Sunday, April 14, 2013

Journey's Eve



Here I sit in the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Lakeland, Florida on the eve of orientation for my new job as a truck drivin’ lady. I must be on the track God wants me on because so many things have tried to stop me from making it to orientation. But through the grace of God and good friends (THANK YOU LINDA!) here I am. Two days at the terminal then we wait to get assigned a trainer. I have no idea what I’m going to encounter. With God the most rewarding things typically aren’t easy-at least in my experience. I’m sure this will be the adventure of a lifetime! I pray God used me richly on the road.

The Vocation of Being Single has been met with great enthusiasm as I share the words God put on my heart. The vision of Godly singles banded together with a foundation of embracing their place in the Kingdom cleaved unto God is exciting beyond words. Think of all the single, churched Christians you know in your church or community. If just half of them had no care other than Christ and His Kingdom, what the church would look like? Wow! The ministry possibilities are incredible!

Once I get in the truck, this ministry has feet. I look forward to sharing with you what God puts on my heart and who He puts in my path. I hope to hear the same from you out there.

If you like the blog and want to get involved in the conversation (and I really hope you do!) please subscribe!

In Christ Alone (Together).

Monday, March 11, 2013

Need Something Done? Give it to God!

It was plain to me from the beginning that this teaching (living the vocation of being single in Jesus Christ) had to be mobile and travel throughout these fine United States of ours. I had no idea how that was going to happen-I just knew that it was going to happen. Wasn’t clear on the when part either…

Today I started school to get my commercial driver’s license. Yes-siree-bob, I’m going to be driving me a big rig! Perhaps this is why my heck-of-a-great resume didn't even yield me one phone call. I put out dozens of resumes over that last two years  and did not net even one keeper (though I did get to throw a few back!)

The message of the single vocation is pretty simple and straightforward. Not a concept that can live solely under one church roof (or even in one town for that matter.) And what better way for God to get His message out then Over the Road? I won't go into all the other reasons this one is so perfect for me on a personal level. Certainly not the life I would have chosen; yet I'm very excited because this one has God all over it!

In three weeks I will graduate and the week after will be driving for whoever God chooses. Then Lord, turn me loose! There’s no end to what God can do! The places we'll go, the people we'll meet, and the message of the vocation of being single (and the intimacy with God that brings) will spread. He could have picked a better industry from which to launch this ministry. Even singles surrounded by friends and family many times still experience that loneliness when we're by ourselves in the temporal are not intimately in communion with Christ. How much more so those in such the isolation that is OTR (over the road) driving?

Please pray for me! I have my permit test in three days, my CDL licensing in3 weeks. And thus the journey begins. Travel this road with me together, In Christ Alone.

Amen!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Getting to Know Me

Between January and April of 2011, layoff and life took my income from around $70,000 a year to nothing. I had a wonderful job that I had created for myself-I approached a Texas engineering firm about expanding into Florida with me at the helm and they gave me a job! But with the abrupt and complete loss of income, suddenly I was terrified.

It’s important to note that, up till now, I was what I refer to as a “90/10 Christian”. I had given most of me to God; regularly attended church, tithed and was involved a little. God had 90% of me, but there was about 10% that I wanted to keep for myself. It hadn’t interfered in my life (apparently the enemy loves the 90/10 plan) but God had a different take on the matter.

It was Easter Sunday, 2011. The sermon was about Christians who love the Lord but are dead in the spirit. My spirit literally exploded! “Lord, that’s me, and I don’t want to be that anymore! Whatever it takes, please please please please please please please show me how to get back to you!” I was so scared and broken that suddenly nothing the World had to offer compared to my desire to feel close to God. On this day, I gave all of me to God.

This transformation did not manifest itself overnight-not by a long shot. Rather, I began a season of chastisement. Not that God was punishing me; no, not at all. I had to overcome the consequences of all those years of not-so-Godly choices, and then learn how to become intimately immersed in Jesus.

During that time I went on my first mission trip and met a very Godly single mother of five. Devoted, dedicated, and unchurched. I thought this was so sad. She couldn't find a church to meet her needs. That ignited a spark because I realized that I, and so many other singles, had found the same thing.

