One Year Later...

It’s hard to believe that I started this blog one year and 50 posts ago.  A year ago, I lost my job and had a wife that was 6 months pregnant and heading into the holiday season.  I was hurt, frustrated and upset by the circumstances surrounding me.  There were so many thoughts going through my head that my friend, Ben suggested that I write them all down.  So I started “Relentless Discipleship.” 

This blog was the place that I could tell the world what God was laying on my heart; unapologetic and unfiltered. 

At the time I started “Relentless Discipleship,” my family was going through the deepest valley we had ever gone through.  We had no clue what God was doing.  I had uprooted our lives to take a youth ministry job, because I knew that God was calling us to do so and even after all the pain an hurt that we went through last year, I wouldn’t trade any of it.

Our church family may have abandoned us, but our Fuse Student Ministry family was there for us every step of the way.  Our families were there for us.  Our friends were there for us. They were all an answer to our prayers.  They assured us that God had a plan for our family, and He did. 

I never applied for a job yet I was contacted by 7 churches after I was let go.  I had interviews with each and six made me offers.  All of this happened in a matter of days.  In the end, we felt that Saint Paul was where God was telling us to go.

I am so glad to be on staff here at Saint Paul in Mount Prospect.  I am surrounded by a staff that puts God first.  I am daily encouraged and uplifted.  It’s a church where we all work together to accomplish the goal of building God’s kingdom.  We are so blessed with great congregation members and volunteers.  From the moment we came here, we knew that the God was doing great things here.

There are times I think about how things used to be: the late nights, the cross country trips, etc.  I miss those things, but I know now that God had a plan for me to be home more with my daughter.  As opposed to being at work 5 nights a week, I am only gone one or two AND I get to spend two days a week with my daughter.  That time has been the most precious thing of all.

This time last year, I though the world was caving in around me, but God had a plan for my life.  The path to get me to where I am today was painful, but I know that my family and I are spending more time together; time that we wouldn’t have had a year ago.

The holidays are creeping up, and for some people, they are tough times.  But I’m here to say that God has a plan for your life.  It may not be what you desire or what you think is best, but God’s plan is better than anything that you can come up with. 

You may not be able to see that today, but in a few years, you just might...