True Confessions

11/02/2011 11:46:00 PM sendtheroths 1 Comments

This has been a year of achy teeth for me. For those of you who know me well, I’ve probably said it more than once, “Ouch, I need to get these wisdom teeth pulled out.”

I liken starting off in ministry to starting a new business at times. There’s a lot of sacrifice in not working for corporate at first, but after awhile it pays off, but there’s definitely a risk involved.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying ministry is a business. I just liken it to it. Think about what entrepreneurs go through in their business’s infancy:

- High capital investment with little return in the beginning

- Long hours—burnin’ that midnight oil!

- No benefits at first, like health care and retirement

- Lot’s of potholes, because you’re starting from scratch

- In many cases, the last person to get paid is the entrepreneur him/herself

Since, most people need stability right away, they “sell out to the man” so-to-speak. And lets face it; most families truly rely on the stability that a corporate job can offer. Missionaries are the same way, working for an established ministry often pays well, offers health care and provides a nice missionary home waiting for them as they arrive on the field.

Andrew and I have chosen to take the ‘entrepreneurial’ route to missions work. We’re starting a lot of things from the ground up. This can sometimes entail some pressurized moments.

Speaking of pressurized moments, today we had one of them.

On the way to meet Pastor Kelly (aka Elder Kelly) and the leadership team of Word Covenant Church for the first time, my tooth lit itself on fire. I don’t know what happened but it hurt like the dickens.

I sat in the car and cried the whole time, while Andrew presented our vision to the church elders. It was really frustrating for both of us, because we ALWAYS present the vision together. I’ll be honest, for some reason, it never fully works out 100% right when we don’t.

Afterward, Elder Kelly and his staff had me go into the church for prayer. I felt such joy walking into that church—it is a blessed church. I got super-duper emotional. They prayed for me and we apologized that they only got “half of us” to present.

Andrew and I left the church feeling so raw inside. I don’t know how to explain it. It was like—man, we messed up our first impression.

This sounds awful, but there’s a huge amount of pressure at times to do well with the people and meetings God gives us. It’s not like we have people calling us all the time to here about the church in Congo. Actually, we know what it feels like to open a phone book and call church after church after church.

Rejection, rejection, rejection, REJECTION.

We understand that no rejection we receive is directed at us. It’s actually a rejection of Jesus and His work.

It’s still rough sometimes and it makes us appreciate the people who want to hear the vision. I thank God (from the bottom of my heart) for every rejection or correction that I’ve ever been the brunt of. I believe it has made me a wise and grateful individual and it’s really drawn me closer to God.

Andrew and I got home and went on a long walk to contemplate the meaning of life all over again. We talked about our frustrations and shortcomings; where we’ve been and where we’re going. And although we didn’t do anything particularly “productive,” God used both of us to counsel one-another.

We walked in the darkness. And it was beautiful. Not because we were together, but because God was with us.

Sure, we may not have done the greatest job at presenting the vision today. Toothaches and life’s sometimes-pitiful realities got in the way—realities that we don’t have the means to fix right now.

But that’s okay, because I’m so thankful for what we have. Just like this was the day that the Lord has made—so is tomorrow.