Telling Our Stories IV
I will never forget how God worked in our lives to bring us back to the Atlanta area after having been in Texas for ten years. We were becoming unsettled with our life in rural Texas. Even though God had grown the church from about 10 to about 125, we had the desire for change. We loved the folks, and they loved us. It was not because of problems. It was the Spirit of God preparing us for a change.
Then, we heard that the pastor of my home church had left. The church had gone down to just about 50 or 60 in attendance on a regular Sunday. They had not even contacted us, but God stirred our hearts to pray. It was just a year after my little sister, Jan, had died. We wanted to go home. We wanted to be close to our parents. However, we had a real fear. We wondered if we just wanted to go home, because of the flesh. We did not want to be motivated by selfishness. Therefore, we prayed more and more. It was about that time I took our church group to youth camp at Latham Springs Baptist Camp, which was very close to our house. During one service the leader asked for people to quote their favorite verses. One by one people stood up to quote their verses. Each one was good, but one was very meaningful. Another pastor, whom I knew just a little, stood up on the other side of the open air tabernacle. He quoted Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." It was as if he spoke directly to my heart. It was God's Word to me. I went home that day and told Chris that God had shown me the answer to our prayers. Because we had delighted in Him, He was giving us the desire of our hearts.
Later, the pastor search committee contacted me. We prayed and met. They called me as pastor of Peachcrest Baptist Church on November of 1983. The Lord provided a house we could afford up the street from my parents. We were close to Chris' family to help them when they had needs and later when her Dad was diagnosed with cancer. The church grew as God blessed, and we were able to see why God had caused us to be unsettled in the first place. John was born in February of the following year. Lori soon started to school at the same elementary school I had attended. God continued to provide for us in so many ways. As I have said so many times, "The best place to be in the whole world is in the center of God's will."
Tomorrow, I intend to read Mark 3-5.
Then, we heard that the pastor of my home church had left. The church had gone down to just about 50 or 60 in attendance on a regular Sunday. They had not even contacted us, but God stirred our hearts to pray. It was just a year after my little sister, Jan, had died. We wanted to go home. We wanted to be close to our parents. However, we had a real fear. We wondered if we just wanted to go home, because of the flesh. We did not want to be motivated by selfishness. Therefore, we prayed more and more. It was about that time I took our church group to youth camp at Latham Springs Baptist Camp, which was very close to our house. During one service the leader asked for people to quote their favorite verses. One by one people stood up to quote their verses. Each one was good, but one was very meaningful. Another pastor, whom I knew just a little, stood up on the other side of the open air tabernacle. He quoted Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." It was as if he spoke directly to my heart. It was God's Word to me. I went home that day and told Chris that God had shown me the answer to our prayers. Because we had delighted in Him, He was giving us the desire of our hearts.
Later, the pastor search committee contacted me. We prayed and met. They called me as pastor of Peachcrest Baptist Church on November of 1983. The Lord provided a house we could afford up the street from my parents. We were close to Chris' family to help them when they had needs and later when her Dad was diagnosed with cancer. The church grew as God blessed, and we were able to see why God had caused us to be unsettled in the first place. John was born in February of the following year. Lori soon started to school at the same elementary school I had attended. God continued to provide for us in so many ways. As I have said so many times, "The best place to be in the whole world is in the center of God's will."
Tomorrow, I intend to read Mark 3-5.