Patience
I can tell you one thing that both Lisa and I struggle with is patience. Lisa more than me though. Maybe it has something to do with our perfectionist tendencies or that fact we are the type of people who always have to be doing something or moving forward. Whatever it is God has definitely been working on this area with us.
It's not like this is the first time I have had to deal with these issues. But my life seems to be marked with a turbo charged testing time for ministry. It's not like I can sit around do and be whatever I want. God called me into pastoral ministry 3 months after I became a Christian. Ever since then He has done some amazing things in my life to prepare me to fulfill this calling. It has not been easy by any stretch of the imagination.
Over the past year we have had to be patient with selling our home, trying to find a home, which to date, has not happened, going through the process of becoming church planters and dealing with people who want to criticize what we are trying to do. It would be easy to tell them to bite me but that is not the most patient thing to do. One major thing I have learned is that when we show impatience toward people we are actually being unloving toward them.
Unfortunately this transition has not been an easy process for the kids either. They have been acting out more than they usually do because we uprooted them and are living with the In-laws. They no longer have a home of their own. We have at times been impatient with them and we are still working on this. I always tell people, if you pray for patience God will not give it to you. But He will allow you to be in situations and around people which will require you to be patient.
I believe God is continually preparing us for what is ahead with the church plant and has ratched up our spiritual discipline in order to be ready for the road ahead. We haven't reached any pinacle of spirituality or anything, it's just that we have entered basic training once again. If you think of us, please don't pray for patience for us but pray that we would have the strength to endure. Thanks.
I can tell you one thing that both Lisa and I struggle with is patience. Lisa more than me though. Maybe it has something to do with our perfectionist tendencies or that fact we are the type of people who always have to be doing something or moving forward. Whatever it is God has definitely been working on this area with us.
It's not like this is the first time I have had to deal with these issues. But my life seems to be marked with a turbo charged testing time for ministry. It's not like I can sit around do and be whatever I want. God called me into pastoral ministry 3 months after I became a Christian. Ever since then He has done some amazing things in my life to prepare me to fulfill this calling. It has not been easy by any stretch of the imagination.
Over the past year we have had to be patient with selling our home, trying to find a home, which to date, has not happened, going through the process of becoming church planters and dealing with people who want to criticize what we are trying to do. It would be easy to tell them to bite me but that is not the most patient thing to do. One major thing I have learned is that when we show impatience toward people we are actually being unloving toward them.
Unfortunately this transition has not been an easy process for the kids either. They have been acting out more than they usually do because we uprooted them and are living with the In-laws. They no longer have a home of their own. We have at times been impatient with them and we are still working on this. I always tell people, if you pray for patience God will not give it to you. But He will allow you to be in situations and around people which will require you to be patient.
I believe God is continually preparing us for what is ahead with the church plant and has ratched up our spiritual discipline in order to be ready for the road ahead. We haven't reached any pinacle of spirituality or anything, it's just that we have entered basic training once again. If you think of us, please don't pray for patience for us but pray that we would have the strength to endure. Thanks.
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