The church is very busy keeping families together and helping said families raise their kids in the way they should go. As a result, the church largely has not made a place for single people. Many churches have activities and socials, but that’s not enough. In 1Corinthians 7 St. Paul speaks at length concerning being single and married, and the advantages of being single. Verses 32-35 address how marriage distracts from complete devotion to Christ. Be it a serious dating relationship or marriage, we have many worries and tasks that we can commit to God, but do not enhance our communion with Him.

 7:32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.”

I’ve been in the church for over 30 years, have belonged to several churches in different denominations and have never once heard from the pulpit the message that being single in Christ is a vocation.

It’s taken two years of dialogue between me and God for this ministry to take form and grow feet. I asked God over and over to take this fire away if it is not of Him. The more I asked for the desire to go away, the stronger it burned and the more doors opened. In Christ Alone is the fledgling ministry that, with God’s help and blessing according to His will, is going to teach singles across this land how to live the vocation of being single. We will go forth, expanding the church’s reach and goodness throughout our communities.

If it is on your heart to pray for me, this is what I ask is this: pray that every day, my only desire be to put my feet where God would have me step; that I be bold and confident but not proud. Humble but not insecure and, above all else, that I hear His voice and not my own. Above all, that God guide, direct and lead this ministry.

Amen.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

The Church's Single Challenge


The church as a whole has a wonderful opportunity for growth and change. Traditionally, the church has been largely comprised of nuclear families. Today, families no longer represent the gross majority. A few fun facts about today’s population in America:
  • There are 112 million unmarried Americans, representing over 47% of the adult population (ACS, 2012).
  • Since 2005, the majority of US households have not been headed by married couples. The number of non-married-couple households continues to grow (ACS 2005-2007).
  • There are more than 51 million households headed by unmarried Americans, representing roughly 44% of all households and the majority of households in 23 states, plus the District of Columbia (CPS, 2007).
  • There are more than 31 million one-person households in the U.S., representing roughly 27% of all households (CPS, 2007).
  • 68% of Americans who have been previously married, but are no longer married, plan to remain unmarried (Gallup, 2006). [1]
It’s hard to entirely fault the church. There is no more diverse a group than today’s singles. Contemporary singles are made up of:
  • Young, never been married, hoping to be
  • Older, never been married, hoping to be
  • Older, never been married, given up on marriage
  • Divorced with no kids
  • Single moms (dad in the picture, dad not in the picture; dad saved, dad not saved)
  • Single dads (mom in the picture, mom not in the picture; mom saved, mom not saved)
  • Widow
  • Widower
  • Gay
Every one of these singles has their own challenges and needs unique to their station. With the current economy, tithing and giving is down; clergy is stretched thin and the family is under attack. Church resources are constantly on the brink of exhaustion. That itself is enough to max out any church. One simply cannot ignore the additional burden of fashioning a ministry for such a diverse group. 

I sympathize with the church. Truly, I do. Two years ago, God laid this ministry passionately on my heart. Being single myself, the lack of resources for singles and need for a viable singles’ ministry was obvious. Being a single mom helped me realize how vastly needs of singles differ. So many needs, so few resources… I knew we needed a ministry but even I was at a complete loss as to how to minister to singles-and I is one of them!!!

Paul tells us in I Corinthians 7 that those of us who are not married should desire to stay as we are because, with marriage, comes much anxiety. Obviously, not all in marriage is bad. However, those of us who are unmarried are unfettered by the concerns of marriage, making our lives simpler. So why does ‘unfetteredness’ so often translate into loneliness? Why are we feeling isolated, even ostracized, rather than enjoying intimacy with the Lord? Are we not free of being “… 33 anxious about worldly things, how to please [a spouse], 34 and [their] interests [which] are divided…”? [2]

I submit it’s because we don’t realize what an opportunity we have when our love affair is with Jesus Christ and not a man or woman. After 30 years in the church, I’ve never once heard from the pulpit or in a study, about the incredibly special place we singles have in the Kingdom once we embrace our singleness as a Holy vocation rather than a sad, human condition.

Join me for an intimate journey as we explore our vocation as a single Kingdom community. It is my heartfelt prayer that we will walk and grow together in Christ as we begin to realize that we are especially positioned to do great things for our Lord unfettered and empowered.

Let’s walk together, In Christ Alone.

[2] I Corinthians 7:33-34