Coming Out: Leaving Comfortable Places
Hebrews 11:1-2
When was the last time you took a "leap of faith?"
Becky and my leap of faith led to us living out here in Denver, moving to the city in August 2018. At that time, neither of us had a job, we had never visited in person the apartment we were planning to move into, and we sold one of our two vehicles before we moved here. The only thing I had was a severance paid to me that would expire in three months. Before we had moved here, I tried to find a full time job as church music minister and made it to the top two candidates for a full time position at a Lutheran Church in Highlands Ranch--but that didn't pan out.
Getting out here was terrifying. It was the most uprooted we ever would become, and a huge change for us in our marriage. In Dallas, the city we used to live in, we had friends, and a support system. We knew how things worked, and at the time I moved when I was in between jobs--I would have felt more confident in finding one than trying to make my way out in Colorado.
We had to "walk by faith, and not by sight." We had to have an assurance "of things hoped for" (job, decent living situation, advancement in my career while Becky pursued her PhD), and a conviction "of things unseen" (like a job, that the apartment would be adequate, that we could figure things out in a completely new place).
It was hard. I literally began my first full-time job here in Denver on the exact day that my severance pay expired from my previous position. The apartment was small and we had to make adjustments. We took a huge pay cut between the job I had in Dallas and the job I found in Denver. The job I found was in an area of ministry that was new to me, so I had to learn while on the job.
But it's incredible what all of that has led to. Had we not made this move, my wife would not be where she is on her PhD journey--writing a dissertation, getting published, presenting at academic conferences. Had I not taken the job I did, I would not have caught the attention of a district superintendent who surprised me on a hot July day in 2019 with a question: "Would you pastor this church?" Had I not taken another leap of faith and embarked on this journey I have been with all of you, learning yet another job I had no experience and very little training for, we would not be the church we are today--heck I don't know if we would have brought Zoë into our lives if we had not come to Lakewood UMC as a part of this journey.
What leaps of faith have you taken in life? Have there been any that you avoided in order to play it safe? Sometimes the most miraculous things God has in store for us are the ones that require a little bit of faith and courage to take that leap--whether it is in our personal lives or the life of our church!
