RISE: The Dream Has To Be Real For Her Too. (pt 2)

RISE: The Dream Has To Be Real For Her Too. (pt 2)

(to read part one, please click here)

Well, the dream is real. A few weeks later, I received a random message from a church leader in Kansas. They wanted me to come and be their youth pastor. That one was easy to decline because…yeah…I didn’t feel like Kansas was for us! Shortly after that, I received another offer from another church here in San Antonio. A good friend told me that he heard about the position and the Holy Spirit brought my named to mind. This opportunity was a different story. I had old friends who attended the church. The staff is full of amazing people that I knew I could work with. I really liked the vision of the church. I even mentioned some stuff that I was reading in my personal time and they were already aware of the materials and seemed to be on the same page. After going back home and doing some calculations with my wife, I found out that I would also be getting an amazing financial raise with some great benefits. There would finally be some good margin in my family’s financial situation. We went to check out the church. The people were friendly, the facilities were nice, and there were great upcoming plans for expansion. We reconnected with old friends. The service was nice and neat…and it ended on time. It seemed like it would be something we could fit into. But then I remembered the dream. This was the well lit room where everything would come natural to me…and my family would just be tagging along for the ride.

During this time, my wife Jeneil was becoming more and more interested in…you guessed it…BUSINESS. I haven’t seen her this passionate about something (besides me) in a while! LOL! Seriously though. She’s been listening to podcasts, reading articles, and watching videos about entrepreneurship nonstop. The dream is real now. Do I commit to something that I know will help a particular part of the body of Christ and ease some financial strain for my family? Or do we blaze an unfamiliar trail together and see what happens?

Fulfilling my wife’s dreams has become very important to me. When we were married, she uprooted from the comfort zone of her family and friends in Florence, Alabama and came to join me in an unfamiliar city. I respect her so much for that. After almost 12 years, we are still trying to find out where and how she fits. She is a person who will serve anywhere behind the scenes. However, we both know that she has so much more passion and potential inside of her. I want her to find that place where service meets purpose. That’s where passion is ignited. It’s also important for another reason…

Growing up, I’ve seen many women follow their husbands around in ministry. They do stuff that they would never want to do in the name of submitting to their husbands. Years and years go by without them ever feeling like they have a unique calling from God. But I don’t see that in scripture. In the bible, I see the bride of Christ living in full submission to Jesus while discovering who the Father has uniquely created her to be. The bride of Christ isn’t tagging along on God’s global mission in a semi-depressed state. Unfortunately, this is what I see in a lot of ministry marriages. I vowed that this would never be us. I want to be like Jesus – intentionally leading my bride on a journey of discovery and adventure.

In the spirit of the dream and my convictions surrounding it, I declined the second youth pastor offer. I did it knowing that something would necessarily need to change with my current situation. We’re at a crossroads and it’s time to pull the trigger on some decisions. “Burn” and “GO!” have been on heavy rotation for me lately. I feel like it’s time for that leap of faith. It’s time to RISE.

Prayers please.