Right now we're excited to have a handful of Life Coaches mentoring with father-absent kids at Hope, and 25 father-absent kids from Hope still on our waiting list. Lord willing, we'd love to see those numbers reverse in the next few years!
11.20.2010
A Glimpse of "Hope"
Check out this moving short video about our ministry's school partner, Hope Academy, right here.
Right now we're excited to have a handful of Life Coaches mentoring with father-absent kids at Hope, and 25 father-absent kids from Hope still on our waiting list. Lord willing, we'd love to see those numbers reverse in the next few years!
Right now we're excited to have a handful of Life Coaches mentoring with father-absent kids at Hope, and 25 father-absent kids from Hope still on our waiting list. Lord willing, we'd love to see those numbers reverse in the next few years!
10.27.2010
Kickball, "Rabid" Possums, and The Gospel
We just enjoyed our Annual Bethlehem Life Coaches for Kids outing at Ham Lake Baptist Camp! God get's a little bit more glory this year since we had double the amount of kids and adults running around playing soccer and kickball (10 mentors/mentees total) and all of our muscles and joints held together!
We were right next to the woods and heard three animals getting closer and louder. All the adults sitting closest to the woods were trying to figure out what was going on with all the clawing around. We shined our lights around and found one of the possums. He just stared back and seemed intent to continue looking for a way to get under the fence to get closer. This was strange, and one of the hunters in our group mentioned animals will do this when they're rabid. We must have felt confident enough in our small mammal fighting skills, because we decided to not give up camp. We put a couple people on flashlight patrol in case the possums launched an assault.
At the time I thought, "Great, now the boys will be even more giddy thinking about getting attacked from some of the silliest looking creatures in Minnesota." But, surprisingly, their mood was much more focused than before. We talked about Christ as the perfect substitute sacrifice for all who believe, His role as our ultimate reconsiler, and how He is proof of God's immeasurable love for us. Then we had a nice little Q&A afterward about what it means to trust in Christ.
To my surprise, the possums had actually helped settle the kids down -- and they even wandered off for the rest of the night after their surprise visit. Perhaps they were on "a mission from God." :) Whatever the case, we're praising God for an excellent evening of bonding, discussion, injury-free games, and unique campfire experience!
Enjoying some carpet bowling before our trail hike.
The highlight of the evening was a chance to talk about the Gospel with the kids at the campfire. I was asking the kids (all boys) how significant God was compared to a person, and they were having a fun time showing how much more important God was with hand gestures and suggesting "to the moon," "to the stars," etc. Then we talked about how big just one sin against God was compared to one sin against a person -- the same superlatives came up. "How angry is God over just one sin?" The boys probably knew where this was going, but they continued to enjoy suggesting "to the sky!" I asked them what the consequences should be, and they excitedly talked about how huge of a punishment we deserve. It was a pretty interesting sight to witness. I'd never seen a group so happily talk about eternal damnation! I remember thinking there's no way I can get these kids to mellow out. Then the possums came.
The peaceful pre-possum campfire.
We were right next to the woods and heard three animals getting closer and louder. All the adults sitting closest to the woods were trying to figure out what was going on with all the clawing around. We shined our lights around and found one of the possums. He just stared back and seemed intent to continue looking for a way to get under the fence to get closer. This was strange, and one of the hunters in our group mentioned animals will do this when they're rabid. We must have felt confident enough in our small mammal fighting skills, because we decided to not give up camp. We put a couple people on flashlight patrol in case the possums launched an assault.
At the time I thought, "Great, now the boys will be even more giddy thinking about getting attacked from some of the silliest looking creatures in Minnesota." But, surprisingly, their mood was much more focused than before. We talked about Christ as the perfect substitute sacrifice for all who believe, His role as our ultimate reconsiler, and how He is proof of God's immeasurable love for us. Then we had a nice little Q&A afterward about what it means to trust in Christ.
To my surprise, the possums had actually helped settle the kids down -- and they even wandered off for the rest of the night after their surprise visit. Perhaps they were on "a mission from God." :) Whatever the case, we're praising God for an excellent evening of bonding, discussion, injury-free games, and unique campfire experience!
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| Our group. They represent one third of our Life Coaches & Kids. |
10.04.2010
A Mother's Plea
I recently received this message from one of the mothers of a child on our waiting list. Her earnest desire for a Christ-centered mentor for her son is echoed among so many mothers we work with:
Dear Tony, my son is an active, loving, outgoing seven-year-old. He is really into sports, and is eager to learn. He is very intelligent. He says his dream someday, is to be in the NBA.
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| He may be our ministry's most faithful prayer. |
My son has been on the waiting list for 20 months now. We pray together every single day for God to bring the right mentor. He has been very patient. I know God has His own timing, and that is one thing My son is learning through all this.
