Bonded Together

The sewing machine whirred and hummed as I sewed a seam on a project. As it buzzed along, my thoughts buzzed with it. Suddenly, tears welled up, rolled down my cheeks and deep sobs shook my chest. I stopped the machine, put my head down and let the grief spill out.

Dan and I have served in our current church for the past 6 years. We have grown to love these people we call friends. We have laughed with them, cried with them, been with them through their worst, and through their best. We have done ministry together and have prayed with them. It's been a good six years.

I often forget that as a pastoral couple the congregation we minister to are on loan to us for a brief time. We are given a period of time to minister to them, but sometimes God calls us elsewhere. I struggle with that part because I lose sight of the fact that I committed myself to God long ago to use as He sees fit.

Dan and I have accepted a call to minister in a church on the other side of the state. We will be moving there in early January. It was a decision that I've wrestled with over the past couple of months as we went through the process of interviewing and candidating. I wrestled because I didn't want to leave a group of people I call friends and love. I didn't want to leave what was familiar. But I also wanted to obey the call on my life.

As I struggled through this, I knew that God definitely opened this door and was paving the way to walk through it. The tears that poured down my face were caused by grief, but also because I finally surrendered my will and said, "Yes." to this new place God is calling us. 

I'm not sure what is ahead. I do know that this new church has a long and rich history and a great group of people. I'm thankful that I already know some of them as a result of my district role. I'm not walking into a group of strangers. As we met with their search committee, board and congregation we had a definite sense of peace.

And to the friends we are leaving behind, God gave me the following verses this morning. They will always have a special place in my heart and bonds were forged which will never be broken.

John 17:20-23 ~

“I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you
have loved me."

They were on loan to us for a time and I'm thankful for each one. I'm thankful that they are a healthy group of believers who love God, love each other and have loved us well. Yesterday, at the end of his sermon, Dan announced that we were leaving and the tears flowed again. But the thing that I'll always remember is how they gathered around us and prayed for us even though they were heartbroken.

This is how the oneness in Christ looks and it is a sweet thing. We are bonded together forever to each group of people we minister to and those cords are ones that can never be broken.