Never Say Never...

Sometimes Gods humor is a little one sided...lol

I was at Women of Faith last year listening to Mary Beth Chapman share about her experience of losing his little girl in a terrible accident.
If you dont know who she is, she is the wife of Steven Curtis Chapman, a very famous christian musician. Well a few years ago their young adult son accidentally ran over their youngest daughter in their driveway and she did not survive. To get more details on the story go get the book "Choosing to SEE" by Mary Beth Chapman. Aside from the grief and guilt caused by an accident like this, one of the things She said that night was to never tell God you wont do something. She said that He has a funny way of making us do things we NEVER want to do. She said told God that she would NEVER be a public speaker, and that she would NEVER write a book and that she would NEVER travel all over the way her husband did. Well the outcome of the death of her daughter was sharing her story with the whole world and helping people see the good in their own tragedies. How can something good come out of such devastation?(read the book!) Through Mary Beth and her family being so open with their grief, many many families have learned how to handle their own losses. One of her last funny comments was "I will NEVER go on a 6 month long vacation to Hawaii with only my husband alone") haha, she made a funny! LOL

So what relevance does that have to me? Well one of the main things I always said to myself was that I never wanted to be a pastors wife. In fact the first time someone spoke a prophecy of Sheldon becoming a pastor I think I literally cringed. We had only been married a few months and that was the last thing I expected hearing from someone. Then it happened again a few months later. And then again about a year after that....and then again and again and again. It was a recurring theme that always popped up that Sheldon would become a pastor. And its something He has always had a desired for in His heart. But me? No way! I didnt want that responsibility, thats huge....that meant always being available to people, always being on call, always opening your home, always sacrificing for others.... and as the wife having to sacrifice some of my time with my husband.

Then something changed. I dont know when, and I dont know exactly how. But looking back... I remember those feelings, but I dont have them anymore.

Sometime in the past 2 years a change so deep encompassed me that I didnt even realize it happened. As I watch Sheldon do his schooling for a ministry license that fear is no longer there of becoming a pastors wife. I think even when He started talking about classes last year there was still a tiny bit of reluctancy within me, but nothing like it had been years ago. Then the more He did it, the more bible studies I led, the more involved with community stuff I got into, I realized that feeling was completely gone. And then a few month later the offer came up to become the Womens Ministry Leader for South Oaks Community Church. And I jumped on it! It had been growing in my heart for the past year to get involved in womens ministry.

And now looking at the possibility, Sheldon may in fact become a pastor one day... and Im not scared of that thought anymore. I no longer dislike the idea of all the responsibility but rather I look forward to it. I embrace the idea of opening my home to others, sacrificing for others, being available to those who need someone, and allowing my husband to grow into the man of God He has been called to be. So the main idea here is never say never to God. He will find a way to use us outside of our comfort zone, and once that gets comfortable He will stretch you again.

Had you told me 5yrs ago that I would be the Womens Ministry Leader for a brand new church, I may have laughed at you just as Sarah laughed at God when He told her she was with child in her old age. But Gods plan for our lives is greater than we could ever imagine.... He sees a picture that we hardly see a pixel of.... just never tell Him never.....LOL I am grateful that God doesnt always give into what I want, He knows better.

"And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"" Acts 20:35

0 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
   Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
 ¹³ Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”Genesis 18:10-14