2/01/2005

Today I Became Peter!

My whole life I have been Chris…Christopher to my family, but Chris none the less. But today I became Peter. It was a day I have dreamed of for most of my life as a Christian.



Today I became one of those guys that I have always heard about who just jump out of the boat and find their feet getting wet but funny thing (wink, wink)…my feet remained on the dry side of the water! What, you ask, am I babbling about? Today I resigned as a pastor at The Westside Church so that in 60 days I can fulfill the calling God has placed on my life to Pastor a community of people that have a passion to be the church.

Go-Sign
This is a process that I have read about and admired in others for most of my life; those with the guts to just jump when God called; the kind of people who live life out on the ends of the tree branch waiting for the “go-sign” from God. That is the kind of person that I have always admired but never thought of myself as having the “opportunity” to be. Today I found myself on the edge of the branch and when given the opportunity, I jumped!

It would seem to most people that this would be a frightening time but to be honest it was the single most exhilarating day in the last 5 years of my life. For most of my life God has followed a similar pattern: when it rains it pours and then things move very quickly. The last three weeks of my life have been like this. If I were to list here the things God has done, the people he has brought into my life, the things he has spoken to me both through the Bible and through people, the “inspirations” I have had, if I wanted to list them all it would take me several days of writing. As I told my pastor today I don’t remember growing like this since I was in High School.

Everyday Faith Jumps
February 1, 2005 will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. Why is it that these kinds of events are so rare to the majority of Christians? Is it because they rarely occure? Or could it be that they occur as often as we are willing to jump? What if these kids of events happen all the time but we miss them because we are too busy looking for the really spiritual kinds of opportunities? What do I mean? Take today for example…I was sitting at Firehouse Coffee with a friend talking about graphic design. I said to him that I wanted to learn some photography because sometimes you just cant find the picture you can see in your head. This guy at a table next to us blurts out, “that’s when you call me.” So was that an opportunity to jump? I had no clue. Most of us don’t. So how was I going to find out? Rather than ignoring him, I answered him with the most pithy and obvious response I could muster: “So are you a photographer?” Duh…moron…That is what I expected him to say, but instead we began to talk about how photography was his passion and how he would love to quit waiting on tables and make his living from his photography. His name was Colin Meagher. Was that one of those life changing opportunities? To be honest I really don’t know. What I do know is that if it is I would never have had the opportunity to find out had I not been willing to stop my private conversation and talk to a stranger. The next time I go in the story may continue. The jump may be a series of events and not a single leap. But without taking the attitude of being willing to jump regardless of the time or place I would never know.

Not Blind, Just Blinded
What if these kinds of events happen every day and we miss them simply because we are not looking for them? What how would our lives be different if we stepped out of the boat every morning when we when we stepped out of bed? Just a thought.

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