An Ordinary Restart

 Back in 2013 I held my first discipleship conference.  It was called Ordinary Discipleship Conference.  The name was based on Acts 4:13, "When the saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." (NIV)

It was an incredible experience for those that attended but I think more than that, it was somewhat of a culmination of months or even years leading to this moment.

God oftentimes has interesting ways of guiding us into the things He's called us to.  I've been in student ministry around fifteen years now, most of that time has been spent developing and working with student leadership.  In the months and even years leading up to 2013, random student ministers and leaders would approach me while I'm at camps and retreats asking questions about student leadership.  What I mean by random is, people I didn't know or have never met before approaching me.  The typical conversation would go something like, "Hey, do you do student leadership?  Could you tell me about that and how you do that?"  I could understand this question from someone I know but when it began to occur with these people I didn't know, I started paying attention.  You may think I'm exaggerating on this but I assure you I'm not.  I started asking God what was He doing and what possible direction He may be leading me.  In the spring of 2013 it was the Ordinary Leadership Conference.  Over the next few years I had the privilege of talking student leadership with churches, school organizations, student pastors, and more.  It was such a cool opportunity.  

After a few years of doing this, and through some family tragedy, I decided to step away from Ordinary but I think even then I knew this wasn't something I was completely finished with.  I still continued doing these things within my ministry and I continued to pray and process about what's next.

Today, here I am finding myself in some familiar territory, looking to be obedient to what God may be calling me into.  Maybe I should say back into.  I don't look at this as starting over but probably more of new chapter of the journey God called me to years ago.  It looks a little different and may have a different name but here I am, just an ordinary guy looking to disciple and lead others towards Jesus.

Is there something that's laid dormant down in you that is longing to come out?  I encourage you to take the plunge and step out into whatever it may be God is calling you to.  If I can be a support to you in any way in this endeavor, please reach out! 

Photo by Ekaterina Novitskaya on Unsplash