This young man lives in Bloomington and has the difficult distinction of being on our waiting list longer than any other. We are doing our Fall promotion this weekend at all Bethlehem campuses. Please join me in praying that mentors come forward for him and many of the 30 other father absent children on our list. Please consider forwarding the blog link on to anyone you know who might be interested in mentoring, especially with the young man above.
9.11.2010
New Match!
We’re celebrating another new match, which started just a few weeks ago in the heat of August! Our new mentor’s name is Brandon, and he’s made a big jump this summer.
He’s an Iowa native who sensed God’s call to move from the Twin Cities suburbs into the Phillips neighborhood and start out as a Life Coach, all within the past three months. He now lives just blocks away from Hope Academy where his middle-school age mentee attends school.
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| From the Hope Academy website |
Once again, it's impressive to see God bring together a mentor and a young man with so much in common! Both Brandon and his mentee have surprisingly similar interests in sports and academic subjects. Both also identify strongly with Christ. Brandon recently wrote to me, "We are connecting really well... last Tuesday we played basketball together at Stewart park gym.... I'm really encouraged by how we connect already on a spiritual level." Praise God for a good start! Please join us in praying for God's work to deepen in Brandon and his new mentee. His mentee has never met his own father.
8.25.2010
Yard Sale Results!
The dust is settling from an intense weekend of “yard sale-ing.” God provided much more than we expected, considering we just started the planning 6 weeks ago! Thanks for everyone’s prayers and help! Our three day total ended up being $2350, basically doubling our goal! This is enough to cover over 20% of my annual need for funds as the Bethlehem Life Coaches for Kids® director or over 10% of my total two year need!
We had surprises every day of the sale. On Thursday, Day One, we experienced a near constant flow of people. This included a pair of counterfeiters who snuck a fake $100 bill by us (a “bleached” $5 bill with a $100 printed over it). But even with the loss, $650 still came in!
Day Two we canceled due to the forecast, which ended up being a gift since we were so spent from Thursday and all the prep-work on Wednesday. Saturday, God provided some last minute set-up help and another large turn-out – strangers were even buying up a good number of our bake sale goods! We had some added excitement on Saturday night when we left most of the sale items under tables on the lawn covered in tarps. We noticed a group in a car checking out our place around midnight. They took off when they saw me peek through the blinds, so I ended up calling the police to ask for more patrols. Thankfully, God helped us to get some sleep and nothing was touched during the night!
Day Three demonstrated the ecumenical power of rummage. We discovered the pastor/priest of the 4000+ Roman Catholic church across the street inserted an announcement to encourage everyone to visit our sale. He’d already dropped by multiple times during the week without us knowing it. His church helped clean out a good portion of our bake sale and did some shopping too!
All in all, God’s promises to care for His people were on display. We’re thankful for the approximately 25 families/individuals that donated over 1000 items -- wow! Special thanks to our small group and all who joined in to help us by praying, pricing loads of things, lengthy set ups, baking, hauling tables, and child care! Your support in the middle of summer busyness was huge and definitely what Paul would call “a fragrant offering to the Lord!” Thanks so much!!!
We had surprises every day of the sale. On Thursday, Day One, we experienced a near constant flow of people. This included a pair of counterfeiters who snuck a fake $100 bill by us (a “bleached” $5 bill with a $100 printed over it). But even with the loss, $650 still came in!
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| Jeremiah and the yard full of goods, and this was the final day! |
Day Three demonstrated the ecumenical power of rummage. We discovered the pastor/priest of the 4000+ Roman Catholic church across the street inserted an announcement to encourage everyone to visit our sale. He’d already dropped by multiple times during the week without us knowing it. His church helped clean out a good portion of our bake sale and did some shopping too!
All in all, God’s promises to care for His people were on display. We’re thankful for the approximately 25 families/individuals that donated over 1000 items -- wow! Special thanks to our small group and all who joined in to help us by praying, pricing loads of things, lengthy set ups, baking, hauling tables, and child care! Your support in the middle of summer busyness was huge and definitely what Paul would call “a fragrant offering to the Lord!” Thanks so much!!!
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| A view from the "Sporting Goods" and "Furniture" Sections. |
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| It reached the 90's on the final day, but people kept coming! |
8.07.2010
Enjoying Tighter Spaces
We’re actually thrilled to feel the walls start to close in on us over the last two weeks! God is providing. Thanks to everyone who’s donated so far, and to everyone who’s still planning on donating to the yard sale. We have plenty of room for more donations!
