A new season for blogging

In winter, so many things lay dormant waiting for spring to arrive. Then, the sun burning through the winter clouds ushers in the arrival of new life and new things. Like many things in my life, I had noble intentions about setting up this blog but the urgency of other things put blogging in the back end of my list of priorities. Now a new season has arrived which has awakened me to a real purpose for blogging.

God Still Provides
As many of you know, my church has been in a season of financial struggle. This has not been reflected in the work of our ministry. Despite our financial challenges, God has been at work in so many glorious and wonderful ways that defy the significance of money and magnify the power of God working through His Spirit in the lives of His Church. The glory that God has revealed has been so worth the struggle. In light of all this, I have been looking for another job to supplement my income. It's been tough to find that perfect job that accommodates my schedule to pastor a church. But, God, as always, has provided!

A New Job and Some New Lessons
Tonight, I begin my first night on the job working in the office of the Census Bureau. It's from 9:00 pm - 3:30 am. This may seem crazy but for those of you who have known me, these are perfect hours for me. I have always been a late night person. It's temporary of course but should carry us through a season until we figure out another game plan. I'm excited about being a Pastor in the world. There are a variety of people working with me from every generation and every ethnicity you can imagine. I'm excited about the lessons that God has to teach me through all of this.

For example, yesterday I had my first day of training. I ended up sitting for the last 3 hours of my day doing nothing because the people who were supposed to train me were too busy. I went home really frustrated and complaining about what a waste of a day it was. But, the Sarah reminded me that this was National Day of Prayer week and that I could have used that time to pray. Wow! She was soooo right! There was an office full of people that I could have prayed for during that whole time. I have a lot to learn. I will go into this new day of work and so many things on my schedule with a reminder of (Eph 5:15-16 NIV) Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, {16} making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Part of my application of Ephesians 5:15-16 is to do this blog. I know that my time will be even more limited in being in contact with people. So, I'll be writing this blog so that I can stay in touch. I want people to know what God is teaching me. I want to be an encouragement. My hope is that this blog will help me do that more efficiently in this busy season ahead. I don't know how often I'll get to this but I certainly will be a lot more consistent than ever before!

Press on! Hosea 6:3