Fun away from home

Fun away from home…

That is what my Dad dubbed work one evening last year. We were sitting around the table playing pass the pigs talking about our jobs and how much we would just rather stay home, when my Dad decided that the main problem with having a job, was calling it work. So he, in an amazing stroke of fatherly “genius,” decided that work would no longer be discussed in his household. When we had to talk about work, we were to call it fun away from home. And so we have. I love my Dad, but sometimes the man out dorks me, which is pretty tough, but, as they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Man, who likes to work fun away from home? I certainly don’t. I would rather be hanging at home with my wife and little ones, but you have to pay the bills somehow. Again, my professional life is an area where I can see God working and blessing my socks off.

Two and a half years ago, God put an idea into my head about how to support my family. At the time, I was working sixty hours a week, minimum, for $6.50 an hour at a youth psychiatric facility. The work was stressful, physically and mentally, and the pay was meager at best. My wife was also working full time as a receptionist at our local clinic making less than I did, believe it or not. Gracie was already here and Maddie was on the way. This was a scary time in our financial life. I remember paying all the bills and having $40 left over to buy food and diapers. The only way we made it through that time was solid faith in God to provide. And He did. We always had plenty to eat (even if it was Ramen), we never went dry on diapers, and there was always gas in our vehicles.

Well, needless to say, I got tired of working so much for so meager a paycheck, so I decided that it was time to go back to school. I had been pursuing my teaching degree, but that was still two years away. I needed something fairly quick with a good pay out. So, I looked into our local LPN program. For those of you that aren’t acronym savvy, that is the licensed practical nurse program. (Yes…I admit it. I am a murse…male nurse of DOOM!).

So school was tough, but my family got through it, and now I make enough money that my wife can be a stay at home mom, which is something she has wanted to do since Gracie was born. So life is good. I work in a clinic dealing with the good, the bad, and the ugly of patient care. I get holidays and weekends off. Yes, my job is great, but it is not something that I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to do something that changes the world.

God has placed a call on my family. He has called us to full-time ministry. For a long time, I have known that God wants to use me in a leadership position of some ministry. I love to teach, I love youth, and I love to speak. So naturally, I thought I was supposed to pursue a position in youth ministry. The youth pastors that I had made an awesome impression on me. Their teaching and guidance are the reason that I am who I am today. I wanted to make the same impact on others that was made on me, but God has a different plan in mind.

The passion that ignites my life is music. I love to worship in all things, but my favorite times are lifting up my voice in song, trying to get as close to God’s throne as I possibly can. God is so good! I have always loved music, but I never thought that I was a good enough singer, guitarist, or worship leader to ever be able to lead a congregation of believers to the throne of God. Truth be told, I am probably not, but God has seen fit to allow me to be the interim worship leader at my home church for the last seven months and it has been amazing. I can’t imagine doing anything else. My church is kicking around the idea of hiring me on in a permanent fashion, which would be great. Going to have to see how that all pans out. All I desire is that God’s will be done, and I am confident that it will.

So, I find myself in a place of transition. I like my current gig working in the clinic, but God has bigger plans for my family. God has given me an amazing vision for a ministry called Shechem, but that is a post for another time. God is using this time to build me up in my ability to lead people and lead worship, so for now, I am content to sit back and follow God’s ever present leadership. I would, however, appreciate your prayers for my family and for the direction that God wants to take us. Thanks again for reading.

In His service.