty intense lion right now. I fully believe I'm going to come out of this in victory, but that doesn't make the fight any less difficult and draining. Psalm 54 is the main Scripture I'm praying though on this one, and I greatly appreciate anyone who takes the time to lift me up and help me fight.
I graduated college on May 23, 2009. I was at the top of my class, had gained some really good experience with the internship opportunities I had, had grown and matured a lot in four years, and had a really solid relationship with, and trust in, God. The one thing I didn't have was a job. I had been looking, sending out resumes, but I hadn't been looking super hard. Part of me was still living in a bubble, and I was too scared and nervous to really step out and try something. Because of this, my job search was limited to a really small area, and church jobs aren't easy to get, especially for a new college graduate, because there are more people looking for them then there are jobs to fill.
This brings up one regret I have, which has nothing to do with the story really, but I had a chance to join an organization called, "A Christian Ministry in the National Parks". With this organization, you do ministry in one of the National Parks, it would have been awesome, but I was too scared to step out and go for it, and that's something part of me still regrets. The lesson in that is don't let fear control you and guide you, step out, live boldly, and go for it.
Back to this wound. I went back to the church I had interned at the previous summer, I had built a really good relationship with the pastor, but this second summer didn't end up being nearly as good as the previous one. At this point I began to broaden my search area, and I sent resumes to 20 different district Youth Leaders in 7 states. This ended up having a positive result, I got one phone call from a pastor from Burton, Michigan, a town just outside of Flint.
We talked on the phone, I went up and met him, we talked some more. They offered me the job, and after some wrestling, dealing with feelings of being overwhelmed, and trying to get past the fear and apprehension I had about moving somewhere were I literally knew no one at all, I accepted the job, and got ready to move to Michigan.
The church was smaller, maybe 120 people (teens and children included), not tiny, but by no means limitless resources. I was the director of youth and young adult ministries, and I love that part of my job. I had a great group of teenagers who began to grow and learn. I started a specific young adult ministry, which grew rapidly, and overall I had an awesome time leading this great group of 18-22(ish) year olds. If any of you read this, Ohio still rocks, but you guys were definitely a high light to that horrible state to the north :). I was even put in charge of something on Sunday mornings, and I had the opportunity to share a brief summary of our youth lesson every week before praying each Sunday morning.
The first few months were going well. The ministry was growing, teens were learning, I had started a Saturday night prayer ministry where we would gather at the church and spend time praying throughout the building for the next day and upcoming week, and then we would end with communion in the sanctuary. I felt good, like I was accomplishing something good, and then everything hit.
I call this the misplaced wound because for years I kept thinking about one significant event that took place in a meeting. For so long I kept dwelling on that meeting, thinking it was the root of everything, but later I realized it was just the final straw...
Fight the lion, 1 Peter 5.1-11
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
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