We also received two good pieces of news last week. One, BUI confirmed that we can provide tax-deductible receipts – if you’ve already donated items, one should be on the way shortly. And two, my friend Francois, an accomplished French Pastry Chef, is partnering with us. He’s preparing cheesecake and French pastries to complement our Saturday morning bake sale! You can learn more about his business, which is helping him get through seminary at his website, La Ciel Cheesecakes and Pastries.
Besides bake sale and yard sale donations, we’re busy looking to assemble a team of pricing/labeling helpers for Tuesday night (Aug 17) or join members of our small group on Wednesday night (Aug 18th) – thanks group! We also could use help with set up and take down for the sale on Thursday through Saturday (mornings before 8a or evenings after 5p) – help as briefly or long as you like. Let us know if you’d like to get involved!
Hanging out in the redecorated garage.
We also received two good pieces of news last week. One, BUI confirmed that we can provide tax-deductible receipts – if you’ve already donated items, one should be on the way shortly. And two, my friend Francois, an accomplished French Pastry Chef, is partnering with us. He’s preparing cheesecake and French pastries to complement our Saturday morning bake sale! You can learn more about his business, which is helping him get through seminary at his website, La Ciel Cheesecakes and Pastries.
Keeping safe in the basement storage area.
Besides bake sale and yard sale donations, we’re busy looking to assemble a team of pricing/labeling helpers for Tuesday night (Aug 17) or join members of our small group on Wednesday night (Aug 18th) – thanks group! We also could use help with set up and take down for the sale on Thursday through Saturday (mornings before 8a or evenings after 5p) – help as briefly or long as you like. Let us know if you’d like to get involved!
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| lifecoaches.org |
7.24.2010
Yard Sale Fundraiser!
Back in March, I dived into seeking financial partnerships for my urban missionary work as Life Coaches for Kids director at Bethlehem Baptist. Daily, God rewards this experience in unexpected ways, but it has also been challenging in unexpected ways. We're facing a pretty sizeable budget shortfall (40% of our goal), so we're looking at some creative fund raising ideas. The biggest idea we're pursuing is hosting a yard sale at our home on August 19 to 21. Our goal is $1200 of sales, which would be enough to cover over 10% of our budget needs. This would give us a good amount of financial leverage and be a big step in keeping Life Coaches going for all the father absent kids we serve at Bethlehem Baptist!
Here are the details:
The boys providing some help with assessing yard capacity.
Here are the details:
- Contact us to drop off or arrange a pick up of any items you would like to donate. (We're in South Minneapolis, so we're pretty centrally located.)
- We'll take anything you'd like to give: clothing, appliances, books, music, crafts, decorations, furniture, tools, school supplies, technology items, etc. If you can tape a suggested price on bigger ticket items, that's a help... but if you don't have time, no problem.
- We'd be thrilled to have people donate craft projects, bake sale items (we're exploring potential for a Saturday morning bake sale), garden produce, etc.
- Please let us know if you have any tables or clothing racks we could use for displaying things or plastic we could use for a cover up in the event of rain.
- We're also looking for volunteers to help with labeling items prior to sale, for setup/takedown (4 in the morning and 4 in the evenings for about 1 hour), someone artistic who could help with signage, and anyone who'd like to help us with transporting items to our home.
7.13.2010
Please Pray for Our Newest Match
One of the signs greeting us at the facility.
Just two weeks ago, I experienced a refreshing surprise. Tim is our newest mentor, and he met me at one of the juvenile correctional facilities in the Twin Cities. We were there to see his mentee for the first time. This young man had set the record for the longest wait of any of the kids we've matched with mentors at Bethlehem. Month after month, there didn't seem to be any men applying to be Life Coaches that had similar enough interests and personality to draw out this teenager who was involved in gangs and alcohol abuse. But, by God's grace, Tim came along and looked like he could be a good fit.
The staff at the facility had difficult news for us. Tim's mentee was known more for pranks and being quiet with adults than for making progress during his first month in the program. But when he sat down with Tim and I, it was impressive. Tim asked a number of good questions to draw him out, and conversation started to flow. It was one of the most encouraging starts I've been able to witness in any match. Amazing actually considering the circumstances! I know we can give some credit to the right mix of personalities... but more than that it was a case of God showing up and drawing two people together in a way only He can through Christ.
Of course, this is still an uphill battle, but we're hopeful that the God who begins good works is faithful to complete them as well (Phil 1:6). Please join us in praying for God's redemptive hand to be strong in working in this young man's life and through his mentor. Thanks!
