Through The Valley

Below is an exert from an email that I wrote to someone who is struggling. I prayed about it and I wanted to share this with you. It is part of my story with God and the hope that we can have when we walk through valleys in life. I hope you it gives you inspiration and hope.
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My wife, Amy, and I got married in 2006 after being best friends for a year and dating for 3 more. Shortly after getting married we found out that Amy was pregnant. We were ecstatic to say the least. But when we went to the doctor for our first confirmation checkup the doctors found out that she had an ectopic pregnancy. The embryo had lodge in the fallopian tube and was not viable. It was going to have to be removed. after much prayer, we went into surgery and the doctors ended up having to take out the entire tube on the one side. They told us it left us a 50% chance of getting pregnant again. We were saddened but relieved that we had made it through this ordeal. At the time we thought it was the worst possible thing that we could go through. Isn't that how it always is? When we are in the middle of a bad situation it seems like that is the only thing that we can focus on.

A year passed and we were happy, if not a bit wary, when we found out Amy was pregnant again. We rushed to the doctor and everything was fine. Our son Lagan progressed perfectly, developing exactly as he should. Finally the day had come! We made our way to the hospital for our scheduled C-section and they hooked Amy up to the monitors. When they were giving Amy here IV they pulled out the shunt and blood shot across the room and hit the ground at my feet. I turned white and nearly fainted...so much for us being tough guys, huh? LOL

But when they hooked her to the heart rate monitor they couldn't find Lagan's heartbeat. His heart had stopped beating and we were going to have to go into an emergency C-section to deliver him. The surgery went fine, and they laid my lifeless son in my arms wrapped in a blanket. I was in shock, Amy was sobbing...nothing made sense.

Days went by and many friends and family came by. I remember it all as a blur. I tried to keep up a strong front, but one day I went out the back of the house. I looked up into the sky and told God, "I don't understand how You could let this happen. I've been faithful to you, I've followed you, I've listened to you and You let this happen to us. I'm so angry and I don't know if I can take anything else. If one more thing goes wrong, I'm done! I'm through with you, I'm through with the church. If this is how it is going to be I don't want any part of your plan for my life!"

Looking back, I can tell I made those statements in the heat of the moment, but deep down that is exactly how I felt. I was broken. My faith was destroyed, and I felt directionless. But I don't know how I would have gotten through that time without God and my church family. Without God there is no hope of a future

I pulled out my Bible one morning and opened up to a verse in Jeremiah that I had bookmarked almost 2 years before. It says:

" For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11

I looked it over and read it again and again. I still find comfort in that verse to this day. The fact is, as long as I have breath in my lungs God has plans for my life. He has a future for me. Not a dark dismal spiral downward into despair. But a future full of hope and life. God doesn't want to do evil to us. But we live in a world that has turned its back on its creator and because of that, bad things happen. God only desires to do good to you. Bad things happen, but God can use those situations to draw us to Him. To make us see that we can't do it on our own. That we need to rely on Him.

I'm not sure exactly what you are going through. I feel like you are facing a LOT of adversity in your life right now. Don't try to fight it on your own. Turn into God's embrace and let Him wrap you in His arms of love. Sometimes it feels like He's not there; like you can't feel Him near you. But He is right there working for your good. Give you life up to Him and stop trying to do it on your own. I've been there, and it's frustrating when you can't change things. We just don't have the power to do it. But God does.

God loves you. He wants good things for you. He is the perfect Father that loves us unconditionally and has our best interests at heart. Rely on Him and get connected with a group of people who, even though we are all screwed up like everyone else, we are on a journey to become who God wants us to be.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble."

The church is full of people who are hurting and broken and just as screwed up as everyone else. But we are here for each other. We are here for you. You are a child of the King and that makes you my sister. And I'm here to help you up whenever you fall.

I hope you don't feel like I'm preaching at you. That is definitely not my intention. I just want you to know that I have been through some dark depressed times and the only thing that helped me out of that pit was God, my family (who are Christ-followers) and my church family. We love you very much, and we are praying for you. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Love ya sis!

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It is amazing how far God has taken us since then. We now have two vibrant, healthy children. My daughter Jadyn will turn three here in a few weeks and our 5 month old son Zachary is as rambunctious as ever. God is good, no matter the circumstances. No matter what, love God and love others.

Live Sent!

When God says, "Wait"

Over the last couple of weeks God has begun to really work into my heart...or is it that I've finally opened up enough to hear what he's been saying all along? Either way, I've been really thinking a lot about what to do when God tells you to wait.

To be honest, I am not a good waiter. To say it even more real, I HATE waiting. I hate waiting in line to check out. I hate waiting for food to cook (even in the microwave). So it's no big stretch to say that when God through me a "wait" a few years ago that I haven't really handled it well.

I thought that after a week of waiting that God had forgotten about me. That I was done. Whatever purpose God had for me, it was over. But that's changing....

