God is Pushing Patience

I tell you what, when God wants to teach you something, He typically goes all out! So, with the process of moving comes all sorts of things you end up having to deal with, and in our case that included breaking our lease at our apartment in Wilmington and signing a new lease in SC. Our lease in Wilmington was a 13 month lease that we had started back in September, but to break our lease we had to give a 2 month notice, two months rent on top of that, and any concessions we had been given, so the cost was quite pricey...but the only way out of it was to find someone to sublet our place. SO...in short, we had about 60 days to find someone, and lets leave it up to God to wait till the 59th day to find someone to sign the contract, take it off our hands, and save us some money! It was truly the only thing that was holding us to Wilmington, and it caused alot of stress over the past couple of weeks trying to figure out how we could show it living over an hr away, finding people who were interested, getting them to take an application, and actually hoping and praying they would sign it. God's humor is amazing because I was with a friend of mine here in North Myrtle Beach when Sara calls me and says "They took the apartment!!!" You've got to understand how nearly hysterically she was on the phone because it was finally something we could let go of and be done with, and save money! I had so many discussions with God trying to figure out what he was doing, because I couldn't understand why he would allow for money to be basically thrown away, when it could be used in a better way! I guess it was the point where Sara gave the apartment complex the check to buy out the lease and were personally able to let go of that money, that God was good with our mindset enough to bless us with that money. Now we've got to figure out what God wants us to do with it. I pray that God lays it on our hearts what we need to do with that little bit extra, because I'm pumped to use that to bless someone else! God is growing us constantly and you're probably getting sick of me saying how much we've grown, but as we grow, I am constantly reminded of how much I still DON'T KNOW!!! I've got a long ways to go, and I pray that as you seek God, he will reveal His awesome power and make you realize like I have that I can't do this without HIM!!!

I'm back, and hitting the ground running!

So...once again...it's been a while. Since my last post we have successfully moved down to a town just outside of North Myrtle Beach called Longs, SC, started work as the Student Pastor at Barefoot Church, and pretty much dug up the entire back yard so we can have a garden for this Summer. Basically, the past couple weeks have been an absolute whirlwind, but I think it's safe to say that it's pretty much been nonstop since we decided to move just over a year ago. You won't believe how jacked up I am about what is going down and coming up at Barefoot Church in the coming days, weeks, months...you get the idea. God has really started to give me a clear vision over the past several days on where the Student Ministry is going, and it has been crazy how He's been doing that. God has revealed things to me over lunch with potential leaders, in talking with current leaders over pizza before LIFEGroups, and even while I'm sitting in bed reading. It blows my mind that it hasn't come during the times I've set aside for ministry, like office hours, study times, etc...God likes to work in my life in really random ways...it cool, but extremely confusing sometimes! But the best part is that it's never planned, and I think that is what God is trying to show me, I can't plan a ministry, I can only guide it in the direction He gives me. It brings me back to the ideas that you can't plan a move of God, you can't plan a revival, you can't plan a salvation, but you can prepare yourself to minister to someone where they are in a situation that you have been given a vision for.

Pastor Clay has laid out a very clear Vision for our church "We are Changing Lives that Change the World!" My job as a Student Pastor is not to create a new ministry, but to take the vision that our Pastor has been given and focus it in a specific area of ministry, Students. We are not trying to create another church for students. We are going to build relationships with student meeting them where they are i.e. School, Weekend Services, Sporting Events...and guide them to Jesus! That is what God has called me to do, and if you are reading this and would like to jump on board and help me in this, just shoot me an email at nross@barefootchurch.com I will get back to you ASAP and we'll get you plugged in with our ministry. God truly gave me a clear vision tonight hanging out with our students at our LIFEGroup night over pizza and I can't wait to see what God is going to do through this core group of students that we have at this time! I'm praying that our students don't end up just attending a weekly bible study and church service, but that they get involved, serve God, learn to trust in God and live life through faith, and build relationships with others that will forever change their lives!

So, now that I've rambled a bit, I plan on blogging a bit more, not to mention starting some new stuff for the student ministry here in the near future. Love you guys and let us know if we can help with anything at all!!!