So many adventures stack up lately, and with every one of them comes me saying I'm going to love blogging about them! But I have reached the point now where there are so many I couldn't possibly do them all justice without one getting lost in the shuffle; and they have all been very important in shaping me. It just feels really good to feel like I can blog again. My schedule has been really tight lately; the promotion as Co-Manager at Journeys through Genesco has completely turned my world upside down. That's a huge blessing considering this never was MY world to begin with!
Over the course of the past month, I went from being a part time Youth Pastor of a Nazarene church, a clerk at a Journeys Kidz store getting a fee hours here and there, and playing music on the street encountering whoever God brought into my path, to a full time Co-Manager of the largest volumed Journeys adult shoe store in the St Louis area at the Galleria Mall, part time Worship Leader of a new start church in St Louis, called Simplicity, and headlined concerts in Michigan, Illinois, and New York. I recently felt like the major change was the time I needed to back away from my leadership responsibilities as Parkview's Youth Pastor, but soon I will be volunteering when I can with another youth ministry team at a church closer to where I live.
The pastor of Simplicity Church shared a verbal picture with me that really hit the nail on the head for me that has really carried over to where God has led me recently in ministry:
When Jesus invited Matthew, a tax collector, to hang out, Matthew asked Him where. Jesus suggested Matthew's house. He didn't say, "But first clean up your life of sin and only invite your Christian friends to dinner." Instead, He showed up to Matthew's house with a non-judgmental heart and sincere brotherly love. When Matthew connected with that kind of unconditional love, he latched on and became one of Jesus' disciples. He still had a lot of imperfections in his life, but because of the community Jesus included him in, Matthew opened his own heart to make those improvements! That's real; unshaped by human weakness, reborn in the hands of our Creator.
It is no longer my mission to change anyone, but to include everyone in this community of Christ that I have the privilege of living in. While letting the God of the universe be the Heart-Shaper, I am free to share with others in a spirit of worship instead of imposing it!
I have had some of the roughest patches on the emotional roller coaster life has me locked in to - each spiral sends me screaming to God for a smoother track - but when the track starts to smooth out, I can't help but feel the rush of what God showed me through those moments! Then He reminds me that I'm not the only one locked into this coaster.
I wonder how you're enjoying the ride! How did that last turn change you?
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