6.19.2010
Greeting
Welcome to my first attempts at joining the blogosphere! I honestly never expected to be doing this. Not that I don’t read blogs, but my philosophy on them tended towards the quip below from despair.com:
However, a friend recently persuaded me to see the all the ways a blog and Facebook page could help me communicate about what God is doing in my life and especially my ministry. With than in mind, I’m jumping in. My priorities in these posts are the following:
1. Center the attention and glory on God above all.
2. Tell stories with substance.
3. Provide meaningful opportunities for readers to support our family and ministry.
4. Open a window into what God is doing to minister in the lives of the fatherless at Bethlehem Baptist and our communities.
5. Economy of words – as you can see in the posts below, that’s only a part-time priority (:
I’m setting the goal of two posts a month, so we’ll see what happens. You can read the posts below for the back story to this blog. I’d recommend starting from the bottom post October 12, 2008: The Shake-Up to get the chronology right, but feel free to jump around.
If you have feedback for me, please let me know because I need all the help I can get! Thanks! God bless!
However, a friend recently persuaded me to see the all the ways a blog and Facebook page could help me communicate about what God is doing in my life and especially my ministry. With than in mind, I’m jumping in. My priorities in these posts are the following:
1. Center the attention and glory on God above all.
2. Tell stories with substance.
3. Provide meaningful opportunities for readers to support our family and ministry.
4. Open a window into what God is doing to minister in the lives of the fatherless at Bethlehem Baptist and our communities.
5. Economy of words – as you can see in the posts below, that’s only a part-time priority (:
I’m setting the goal of two posts a month, so we’ll see what happens. You can read the posts below for the back story to this blog. I’d recommend starting from the bottom post October 12, 2008: The Shake-Up to get the chronology right, but feel free to jump around.
If you have feedback for me, please let me know because I need all the help I can get! Thanks! God bless!
June 1, 2010 – Summer Contract Signed!
After two busy weeks of networking and searching for job opportunities for my summer break from seminary, I was amazed at what God had provided. A summer ministry position with Union Gospel Mission (ugmtc.org) came out of nowhere. Summer ministry positions are typically hard to come by, especially when your seminary classes end three weeks later than all the colleges. Because of this, I was spending most of my efforts with a temp agency and networking in the insurance world. rather than talking to ministries.
By the grace of God, I just “happened” to get pointed to Union Gospel Mission (UGM) by one of the leaders at the national Life Coaches for Kids® ministry. One of the contacts he gave me “happened” to be the leader of UGM’s initiative in Minneapolis, who I attended college with 10 years ago. He just “happened” to need a temp to hire person for the expanding Minneapolis ministry. He also just “happened” to have received approval to post the position a day ago, which meant it wasn’t an official opening yet. Knowing it could take all summer to find someone that way, he prayed about it and decided to propose changing the position to a summer-only contract with a view towards hiring someone else in the Fall.
Bottom line: this 20 hour per week ministry opportunity in the inner-city is now a reality. My assignment is to help put together a strategic plan proposal for UGM’s work in Minneapolis and help with the UGM downtown ministry in Inner-city Minneapolis, among other things. This is a great opportunity to serve the poor by laying the foundation for ministries that touch the physical, spiritual, and vocational needs of the community... all while learning from a gifted leader, and helping inner-city youth! Praise God!
By the grace of God, I just “happened” to get pointed to Union Gospel Mission (UGM) by one of the leaders at the national Life Coaches for Kids® ministry. One of the contacts he gave me “happened” to be the leader of UGM’s initiative in Minneapolis, who I attended college with 10 years ago. He just “happened” to need a temp to hire person for the expanding Minneapolis ministry. He also just “happened” to have received approval to post the position a day ago, which meant it wasn’t an official opening yet. Knowing it could take all summer to find someone that way, he prayed about it and decided to propose changing the position to a summer-only contract with a view towards hiring someone else in the Fall.
Neighborhood BBQ hosted by UGM and partner Good in the 'Hood.
Bottom line: this 20 hour per week ministry opportunity in the inner-city is now a reality. My assignment is to help put together a strategic plan proposal for UGM’s work in Minneapolis and help with the UGM downtown ministry in Inner-city Minneapolis, among other things. This is a great opportunity to serve the poor by laying the foundation for ministries that touch the physical, spiritual, and vocational needs of the community... all while learning from a gifted leader, and helping inner-city youth! Praise God!
April 13, 2010: Another Match Made!
Our newest mentor was just matched with a father-absent 3rd grader. When he met with his mentee for the first time, he discovered his mentee loved science and engineering activities. Since our mentor studies technology in the master’s program at the U, this was right up his alley. This was another evidence of God at work, since his mentee’s mother completely forgot to mention these interests on his application.
God recently raised up a group of 4 men as mentor candidates. Two more mentors are about to be matched. God willing, this will take our total of waiting kids down to 17 and raise our total number of matches to 17 as well!
