His Calling Comes First!
Well that is it, our vision and value talks are finished. We know that this is where it will get tougher for us.
None of us have been regular preachers in the past but we know that this is what He is calling us to do now. Yes we have both spoken to a congregation before but this is at another level and we need to stay close to God. We have to hear from Him!
The vision and values were etched on our hearts over the summer so they became part of us. God clearly defined who He wanted us to be as a Church and as individuals. The vision and values were never in question as we spent so much time drawing close to God and because we soaked in His directions for a couple of months they were easy to deliver. Well when I say easy, I should say that they were easy when we were speaking them to the team but extremely difficult having to re-record them in our kitchen!
Yes, it wasn’t just the first weeks that did not record; it was in fact 3 weeks of messages! We really thought that we would not make the same mistake as on week one but unfortunately we were not quick to learn from our mistakes! We are so thankful that this has now been rectified as it was quite a harrowing process to re-record it.
We don’t have a summer to soak in a message now though and we feel that! We want to always bring honour to His name and we have to ensure that we make time for Him to speak! We are so different though, Simon loves the early mornings and I love the late nights. It does work for us though as when we come together to discuss with each other, we both interlink so we know that God is speaking. We are blessed in many respects as God has called us to do this together and we do bring different approaches to Scripture.
We both have part time jobs now too! Simon is doing some teaching through Agency and I am working in the evenings at the local Spar (Convenience store), 4 shifts on with 2 off. We were both adamant that we would find work that fit around the work of Church rather than making the work we do for Church fit around our paid work! Simon is being offered more permanent posts in School’s but he is turning them down as this would take him off track and the work of the Church would suffer. I am so thankful that he stands firm on this and timetables himself out for at least 2 days a week as God’s ‘calling’ has to come before anything! Yes, that includes before money too.
Working in the evening is a little bit different for me as I still have my day to carry out Church work. In fairness, my work at the Spar still feels like Church work, it involves people and I just love people! The Spar is right in the heart of the community and back where it all started for me! I am literally at the top of the street that I lived on; where I was well known for living a life of sin! I just know God wants me here for a reason and I am excited to see what that reason is!
Simon & Valda
October 30th 2022
