Our Next Adventure
Have you ever jumped from some place really high and there's a point midair when you feel like you really should have hit water by that point? That's kind of what these last two years have felt like. When I left Concoxions, it was truly a leap of faith. I knew that I was being called into something else but I didn't know exactly what. There has been much wandering, difficulty, lesson learning, and the testing of patience in that time. A serious test of patience. It's like I leapt and I just kept falling, drifting.
My feet have finally landed somewhere and the irony is how fast the ground came at me. A few weeks ago, my friend Hudson asked if he could recommend me for a youth minister position in Nashville. I looked at the church online, was impressed with that digital glimpse, and said, "Sure." I figured it would be a month or two before I heard anything and it probably wouldn't go anywhere. But then within a couple of weeks, I had multiple interviews and was invited up to see the church and talk with the search committee in person. EA and I really loved the people that we met and all the ways that the church sought to serve the community around them. A week later I was offered the position and I will be starting as the Minister to Youth and Their Families at Woodmont Christian Church in September.
I am ecstatic. I get to talk about Jesus, God, faith, theology, life, and all that wonderful stuff for a living. I get to know an incredible group of students and share life with them as their faith grows, evolves, and matures. I get to teach and work my creative muscles in the context of the church. I get to serve in a city that I have grown to love from the time that I first visited when EA and I had just started dating. I get to be stretched. I get to learn. I get to grow. I am beyond excited.
I'm also kind of terrified if I'm being honest. Terrified because I don't want to screw up. Terrified because I have lived my whole entire life along the X-Y axis that is I-85 and I-26. And terrified because EA, Jim, and Liam won't be moving up to Nashville until December. That's truly the toughest part since they are my three favorite people in the world. A part of my heart will be in another time zone for several months. Yet in spite of these fears, I am greatly looking forward to being at Woodmont.
It will not be easy. There will be growing pains. I will screw up multiple times. Yet all I can do is follow the advice of Proverbs 3:5-6, which I realize is a bit of a cliche. It's not one of those biblical deep cuts tossed out when people want to impress others with their theological learnedness. But simple is a good place to start and a good place to return from time to time.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make straight your paths.
My feet have hit the ground. There's a path in front of me and it looks like adventure. Let's go.