God recently raised up a group of 4 men as mentor candidates. Two more mentors are about to be matched. God willing, this will take our total of waiting kids down to 17 and raise our total number of matches to 17 as well!
The Opportunity of Life Coaches for Kids®
Here’s what motivates me to direct the Life Coaches for Kids® ministry at our church, and what motivates Lori and Howard, the two wonderful leaders who serve with me on our leadership team:
Life Coaches for Kids® targets father absent children who attend Bethlehem Baptist as well as children in the nearby community. Father absence is the leading indicator for almost every single social ill we know. Studies show that father absent children account for 70% of youths in prison, 72% of adolescent murderers, 63% of youth suicides, and 71% of high school drop-outs. It’s clear God has designed fathers to be an essential part of their children’s life.
Biblically, the place of a father in a family is critical. He is a unique provider, protector, and authority in the life of his kids. Fathers lead their family in a special way that can instill children with a sense of their purpose (for good or evil). Most of us know humble, Christ-centered fathers who have a profound influence on their kids and those around them. There is also a dark-side of father influence, however. It’s what happens when fathers reject their responsibilities, leaving a void in their vulnerable children’s lives. In Inner-city Minneapolis, where father absence is rampant in approximately 80% of households, many kids find refuge in the family of gang-life where many of the things they crave are provided. The gangs offer father-like protection, authority, material provision (usually through the drug trade), and a sense of purpose… all in violent and distorted ways. Sadly this trend has been steadily moving into the suburbs and small towns over the years as our family cohesion continues to weaken.
Life Coaches for Kids® works to directly address the damage of father abandonment by introducing the voluntary embodiment of Christ-centered love in an adult mentor. We currently have 15 active mentors in the church with many powerful stories to tell. Another two are very close to being matched. We are hoping to make significant progress on the ambitious ministry goal of providing mentors for the 20+ children and youth on our waiting list. A major purpose of this blog is to promote and advance the work of God among the fatherless of our church and community!
One goal of this blog is to provide an easy way to make one-time donations to my financial need as an urban missionary. Because I receive no salary from the church for my position, I raise financial support for the part time work I do as Life Coaches Director at the church (10 hours per week). Currently, I have a team of monthly supporters that meet about 55% of our monthly need of $1000 per month. However, if 50 people give one-time donations of $15, that makes up almost all of the shortfall for two straight months! You can play an important role in finding mentors for father-absent children by being one of those 50 people. Just click here or on the sidebar where it says Give an Online Gift towards my Work as an Urban Missionary. Thanks for your consideration!
Life Coaches for Kids® targets father absent children who attend Bethlehem Baptist as well as children in the nearby community. Father absence is the leading indicator for almost every single social ill we know. Studies show that father absent children account for 70% of youths in prison, 72% of adolescent murderers, 63% of youth suicides, and 71% of high school drop-outs. It’s clear God has designed fathers to be an essential part of their children’s life.
Biblically, the place of a father in a family is critical. He is a unique provider, protector, and authority in the life of his kids. Fathers lead their family in a special way that can instill children with a sense of their purpose (for good or evil). Most of us know humble, Christ-centered fathers who have a profound influence on their kids and those around them. There is also a dark-side of father influence, however. It’s what happens when fathers reject their responsibilities, leaving a void in their vulnerable children’s lives. In Inner-city Minneapolis, where father absence is rampant in approximately 80% of households, many kids find refuge in the family of gang-life where many of the things they crave are provided. The gangs offer father-like protection, authority, material provision (usually through the drug trade), and a sense of purpose… all in violent and distorted ways. Sadly this trend has been steadily moving into the suburbs and small towns over the years as our family cohesion continues to weaken.
One of our mentors enjoying a Twins game with his mentee.
Life Coaches for Kids® works to directly address the damage of father abandonment by introducing the voluntary embodiment of Christ-centered love in an adult mentor. We currently have 15 active mentors in the church with many powerful stories to tell. Another two are very close to being matched. We are hoping to make significant progress on the ambitious ministry goal of providing mentors for the 20+ children and youth on our waiting list. A major purpose of this blog is to promote and advance the work of God among the fatherless of our church and community!
One goal of this blog is to provide an easy way to make one-time donations to my financial need as an urban missionary. Because I receive no salary from the church for my position, I raise financial support for the part time work I do as Life Coaches Director at the church (10 hours per week). Currently, I have a team of monthly supporters that meet about 55% of our monthly need of $1000 per month. However, if 50 people give one-time donations of $15, that makes up almost all of the shortfall for two straight months! You can play an important role in finding mentors for father-absent children by being one of those 50 people. Just click here or on the sidebar where it says Give an Online Gift towards my Work as an Urban Missionary. Thanks for your consideration!