You see, just because God tells you, "Wait" it doesn't mean, "No". God knows the dreams and desires that He has put in your heart and He has plans for you. The problem is what to do while you are in your wait. Over the last couple of weeks there has been a huge amount of divine "coincidences" that have crossed my path to remind me that while I'm waiting, God is still working on my behalf and still has my best interests at heart.

So while you wait:

• Remember, Remember, Remember: When you remember how God was with you through your yesterdays, you can trust him with your tomorrows. It is easy to get distracted by the valley and not look back to the mountain that you just came from. Remember all the ways that God has answered your prayers in the past, all the ways He's moved on your behalf, and all the miracles that you have seen. This will keep your focus on Him rather than on the season you are in now.

• Use Your "Wait" to Grow Closer to God: I have felt that one of the reasons God has given me my wait has been to teach me to find my satisfaction in Him rather in the thing I'm waiting for. I'm beginning to spend more time in prayer, reading the word, and learning as much as I can while I'm waiting. Sometimes, because it is so easy to get distracted by everything around us, we just need to have a time to slow down to refocus on what is really important.

• Keep Learning: Don't let your waiting time lead you to become complacent or lazy about your craft. If you are a musician, use the time to perfect your musicianship. If you are a writer, keep writing. If you are a pastor, serve wherever you can. READ, READ, READ! Good leaders learn from their own mistakes. Great leaders learn from the mistakes and examples of others. Find someone who is successful at what you want to do and learn as much as you can from them.

Waiting isn't easy (especially if you're like me), but God can use that time to grow you into who He needs you to be when the time come for Him to open that door for you.

Reconciling being a Revolutionary and Responsible

"When I grow up I want to..."

How many of us remember saying that. We had such high aspirations as kids. We really thought that we could change the world and be anything we wanted to be. How is it that so much can change between then and now.

Now as adults in a down economy we are working jobs we have to work rather than jobs we want to work. As husbands we have a wife and 2.5 kids to provide for. Our dreams have changed. But it's not always a bad change.

I read an article in Relevant Magazine entitled, When Revolutionaries Grow up: Can You be Both Radical And Responsible?, that deals with this issue very well.

You can read the article here on page 42

It isn't always a bad thing when our dreams change. It doesn't mean that we aren't making a difference. As parents and 9to5 workers we are making a different difference than the college kid who goes to live in Malawi to reach the people there with the love and light of Jesus.

Our definition of success must change to compliment these new dreams. What do you think success looks like for young adults and families now? What kind of new dreams have you found as you've matured and gotten older? What dreams have you had to give up?

The Need for Local Missions in Hometowns

We launched our MC (missional community) a few weeks ago and it has been a great experience so far. Our little tribe is going through The Tangible Kingdom Primer (TKP) by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay. To be honest, developing missional habits has been a little tougher than I had imagined. It really makes you seriously think about some issues that I thought had been set in stone from my traditional church background. It's good to grow, but it can also cause healthy growing pains.

We are on week 3 of the TKP and the topic this week is "The Gospel." Today's reading is from Luke 4:16-22, where Jesus announces what the Good News of the Gospel is all about. That in itself deserves a whole blog post to discuss, and I may do that later this week. But for now, let's take a look at Luke 4:16:

"And he [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. "

English Standard Version
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

 One of our MC members text me yesterday (must have been reading ahead, lol) that this verse "bespeaks the need of sharing the gospel where we live...not just in third world countries."

Wow, now that is some insight! I don't know how many times I've read this passage before. We read it all the time to discuss what Jesus' mission here on earth was, but we glaze over the fact that he had gone back to his hometown. And there is a huge need for the Good News to touch down in our hometowns. That is what we've been commissioned to do; to take the Good News into wherever our hometown is.

How are you taking the Gospel into your hometown? Have you ever thought of your hometown as being your mission field? Be encouraged! The harvest is ripe, your neighbors are hungry for Good News. And God has called you to take it to them. What an honor. What a challenge. What an adventure!!!

Servolution 2011

Servolution is coming April 16-23!!! I'm so excited about all that we are going to be doing. I truly believe that if we take the time to show God's love in tangible way it will change hearts and lives in Ada. Here are a few ways that we are going to be making a difference for our city:

Read more »

Being Safe Will Kill Us

Alan Hirsch - Are You Stuck In A Rut? from Verge Network on Vimeo.

You can't be creative unless you risk failure. And we will never be able to achieve anything great if we don't take the risk. Let's step out and do something so crazy that God would be ashamed not to show up on our behalf.

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The Mission Book

 

We all have a story to tell. And when we begin to listen and share our stories we all are able to learn from each other. With that in mind, the folks at Upstream Collective have put together a new ebook reader site centered around missions called TheMissionBook. 

There are articles from some great leaders and pastors: Alan Hirsch, Ed Stetzer and others.

This is an awesome resource for anyone wanting to dive deeper into the mission. Read other people's stories and submit your own.