Everybody grows (bitter or better – if you like easy sayings…) but know one seems to be ever told where the growth will lead. If someone becomes successful, they are awarded new opportunities and if they screw it up, they get “transitioned” as the comedian John Crist likes to say.

So what happens when you screw some things up, do a good job at others, never have really looked for anything more than you have, actually like your current role in life, and then in that convoluted space God bursts in the back door and has an idea so crazy that the moment you hear it, it is like listening to a song you knew was out there, but never thought you would be able to be trusted with it?

What do you do with that?

I feel the best way I can describe the last few months for Sheri and I is that it was as if God convinced us to climb up a ladder to the top of a high dive. Then once at the top, we were told what could happen. Given a vision of what does and does not happen if we do or do not jump. And the longer we stared at the heights, the more convinced we became about how everything is crazy.

Could we?

Should we?

Is this why we were told several years ago (with the help of a timely and prophetic voice) to stay in place and wait?

We both thought that was a little crazy at the time, but we listened. We stayed in place. And we lost a lot of things in that process.

Eventually (no matter how much you try to distract yourself) there has to be a decision. The thought of walking back down the ladder seemed a lot safer, but I think we would always have wondered what would have happened if we had jumped.

Jim Couch, founder of the Craft Beer movement (don’t judge…), talks a lot in his memoir about the difference between situations that are scary and ones that are dangerous. A lot of things, like a quiet, frozen pond in the sunny springtime, seem very safe, but are actually extremely dangerous. The sunshine soaked scene beckons out tranquility, but the reality is that in the spring the ice is very thin. The chances you could fall in are very real. It is a peaceful scene that is loaded with danger…but you don’t see it.

Other things, like stepping into a completely new idea or arena in life are scary, but are not all that dangerous. Staying where you are when you know it’s time for the next chapter, that’s dangerous.

I say all this because Sheri and I have decided over a lot of prayer that the time has come to follow a dream that we believe God has given us to work in the Loughborough neighborhood of Merced. We believe that God is calling us to help start a Community Center / Nonprofit Coffee Shop / Nonprofit Base Camp in an area of town that most avoid in order to join those already there in bringing hope and community to it’s streets.

But even good decisions sometimes mean you have to make a hard decision.

For me, that means that after 9+ years working alongside some of the greatest students and families I have ever known, I have decided to resign my position as the Youth Pastor of Gateway in order to pursue where I feel God is now moving Sheri and I.

So what’s going to happen now?

First off, I am not just quitting! Starting from now on, I will still lead Crossroads and Catalyst in a month-to-month role as the youth pastor, which will give us time to find the right person to take over as Youth Pastor and to give them a chance to jump into the role.

Second, Sheri and I are not leaving Gateway Church, or this city. In fact, you probably see us more often than normal. So rest easy! My family will still be in church – we are not going anywhere (I will still see you all at Costco!). My hope and prayer is that the youth group grows in leaps and bounds beyond the foundation we have built here at Gateway.

Last thing for now, I have so many emotions still (and I have seen this coming for about 6 months), and you might as well! I would love to talk with you about it if you would like. Being the youth pastor at our church has been one of the greatest chapters of my life, and my hope is to continue working at Gateway Church in a new role that I believe will help energize our church to service and help many people find and follow Jesus.

Thank you for these last 9+ years, and I hope that we are able to continue the momentum of God in our church for many, many more years to come. I am looking forward to seeing the next chapter in the Gateway Youth Ministry’s story, God is going to do amazing things!

But for right now, it’s time for us to chase the Wild Beast into the woods again…

With Much Love,

Joel

 

 

P.S. I can’t wait to start sharing the next chapter with you here!

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