January 29, 2010: The Start of Missionary Life
Until entering seminary, I was serving as the Director of Life Coaches for Kids® at Bethlehem on a volunteer basis. But Julie and I were faced with a difficult decision. With the house sold, and most of the move into our rental home completed, I now had time to work. And I needed to work to give us any chance of making it financially through seminary. The question was should I leave Life Coaches for Kids® directorless? (After over a year of searching there was still no one on our leadership team that could take on that role.) There just wasn’t enough time to serve my family, work, do school, and lead a ministry. However, in the Fall, a new option emerged. A pastor at church recommended that I talk to the director of Bethlehem Urban Initiatives (BUI), an inner-city ministry of our church.
I talked to the BUI director and found him very supportive of the idea of us working together. Most of the kids we find mentors for in the Life Coaches for Kids® ministry live in the inner city, so it was a natural fit. He proposed that I increase my hours from 2-4 per week as ministry director to 10 hours per week to help our team develop the ministry in new ways. I could do this by raising support as a part time urban missionary. This would allow me to expand the minstry instead of leaving it, and it would allow me to continuing serving father absent kids in the place of part time employment. I put in my application in the Fall.
On January 29, after a pair of interviews, we heard back from BUI. The board had made their decision. I was approved!
I talked to the BUI director and found him very supportive of the idea of us working together. Most of the kids we find mentors for in the Life Coaches for Kids® ministry live in the inner city, so it was a natural fit. He proposed that I increase my hours from 2-4 per week as ministry director to 10 hours per week to help our team develop the ministry in new ways. I could do this by raising support as a part time urban missionary. This would allow me to expand the minstry instead of leaving it, and it would allow me to continuing serving father absent kids in the place of part time employment. I put in my application in the Fall.
On January 29, after a pair of interviews, we heard back from BUI. The board had made their decision. I was approved!
6.15.2010
November 23, 2009: The Last Day at “Home”
One week before the expiration of the 2009 First Time Home Buyer’s Credit I was at the closing table with a happy young couple. After months of cleaning, painting, upgrading, landscaping, packing, organizing, hosting open houses, negotiating and navigating the for-sale-by-owner world of real estate, we reached the bitter-sweet final moments of home ownership.
God made it possible through the help of our wonderful friends at church, some pro-bono consultations from our neighbor and realtor Wayne, and what could only be described as God's sovereign hand in the selling process. Even with all the help, our house was still in a price range that was just a bit too high to be in the frenzied part of the market in Richfield, MN. We only had two showings in one month and less than five people at our two open houses. But by God’s grace, the second couple to tour our home hung in there for a second and third showing, and finally chose our place.
The closing went off smoothly, but now we had to deal with the move scenario. Multiple friends would be out of town on our moving date and another pair of friends were moving on the exact same date. However, God provided just enough people to help us move the whole household in one day with two little kids and a very pregnant wife – thank you Tina, Lisa, Matt, Howard, Alan, Dan, John, and Rochelle!
As expected, these months proved to be the hardest by far in our lives. A Thanksgiving spent worn-out and homebound, surrounded by boxes to unpack and papers to write was particularly difficult. But God was faithful to provide steady encouragement to keep our heads above water – and even A’s and B’s for final grades. As Isaiah declared, “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles,” (Isaiah 40:31).
Ironically, the day you leave your house, is the day it looks nicer than it ever has before!
God made it possible through the help of our wonderful friends at church, some pro-bono consultations from our neighbor and realtor Wayne, and what could only be described as God's sovereign hand in the selling process. Even with all the help, our house was still in a price range that was just a bit too high to be in the frenzied part of the market in Richfield, MN. We only had two showings in one month and less than five people at our two open houses. But by God’s grace, the second couple to tour our home hung in there for a second and third showing, and finally chose our place.
The closing went off smoothly, but now we had to deal with the move scenario. Multiple friends would be out of town on our moving date and another pair of friends were moving on the exact same date. However, God provided just enough people to help us move the whole household in one day with two little kids and a very pregnant wife – thank you Tina, Lisa, Matt, Howard, Alan, Dan, John, and Rochelle!
As expected, these months proved to be the hardest by far in our lives. A Thanksgiving spent worn-out and homebound, surrounded by boxes to unpack and papers to write was particularly difficult. But God was faithful to provide steady encouragement to keep our heads above water – and even A’s and B’s for final grades. As Isaiah declared, “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles,” (Isaiah 40:31).
April 2009: Surprise!
