Storm Guides & Pastoring

First of all, here are some pictures from our recent camping trip . . . a picture is worth a thousand words.  The view from above the lake was absolutely incredible.  The picture below that is of the girls just after they woke up the first morning; they were so cold, they all went to lie down on the road in the sun to try to warm up.  In their sleeping bags they looked like a bunch of fat caterpillars lying there.

A couple of weeks ago I went fishing at a small lake about 45 minutes from our house, and I noticed a mother duck that was cruising around with 10 ducklings lined up behind her in single file.  As many of the ducklings as possible would race up to climb on her back for a free ride, but only three or four could fit at one time.  I had to walk around the entire lake trying to get a picture of them because the mother was very cautious and she wouldn't let me get more than 30 or 40 feet from them before she would swim towards the middle with all the little ones racing to keep up behind her.

Daphne and I had a long conversation with Michael yesterday (the Pastor of our church) about our role in the church, and how we see my business with Storm Guides developing over time.  I'd been thinking about talking with Mike about the very same subject, so it seemed like a God-given opportunity.  In all honesty, if I look at an average week most of my time is spent in church-related issues.  I do have a number of promising leads in the works with Storm Guides, but in an era of economic recession and churches cutting budgets, this isn't a great time to try to build a new company.  Mike told us about a friend of his who used to work in the fire department with him, but who sold fire extinguishers on the side.  He used to say to Mike, "Thank God for laws", because no one would buy a fire extinguisher unless by law you HAD to have one.  "In effect," Mike said, "You're trying to sell fire extinguishers without any laws."  He's got a good point.  Most churches don't have any crisis contingency plans because they don't see the need.  It's only when they find themselves faced with a crisis that they start asking the right questions, like "Who do we call?"  It's true that to build a new company based on the premise that one day you "might" need this training is a hard sell.  So, do we pursue both pastoring and crisis management at the same time, or do we let one go in favor of building the other?  I don't know the answer.  All I know is that I love doing both, but I'm also a realist and I know that trying to maintain (in effect) two full-time jobs at the same time would become a crazy-maker. . . and If I haven't learned my lesson through one burn-out experience, then I'm the world's biggest idiot.

Thankfully it's now summertime.  Things are slow at Journey Church, and most potential clients for Storm Guides are all busy with their summer missions trips etc.  The Pressure is Off (as Larry Crabb loves to put it), and we are looking forward to a great summer for our family.

I am confident of two things right now:
1. There is no need to get stressed-out because God is in control, and His desire for Daphne and me is to REST in His great love for us and in His many promises to care for all our needs.
2. He will give us wisdom in the weeks and months ahead to know where to invest our time and energy.

In the meantime, I've got five sermons to prepare and an endless list of home improvement projects to keep me busy all summer long.

God is Good.  All The Time.