Well today is my last day at work. For those of you who don’t know, Danielle and I will be moving to Wichita Falls, Texas, where I have accepted a position with Fairway Baptist Church as their Worship Pastor. After almost four months of emails, phone calls, flights, interviews, and stress, the church officially voted on May 7th to ask us to come join their family. And without hesitation, we said, “YES!!!!”After today, the chaos begins. I’m not a big fan of “the move.” No matter how many lists I write, rewrite, merge together, and write again. I always have this small voice chatting in my head, “Adam, there’s something missing.” “You forgot something.” “What could it be?” “What could it be?” “What could it be?”
Everything from storage units and apartments, to utilities and moving trucks, there are WAY too many details when it comes to moving, especially when trying to do so in less than three weeks. Luckily, I’m married to a woman who obsesses over details just as much as I do...maybe even a little bit more. (Love you, honey) Together we can make bulleted menus of “to-dos,” enter excel spreadsheets, and drain hi-liters with each task completed. It seems to work.....for now.
We plan on loading up the storage unit this weekend and the apartment early next week. We hit the open road on Wednesday and hopefully arrive in our new home on Thursday. And just as we are finishing up the frenzied furry of “the move”, the real chaos begins—ministry.
My first official date on staff is June 4th. This is a date that has been in my mind and on my heart for almost ten years. When I was a freshman in college and began traveling around leading worship at revivals, retreats, and conferences, I knew one day God would call me to a specific church to start full-time ministry. That day is finally here!!!
It is an exciting time for me. Looking back I can see His sovereignty in bringing both Danielle and me to this point. It is so refreshing to feel His presence and realize that during those times of doubt and struggle, He was still moving and molding us for this place in time.
What a peace-giver. When I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, “What are You doing? You’ve got it all wrong!!” He sits and waits for me to calm down and then whispers, “Trust me. I know what I’m doing. I’ve got a plan.”"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11
For ten years, He has been sculpting me into “Adam” and fashioning Danielle into “Danielle.” He gave us certain gifts at birth He knew we would later use for His glory. For me, a knack for computers and a bent for music. As for Danielle, the gift of art, a passion for animals, and a listening ear…an ear that truly hears God’s people. And during life, He shaped and tweaked those gifts with life experience, people around us, and with dry times of waiting.
What an encouragement it is to know that the Creator of all things waits for me—waiting for us. Honestly, He patiently waits for you and for me. When we are running around trying to figure things out on our own (and usually messing things up in the process), He waits for us. Why? Because when He thinks of us, He doesn’t see the mess we’ve got ourselves into, He sees the end result—we will be like Jesus. No matter how trivial a situation may seem or how long a dry spell may last, He has planned for it and prepared you for it. And then, that situation will prepare you for another situation in the future, and so on and so on, until our heart and our spirit are like His Son’s. Did you hear that? We are to be like His Son—Jesus Christ.
So through all of the anxiety, stress, worry, waiting, and wondering, there emerges JOY. Joy in knowing that you have become closer to who you were created to be—YOU!!!
So after ten years of waiting, God has said, “Now, Adam. Now is the time. Six years ago you weren’t ready. Not even last year. Last week you were close, but no cigar. But now, now is the time. GO!!!” How exciting!!!......Oh man, now is the time....what am I thinking? I’m not ready!! What if He’s wrong?? What if He read the schedule wrong??
Well, there I go again. I guess I’ll just have to trust and see what happens. How exciting!! Let the chaos begin.
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
