Ok, so the last time I wrote, I was smack in the middle of my seminary education, excited to start one of the best summers I’ve ever had, working with Lake Norman Baptist Church in Huntersville NC and one of my best friends in the ministry, Brad Averette. That was more than 8 years ago. Much change has occurred.
I remember Brad sharing two things with me on the very first day of my internship as we sat in his office. In his Alabama draw he said, “Chris, you have to enjoy the process. Remember that.” I confess, I had no idea what he meant at the time. I might not still, but I’ll write more on “the process,” in another post! He also shared with me that as a youth pastor (or any other pastor for that matter), I’d be pouring my life into people who could hurt me. He told me though that in order to have authentic life changing ministry, this pouring into people (families, kids, whoever) had to happen, and that God was able to heal a heart that had been hurt while being vulnerable in ministry. At the time, and I confess for most of the last 8 years, I really didn’t understand what he was getting at, and an amazing summer with him and his youth group didn’t help me learn some difficult lessons.
For much of the last 8 years, I completely dove into teaching, mentoring, and speaking truth into student’s lives. I pursued my calling with a narrow sighted, workaholic, all-in or nothing passion. I moved to dusty, brown Las Vegas Nevada three years ago to continue my ministry. I was excited for the fresh start (after spending more than a decade in North Carolina, I was eager to see another part of the country!). After teaching and ministering in North Carolina, I felt the Lord leading me out West. It has been a bumpy journey, filled with potholes and a lot of tough lessons and broken hearted-ness I just wrote about…but God is totally sovereign and that step of faith I took to come out here wasn’t made by mistake.
There will be other entries following, but I wanted to give you all a heads up.
Blessings!
Chris
LivingLife Ministries Blog 