I’ll confess it. The last few weeks have been hard. I’ve come to the realization that I really don’t know what I’m doing in this church planting gig. I’ve been waking up early with the prayer, “Lord, I think you’ve made a mistake.”
But then wonderful things happen. Like yesterday. But not just yesterday . . . a whole string of meetings that led me to yesterday.
- It begins with a new Canadian who invites me to her Bible study.
- I am welcomed and participate in a Bible study where I am the newcomer and need someone to translate for me what is being said.
- This group connects me with a pastor who has been a mentor to them and is committed to a church that welcomes all races.
- I meet this pastor for coffee and he suggests that I talked to “a person who’s doing what you hope to do”.
- I meet this church planter who knows the territory very well and has a heart for the new thing the Spirit is trying to birth in the church today. As we talk I keep thinking, “I wish this man could be my mentor”. He tells me he’s just beginning training to be a coach for church planters and has two people he’s mentoring, but needs a third. Something clicks.
For me it is the Spirit. I certainly don’t understand it, but I believe it. On the journey, God provides.
Maybe you have experienced something similar. Has that happened to you? How has God provided for you on your journey?
My mother LOVED your sermon. Auntie Margaret is envious – so am printing her a copy too which I shall post tomorrow. Hence my return visit here today …… I was so heartened by your 1+1=3 post – as a woman, I have struggled with the succes thing enormously, because I know (logically, rationally) that being a good parent is the hardest and best thing I shall ever do, yet I feel unworthy because I am not a succesful wage earner. Then I read your Faith Walk post and appreciated your candour. You know I have no faith, but I do believe that opportunities and affirmations arise when we least expect them but, possibly, most need them. I have felt lost in the last 18 months because I gave up law school – but I know now I could not have managed my life had I been in law school and then full-time work during this period. And I am looking forward to going back to law school when Nicola leaves home next year. So I have sympathy with your journey – although I think you’re braver doing it in such a success-driven, materialistic, consumerist Western environment!
By: Sue on October 25, 2009
at 12:18 pm
Thanks Sue for your honesty and “faith”. I think we sometimes spiritualize faith way more than we should. Faith, it seems to me, also involves a kind of trust that life is good, life is worth the living, relationships matter . . . love matters. And when you say you “believe that opportunities and affirmations arise when we least expect them” that sound like faith too! Blessings in your unique “faith walk”.
By: risingspirit on October 26, 2009
at 9:32 pm