My big question was answered in October 2008. But the questions of when and how to prepare for ministry took longer to sort out. By Spring of 2009, we both felt the coming Fall was the best time for me to start seminary. Full-time seminary looked like the best because evening classes would strain our family too much and likely cause the Life Coaches for Kids® ministry to end since I wouldn’t have time to lead it. A significant challenge for Julie was accepting that this would not be a good time to have another child with a move on the horizon and major career change for me.
She struggled for some time in the Spring, until she finally felt like she could let her desire rest with God. Ironically, one week after she came to peace about this, she noticed something wasn't normal. Sure enough, God had triumphed over common sense. We were now on the road to experiencing three major life changes in four months: new house, new “job,” and new baby!
As we were pondering our miracle child, we sat down to pray. A picture of a baby girl named Hannah came to my mind as we thanked God.
Now, I think we all have a number of meaningless random associations that come up at times like this. I assumed that’s probably what it was. That was until we sat down with Jeremiah for our evening Bible story-time. We had just finished Judges, so we turned the page to 1 Samuel 1, and of course, it was the story of Hannah and Samuel. We thought about the parallels, Julie surrendering her claim to have children immediately, and Hannah surrendering her claim to her firstborn, and we thought this was probably more than a coincidence.
Eight months later, on December 14, a providential three days after my last final exam, a healthy Hannah Kristine made her first appearance. And maybe as a precursor to her successful survival with two brothers, she emerged from the womb in perfect shape in spite of her umbilical cord being wrapped twice around her neck. Praise God!
She struggled for some time in the Spring, until she finally felt like she could let her desire rest with God. Ironically, one week after she came to peace about this, she noticed something wasn't normal. Sure enough, God had triumphed over common sense. We were now on the road to experiencing three major life changes in four months: new house, new “job,” and new baby!
As we were pondering our miracle child, we sat down to pray. A picture of a baby girl named Hannah came to my mind as we thanked God.
Now, I think we all have a number of meaningless random associations that come up at times like this. I assumed that’s probably what it was. That was until we sat down with Jeremiah for our evening Bible story-time. We had just finished Judges, so we turned the page to 1 Samuel 1, and of course, it was the story of Hannah and Samuel. We thought about the parallels, Julie surrendering her claim to have children immediately, and Hannah surrendering her claim to her firstborn, and we thought this was probably more than a coincidence.
Baby Hannah one month old, smiling for her grandma.
Eight months later, on December 14, a providential three days after my last final exam, a healthy Hannah Kristine made her first appearance. And maybe as a precursor to her successful survival with two brothers, she emerged from the womb in perfect shape in spite of her umbilical cord being wrapped twice around her neck. Praise God!
October 12, 2008: The Shake-Up
This was a landmark date for us. Our pastor, John Piper, interrupted his message with a last minute message God had impressed upon him just the day before. His sermon focused on John the Baptist in John 1 and the implications of John’s ministry: (1) our calling is essential, (2) our calling involves the denial of ourselves. He broke from his notes to relay to certain people there who were wrestling with a sense of call from God that God had impressed the following message on him: “You can get off the fence. I’m calling you to this.” It rocked me. This was the only time we have ever had a pastor interrupt a sermon with "a message from God" in our five years at Bethlehem Baptist. That fact wouldn't have shocked me so much, except that I had been up till 3 A.M. just the night before, struggling in prayer with a strong sense that God wanted me to leave my job and begin training for pastoral ministry.
Our artifact from the "Surprise Sermon."
This wasn’t the first time I had felt God moving me in this direction. During the summer, driving home from our families in Eastern Wisconsin, I prayed while everyone slept on highway 41 just outside of Oshkosh. A strong sense of need for more theologically deep, Christ-exalting churches in the leading cities of Wisconsin. I appealed to God to raise up more pastors to lead the church this way. Then to my surprise, a question popped clearly into my mind and stranger still it was addressed to me in the second person: “Have you considered whether you might be one of those pastors?” This happens to me on rare occasions, and usually includes insights that can only be attributed to God. In this case, with the thought came a sense that I knew this is what God had been preparing me for over the years.
Over the following weeks, reasons to pursue pastoral ministry sprung to mind: Julie was interested, my missionary college and ministry experiences matched up well with pastoring, our family was doing well, and so on. By Labor Day weekend I thought I was ready to seriously explore this, so I set aside a morning to pray. The time came but in my enthusiasm to gain more confirmation from God I felt like I was only talking to myself. I asked God for grace to see what the problem was, and an awareness dawned in my mind. Over the past two month I had begun to idealize the idea of church leadership. I wasn’t ready to think it through realistically. God’s message seemed to be: "Don’t worry about it for a while… let go of your dreams and wait on Me.”
