Personal Ministry
Tonight, I did something a little crazy.
I missed fusion (the singles gatherings that my church holds for community)... a fusion group that I really enjoy the people at... and attended a small group leaders' training event at my church. Okay, that's not quite crazy but what was crazy was this was the session designated for the MARRIED group leaders. There's a good reason for this, and it's because when they were holding the sessions a couple of weeks ago for me and my fellow singles group leaders, I was out in L.A. running some crazy race (one that I'm very happy about running in case you missed any of the medal pictures :-) ), and this weekend was the only one available for me to pick from.
And I was the ONLY single person in the room.
Actually, that was a great thing for me tonight. First off, being newly unattached after dating a really good girl for five months, being in an environment where no one was even remotely working the room was neat and relaxing. Second, absorbing the perspective and the conversations in the room was really cool for helping me in my post-relationship processing, which God is really revealing some cool stuff to me right now in. Sadly, the last couple of weeks at work have been really busy, which hasn't really helped give me that processing time, but the time that He has given me has been really rich, and tonight (unbeknownst to the couples at my table and in the room) was one of those times.
What I observed in attendance and in conversation was a group of couples that God has called to engage in personal ministry together through leading their married community groups together, and tonight's training, as with every training that I've been to at Buckhead Church, is highly interactive which means that I had a unique opportunity to gain perspectives not only on their group dynamics but also on how they approached doing ministry together.
This has been something that I've been tossing around in my head for at least the last month now, because while it is something that I believe is valuable and desirable in my future marriage, I don't believe I've ever really, seriously, gave a lot of intense thought into what my personal ministry with my future wife would actually look like. At tonight's group leader training, seeing a glimpse of it, it stirred me to noodle and pray. It makes sense to me that if my future wife and I would have common interests and passions, that we would also share a common mission. And as a leader in my home, one of my core roles is to cultivate that in our home and to ensure that we are running the race God has set out for us together. And if I could pick out the biggest teachable moment I have had recently, that would be it.
So as I'm processing over God's plans for my life, especially in regards to my future married life, I really want to keep this in mind... and for all of my trusted guy friends, you have permission to ask me what God is teaching and revealing to me on that :-). As for now, I'm excited about what He is teaching and waiting for His timing.
And I hope that someone reading this note, that really hasn't given much thought to how they would invite their future wife to join you in ministry together and pray earnestly about that, that you would. We have not just been called to "do church," but to "be the church." And how awesome would it be if our generation not only showed the world what great families were and modeled that, but also modeled living on mission within the story that God is writing for His glory in the world?
I missed fusion (the singles gatherings that my church holds for community)... a fusion group that I really enjoy the people at... and attended a small group leaders' training event at my church. Okay, that's not quite crazy but what was crazy was this was the session designated for the MARRIED group leaders. There's a good reason for this, and it's because when they were holding the sessions a couple of weeks ago for me and my fellow singles group leaders, I was out in L.A. running some crazy race (one that I'm very happy about running in case you missed any of the medal pictures :-) ), and this weekend was the only one available for me to pick from.
And I was the ONLY single person in the room.
Actually, that was a great thing for me tonight. First off, being newly unattached after dating a really good girl for five months, being in an environment where no one was even remotely working the room was neat and relaxing. Second, absorbing the perspective and the conversations in the room was really cool for helping me in my post-relationship processing, which God is really revealing some cool stuff to me right now in. Sadly, the last couple of weeks at work have been really busy, which hasn't really helped give me that processing time, but the time that He has given me has been really rich, and tonight (unbeknownst to the couples at my table and in the room) was one of those times.
What I observed in attendance and in conversation was a group of couples that God has called to engage in personal ministry together through leading their married community groups together, and tonight's training, as with every training that I've been to at Buckhead Church, is highly interactive which means that I had a unique opportunity to gain perspectives not only on their group dynamics but also on how they approached doing ministry together.
This has been something that I've been tossing around in my head for at least the last month now, because while it is something that I believe is valuable and desirable in my future marriage, I don't believe I've ever really, seriously, gave a lot of intense thought into what my personal ministry with my future wife would actually look like. At tonight's group leader training, seeing a glimpse of it, it stirred me to noodle and pray. It makes sense to me that if my future wife and I would have common interests and passions, that we would also share a common mission. And as a leader in my home, one of my core roles is to cultivate that in our home and to ensure that we are running the race God has set out for us together. And if I could pick out the biggest teachable moment I have had recently, that would be it.
So as I'm processing over God's plans for my life, especially in regards to my future married life, I really want to keep this in mind... and for all of my trusted guy friends, you have permission to ask me what God is teaching and revealing to me on that :-). As for now, I'm excited about what He is teaching and waiting for His timing.
And I hope that someone reading this note, that really hasn't given much thought to how they would invite their future wife to join you in ministry together and pray earnestly about that, that you would. We have not just been called to "do church," but to "be the church." And how awesome would it be if our generation not only showed the world what great families were and modeled that, but also modeled living on mission within the story that God is writing for His glory in the world?
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