Ebenezer: Vision Fulfilled

It was March 2003 and I was happily working at my alma mater, Mainland High School, as the Head Athletic Trainer. The program was growing and gaining national recognition and we were finalizing plans for a state-of-the-art facility in the new school. Our Sports Science Academy was continuing to increase in student numbers and our local college partnerships were flourishing. Needless to say, my professional career couldn't have been going any better.

The senior pastor of our church asked me to breakfast on a Friday morning and said that he needed to talk to me about something big. He & I were friends and it wasn't out of the ordinary for us to get together, so it didn't surprise me that he had asked. I remember thinking that perhaps he wanted to talk about church leadership and the potential of stepping into a greater volunteer role. I was quite stunned when we met and he asked me if I would consider coming on staff to be their youth minister. It was not something that I had ever imagined and it took me three days to process it and come to the right decision to go into ministry.

Even though I never would have sought it out on my own, this was a definite God moment. As my wife and I looked back over our past we could see where God was guiding us to this very point. He had been preparing us to enter into ministry even though it wasn't something we thought we would end up doing. As much as I continue to miss working at Mainland, this was a moment of God delivering us to the calling that we were supposed to follow. This is what I was meant to do and without God's orchestrations it never would have happened. It has been harder than we ever dreamed, but we believe in God's promise to continue to deliver us through it.