Who Says You Can't Go Home?

So, here I am. A few months ago, I had a conversation with a friend regarding life and ministry, and I made an off-the-cuff statement that has resonated with me since. In the course of the conversation, I said "you know, God does funny things sometimes and I don't always understand them". Little did I know when I made that statement that I would be writing this blog sitting in my office on N. Wintzell.

Ministry is obviously a pretty big part of my life. I first began to feel God's call on my life as a teenager, flirted with other options into college, and confirmed that call at the halfway point of my undergraduate degree. I struggled with that call for a long time, but looking back, I can't imagine doing anything else. When I first felt called to ministry, my immediate response was an emphatic "Yes Lord, I'll go where you send me". Never in my wildest imaginings would that path have brought me home. Apparently God does funny things sometimes.

I've been blessed. I'm now serving my fourth church, and I've had a great experience in each one of them. Answering God's call has brought me to some pretty interesting and unique places. Each one has been different and had its own challenges, but each one has also been good. I've had the opportunity to serve alongside some of the best people a person could ever ask to know. If you are reading this blog and are a member of one of my previous churches, thanks. Suzanne and I treasure your friendship. While the decision to come home looks like an easy one on the surface, it was one of the most difficult decisions that we've made in our life together. You see, the truth is that while we were in Wetumpka, you made it home for us. Thankfully, the same thing has been true for each church that I've served; they've all been home.

So, can you really go home? I've had a lot of people remind me of Matthew 13:57. Suffice it to say that Jesus received a less than stellar reception when he returned to Nazareth. I'm happy to report that the folks here at First Baptist have welcomed our family home with open arms. I suppose in one sense, you can't go home. Things have changed around here. The church that I've returned to is a different church than the one I left as a teenager. The city has survived a natural disaster only to face down an unnatural disaster of potentially greater magnitude. People I've loved and that have loved me have passed on. A lot of things have changed, some for the better, some not. In all of this, I remember that God does funny things sometimes, like sending me home to pastor a church that I love. As much as we would all like to produce an idealized image of what "home" was like when we grew up there, it existed in as much a state of flux then as it does now. Maybe you can't go home, but it can become home again.

What is God going to do here? I don't really know. I don't know what God is doing. I don't know what part I will play in it. But I do know this: I'm glad that He chose me to be a part of it. I don't know what God's doing, but I do know this: "for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12)