A Step of Faith

Someone files for divorce in the United States every 20 seconds. 60% of all divorces are filed by people age 25-39. Of the people that stay married, most don’t have the marriage they dreamed they would have when they said, “I do.”

What if we could change that?

That is the question that God continues to ask Trisha and me.  Are we willing to trust God that much? 

When we moved to Nashville in 2009, we had no idea what God had in store for us, our family, or our ministry.  We knew we were called to two things: to be the Bellevue campus pastor at Cross Point Church and to share our story of hope and restoration at RefineUs.

Over the last three years, God has grown our passion to help people move beyond ordinary in their marriage and in their relationship with God. As our blog has grown, so have the opportunities we’ve had to serve churches, pastors and people all over the country.

We’ve been so blessed to be on staff at a church that has encouraged us to speak, write and share our ministry with as many people as possible.

About six months ago, Trisha and I began to feel like God was calling us to devote more of our time and energy to RefineUs…to step out in faith and grow our marriage ministry. I began to meet with Pete and the leaders of Cross Point to determine what that meant for me and my role at Cross Point.

After much discussion and prayer we are so excited to share with you that I will be transitioning out of my role as Bellevue Campus pastor and moving into a part-time pastoral position at Cross Point. This transition allows me to still be a part of an amazing church and community and be faithful to the step of faith we feel God is leading us to take as a family.

January 1, 2013 I will be moving from my full time role at Cross Point to part-time and from my part-time role with RefineUs to full time. Any time you leave something familiar and safe and step into a new adventure, it is intimidating. Can RefineUs support our family financially? What if it doesn’t work? What if our book doesn’t sell? What if…?

The past few days God has brought a quote from one of my favorite authors to mind:

Do not be surprised that what God asked of you yesterday is insufficient for your journey of faith today. With Moses, God parted the waters, and then the people crossed over. With Joshua, the leaders were required to begin crossing first, and then the waters parted. In my life journey, I have found time and time again that God changes the parameters of my faith. He increases His expectation of me. You should expect and desire that God would move from parting the waters while you stand on the shore to calling you to step out into the waters and experience the miracle happening around you. In the first, you watch the miracle. But in the second, you become a part of it. ~Erwin McManus 

As we take this step of faith we do so believing that we aren’t just watching the miracle…we are becoming a part of it. We are excited, hopeful and expectant.

We are more committed than ever to helping people have the marriage that God created them to have. We are pushing everything to the center of the table and saying, “We are all in.”

We love you. We appreciate you. We are ready to partner with you and with the power of Christ to lower the divorce rate in our world.

Let’s do this!