In.Motion

I’ve lived in Wilmington for most of my life. Moved here when I was 5, and I’ve been in it to win it since then. I love this place. I love the people here. Ever since I started looking into my adult future, I’ve always had desires of growing my family here, getting my first house here, or any number of things you dream about. However, my story is going to be taking a turn for a season.

I’ve been in talks & processing with New Harvest Church in Clovis, Ca about an opportunity that might have been available for me out there to join their staff. From the conversations I’ve had with Him to my visit out there in early December, Pastor Mitch Ribera has done a lovely job of being thorough, detailed, & gracious in our exploration of this possibility. Through lots of prayer and feedback and questions, we’ve arrived at our conclusion.

Pastor Mitch has asked me to come out to California and join his team full time as the Creative Arts Director for the church. I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity to serve and grow doing exactly what I love to do. Quite literally, this is my dream job. I’ll be responsible for the worship environments for the church & other media expressions of the church, as well as the technical aspects of the church. I’ll be responsible for quite a bit of work, but I can’t wait to get to it. I’m also comforted that I’m going to be well cared for and intentionally built up and poured into as a young leader and growing Christ-follower.

One thing I want to make clear is that this whole opportunity has had nothing to do with Port City Community Church or anyone there. I cherish my close relationship with several leaders and they have done nothing but ensure that New Harvest was a place that was going to take my walk seriously and continue to build into my life. I am so thankful for their constant prayer and how they have always valued my walk more than anything that I can do. I have always felt loved, and I’ve learned more than I could possibly write from my time at Port City, so I will miss this church family.

So, where does this leave me? Actually, leaving rather soon. I’ll be leaving either Sunday (1/10) or Monday (1/11), for the left coast, to arrive in Fresno next Friday (1/15). This means that as I sit here on Wed (1/6) morning, I only have 4 or 5 more days here in Wilmington. I’m going to be doing a lot of prepping and packing, but I want to see as many lovely faces as I can before I say “See You Later” for a while. If you have my number, give me a call because I’d love to see you, but if I don’t get to see you before I leave, know it was only a conflict of time that caused me to miss you.

Through this experience, I’ve seen that God is faithful and that He loves overwhelm you with grace. I’m excited to see where He takes my life, and I’ll continue to step in faith into whatever I feel He is leading me to. It’s hard to leave the home and family I’ve loved and known all my life, but I know that His plan is far better than any I could create. If you’re ever in Fresno, look me up, and I’ll buy you some real mexican food. I can’t wait, and I’m quickly on my way.

Wilmington, it’s been great.
California, here I come!

One.Love

cd

I was in Hebrews 5 today, and a line stuck out to me.

Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.

Two things stand out to me here:

1. Jesus was the son of God, but he still learned obedience. It wasn’t inherent. This makes me feel better about my inability to obey sometimes. The more I learn about Jesus, the more hope I see for myself, only because of Him. I do think that the word “learned” here should be read, like in the original language, as “to acquire the habit” or “be accustomed to”, rather than like a child learning to read.

2. Suffering yields obedience. I believe that the circumstances of your suffering will determine who/what you are obedient to. Jesus suffered for something He believed in and He finished His suffering, so He “learned” to be obedient to God. The kind of suffering that brings complete obedience includes complete endurance of the suffering. No quitting. No letting up. We have to finish.

This is definitely a time of year that lots of people begin programs or make promises that lead to sacrifices and ultimately some suffering. Diets, exercise plans, and Bible reading plans. You know what I’m talking about.

As we suffer through the hunger pangs or sore joints, remember that if we see it through, we will learn to be obedient to ourselves or maybe Someone greater than us. However, this all begs the question . . .

Suffering yields obedience, but are we willing to endure?

One.Love

cd

I have a tendency to want things sooner than I should. Or maybe I should say, I like to be where I want to end up sooner than life allows. Since this is the case, I have a nasty tendency to rush things. At the root of this, is a sense of entitlement, and within that is where my pride resides. I’ve known this for a long time, but I’ve never put the work that is required to separate pride from my character.

I think that some of my greatest strengths have also been the source of the constant thorn in my step. A man much wiser then me once said, “Never let your talent outrun your character”. This is not to say that I’m some kind of over-gifted brat or that I am something greater than what I am. It is to say that I’ve allowed the things that I’ve been blessed with in life to control the direction of my life and effect my priorities in it.

The solution to all this is to humble myself. To humble myself daily and to focus on what it looks like to make humility what I am about, rather than this pride that I’ve allowed to fuel my efforts for far too long. Seeing God for who He is and how He is is where I start. Declaring my dependance on and trust in God is how I take out the corrosive leech that has securely attached itself to my character and identity for far to long.

All this is to say that I feel like I’m moving again. I feel like I have a plan for what I need to do. All is left is to wake up each day and decide to make choices that rebuild my character. That continue to erase this pride from who I am. That continue to help me find my identity in the death and rising of the God that’s never left me.

One.Love

cd