My Calling

Over the course of the past year, I've spent I lot of time trying to determine where the Lord wants me to be and where I want to be in ministry for the next phase of my life. As I've gone through this process, I've spent a lot of time asking myself some tough questions, introspective questions about myself, my motives, my calling, my passions (have they changed?), my spiritual gifts, my strengths and my weaknesses.

As part of this process, I even changed my role on the Student Ministries team this past school year along with Pastor Derry (our Senior High pastor). This shift was done to better maximize our gifts and abilities for the Kingdom within Student Ministries. In this reshuffling of roles, I spent most of my time overseeing volunteers and managing /organizing programs throughout Student Ministries.

While I enjoyed the different challenges and opportunities I had as a result of this shift in responsibilities, one thing became clear. There are a lot of things I can be doing (and become passionate about, enjoy and even maybe succeed at with the Lord's help). However, I've realized it's not about what I can be doing. It's about what God has called me to do.

I can get very passionate, very quickly about things that I see need fixing. I think that's part of the way the Lord has wired me. It isn't a bad thing. Bill Hybels calls it the "Re-engineering style of leadership." However, what I've learned about myself is that those things tend to distract me from the "one" thing I've been uniquely called and equipped to do. Realizing this was a major "light bulb" for me!

So, where does that leave me today? It leaves me realizing that my calling, my unique gifting, and even my passion still lies with that most awkward of age groups, known as Middle School. And I've never been more excited about that thought than I am right now! In fact, this thought hit me the other day - "If I wasn't a Middle School pastor and paid to work with Middle Schoolers, I think I would be spending my free time volunteering somewhere in a church working with this age group." How many people can say that they love what they do for a living that much?