By God’s grace, I let it go and put it out of my mind for about six weeks. It was actually a relief as I started to consider more of what it would cost a family of four to pursue a mid-career call to ministry. I enjoyed many things about our situation. I loved leading the Life Coaches for Kids® ministry at church. Our finances were in good shape. And while I couldn’t say I loved my job in insurance, I knew there was still much to learn and co-workers who needed me to represent Christ in their lives. I happily put the whole idea of becoming a pastor on hold.
Then on Friday, October 10, I was praying the morning bus ride to work like usual. An idea popped into my mind that broke my focus: “This weekend would be a good time to pray about the pastoral ministry idea again.” It was a little unsettling, since I was starting to enjoy the status quo again. But it made sense. My romantic thoughts of ministry had been replaced by realism. It would probably be a good time to investigate the whole idea seriously. This might be God.
On Saturday at 10:30 PM, there was finally time to seek God. When I started it seemed like a flood of affirmative reasons came to mind encouraging me towards the ministry. Then there was a surge of strong objections: I'm too timid, I struggle too much with sullenness, I still get nervous in conversations with most people. Then reasons not to be discouraged countered the objections, including verses like 2 Cor 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The final outcome after four hours of wrestling in prayer was: God, I think you want me to do this, but if we go down this road and it’s a mistake, it’s going to be a big one. I need some strong confirmation whether the answer is yes or no. Please make it clear.
So the next day in church, October 12, I felt a bit groggy. I enjoyed putting aside all the thoughts about the future and resting in worship. Let God confirm things in His own time. I was happy to take a break from the internal debate. You can imagine how it felt to hear our pastor interrupt the middle of that day’s sermon to say he had a special message to pass on to people in the congregation who were "wrestling with a sense of calling." Julie and I were floored. The next chapter of our lives had begun.
This wasn’t the first time I had felt God moving me in this direction. During the summer, driving home from our families in Eastern Wisconsin, I prayed while everyone slept on highway 41 just outside of Oshkosh. A strong sense of need for more theologically deep, Christ-exalting churches in the leading cities of Wisconsin. I appealed to God to raise up more pastors to lead the church this way. Then to my surprise, a question popped clearly into my mind and stranger still it was addressed to me in the second person: “Have you considered whether you might be one of those pastors?” This happens to me on rare occasions, and usually includes insights that can only be attributed to God. In this case, with the thought came a sense that I knew this is what God had been preparing me for over the years.
Over the following weeks, reasons to pursue pastoral ministry sprung to mind: Julie was interested, my missionary college and ministry experiences matched up well with pastoring, our family was doing well, and so on. By Labor Day weekend I thought I was ready to seriously explore this, so I set aside a morning to pray. The time came but in my enthusiasm to gain more confirmation from God I felt like I was only talking to myself. I asked God for grace to see what the problem was, and an awareness dawned in my mind. Over the past two month I had begun to idealize the idea of church leadership. I wasn’t ready to think it through realistically. God’s message seemed to be: "Don’t worry about it for a while… let go of your dreams and wait on Me.”
By God’s grace, I let it go and put it out of my mind for about six weeks. It was actually a relief as I started to consider more of what it would cost a family of four to pursue a mid-career call to ministry. I enjoyed many things about our situation. I loved leading the Life Coaches for Kids® ministry at church. Our finances were in good shape. And while I couldn’t say I loved my job in insurance, I knew there was still much to learn and co-workers who needed me to represent Christ in their lives. I happily put the whole idea of becoming a pastor on hold.
Then on Friday, October 10, I was praying the morning bus ride to work like usual. An idea popped into my mind that broke my focus: “This weekend would be a good time to pray about the pastoral ministry idea again.” It was a little unsettling, since I was starting to enjoy the status quo again. But it made sense. My romantic thoughts of ministry had been replaced by realism. It would probably be a good time to investigate the whole idea seriously. This might be God.
On Saturday at 10:30 PM, there was finally time to seek God. When I started it seemed like a flood of affirmative reasons came to mind encouraging me towards the ministry. Then there was a surge of strong objections: I'm too timid, I struggle too much with sullenness, I still get nervous in conversations with most people. Then reasons not to be discouraged countered the objections, including verses like 2 Cor 12:9: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The final outcome after four hours of wrestling in prayer was: God, I think you want me to do this, but if we go down this road and it’s a mistake, it’s going to be a big one. I need some strong confirmation whether the answer is yes or no. Please make it clear.
So the next day in church, October 12, I felt a bit groggy. I enjoyed putting aside all the thoughts about the future and resting in worship. Let God confirm things in His own time. I was happy to take a break from the internal debate. You can imagine how it felt to hear our pastor interrupt the middle of that day’s sermon to say he had a special message to pass on to people in the congregation who were "wrestling with a sense of calling." Julie and I were floored. The next chapter of our lives had begun.
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