Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginning's End... (Part 2)

During the summer my friend, Jordan, accepted a job at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN.  I was extremely excited for Jordan and his family as they were moving on to a wonderful church and a position that we had discussed would be a great training ground for him as he continues to prepare for wherever GOD will take him in his ministry.  At the same time, I was saddened to see my friends move 300 miles away.  Jordan and I had been through a great deal during our friendship and he and his wife, Bethany, had truly become my family away from home.

I then entered this past fall with many questions in my mind.  I had seen a number of doors that seemed to open in front of me only to be slammed shut.  I had spent the past year struggling with this feeling that GOD was preparing for something and leading me in a particular direction that I had no clue about.

I kept thinking back to what Abraham must have felt like when GOD called him out of .... and told him to go to "the land that I have prepared for you." (Genesis 12:1)  Abraham didn't know where that land was.  He didn't know how long the journey was.  All he knew was that GOD called him to leave a place where he had amassed significant wealth and was living prosperously to go on a journey that could bankrupt and kill him.  Sounds like a fantastic idea (re-read that last sentence with a mouth full of sarcasm).

I had to constantly remind myself that although GOD was preparing me for something that I was still unsure of He still had not required as much of me as he required of Abraham.  I still had my job, and a job that I enjoyed at that.  I still had my house.  I was still able to serve my local church family as their worship leader.  I believe now that He was just waiting until I was ready (as ready as I could be) to take on the task that he was setting aside for me.  As I can attest now, He was working out His plan.

So throughout the fall I continued to fulfill my duties at Greenville College and, as always, I really did enjoy my time there.  I love the students and the chance to see kids grow spiritually and improve athletically.  As I've said many times before, I feel that that was an excellent training ground for the ministry.  However, I was at a point where I felt that it was time for me to move on.

In October I made a weekend trip to Bremen to do a concert with Jordan at Community Gospel Church  for the release of the worship EP by our band, Until We're Kings.  That weekend I had an opportunity to speak with the church staff and some leadership about the possibility of coming on board at some point as their worship leader.

I was, of course, very interested in the possibility.  As we spoke more I felt like CGC was the place that GOD had been preparing me for and I could not escape the that this was where I was supposed to be.

We continued the discussion of how my coming aboard CGC as the Director of Worship we were looking at time lines and pay scale and all that other stuff, trying to figure out what was going to be the best for the church, the congregation, the staff, and me.  The one thing we all felt certain about was that this was the direction GOD had prepared us all for.

The major hang up for me in moving was my house in Greenville.  As anyone who has recently tried to sell a house can atest, the current real estate market is not great for getting rid of a home and in looking at coming to Bremen I did not have a choice, my house HAD to sell before I could move.  With this in mind I was preparing to stay at Greenville for another semester and hopefully be out to CGC my June or July.

As with most of my other plans in life, GOD laughed.  The first person to walk through my house bought it.  Unreal.  In this market, at this time, there was only one explanation for that... the hand of GOD Almighty.

With the house sold I accepted the position at CGC, quit my job at Greenville (that was very difficult as, again, I  really did enjoy my time there and loved working with all the athletes I had the privilege of coaching), and set up for a move to Indiana.

Now I am the Director of Worship at Community Gospel Church as well as a full-time Seminary student at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, IN.  It's been a crazy journey these past few years, but looking back it's always interesting to see how GOD used each situation I encountered to set up the next one, which set up the next one.  I am constantly amazed by GOD's providence and protection.  I cannot wait to see what he has in store as this new phase of life begins!