One of the greatest gifts God gives us is our ability to make choices. Everyday basic hygiene choices, what to wear in public, whether or not to call someone back, read the Bible, be a true friend, say “Yes, Dear”, and so many others.
But then there are other decisions - bigger decisions. When God tugged on my heart to dive head first into the planting of the Trails Church, I had no idea what he was about to do in and through my family. One Sunday while sitting at Providence Church listening to Afshin Ziafat talk about planting the Trails, I heard about the need for people to go and help start this new work. I decided to be a part of it with a simple "YES".
Family Business
My wife, Jessica, and I have been blessed with 3 amazing children, Cain (10), Eden (6) and Isac (5). Cain was super excited Day 1 to be a part of this “set up” team, he really didn’t know what that meant other than we would be “INVOLVED” in setting up the Trails Church, our new Church Home! When he found out that we would be getting up at 6:00 am on Sunday mornings to go to the Covenant Storage facility to hook up a trailer to our truck full of the things the church would need to have a Sunday service, he was ALL IN!
After several weeks of performing our duties and making those treks in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, I fully expected his zest to taper off ...... WOW have I been surprised, not only has he not missed a morning with me, he sets his own alarm and is often awake before I am! We have had some amazing discussions early in the morning about why we are ‘giving’ our time to the Lord and His work, how we are filling our hearts with His intentions and how we are working on our personal relationships with the Lord. I had no idea this simple YES was going to open up a door for me to really build on what was a good relationship with my son to something way more than being a fun Dad.
How could I ever have imagined that this simple YES would also bring Eden into the “I want to give my time too Dad!” ..... 6 year old sweetheart! I will never forget one Sunday morning when we did not wake her up at 6:15, when she clearly stated the night before that she wanted to go with us to serve and the tears I had to witness from making that bad choice - I should have woken her up! I thought I was being a good Dad by letting her sleep but she was serious about wanting to be a part of the “set up” team and now I don’t make that mistake anymore!
God Working Through Us
God has done it, ALL OF IT, and I am so thankful that he has given me the gift of making choices, like the one to realize what He is doing in and through my family from that simple YES. I had no idea what was going to happen from a heart/spiritual-filling perspective by serving in this way, but God knew.
Thank You, Lord!