Month: July 2014

Enough

On By mdannels3In Thinking about GodLeave a comment
The view east from Billy Creek in Western Colorado.
The view east from Billy Creek in Western Colorado.

I’ve been thinking about that little word, “enough.”

What is enough? Who is enough?

I am concerned that in this world people feel as though they are never enough. Bear with me…this may take a meandering journey to get to my point.

I have watched people who are confident and capable, but somewhere in their lives, they reach the conclusion that they are not good enough — or content enough — or something enough. I believe that Satan finds an area in a person’s life in which he or she feels distress or some kind of struggle. And with that, Satan tortures them and convinces them that they are not enough.

How many people around us everyday feel as though they are not enough? 

A friend of mine raised two beautiful daughters. When her girls were small, her grandmother expressed concern that my friend and her husband told their girls that they were pretty and smart and kind…etc. Her grandmother was apparently concerned that the girls would become conceited and self-absorbed. Thankfully, my friends continued to raise their girls based on their belief that having a decent self-esteem was not a bad thing.

Our sons grew up knowing their strengths and hearing that we thought they were handsome, had talents and abilities, that we saw their kindness and acknowledged their good choices. However, they also had hard knocks. They failed; they messed up; they got in trouble. Even in their failure, they seldom doubted that they were “enough” for us. I say seldom because teenagers are notoriously hard on themselves and our sons, like all teens, had moments of self-doubt.

I see children every day who are compared to others and believe that they don’t measure up – some adults feel the same way. More than anything, I want those children (and adults) to know that they are enough and that they do not need to live up to anyone around them or to replace anyone else.

As an aunt and a teacher I’ve listened to girls who feel as though they are never enough. 

  • Not pretty enough.
  • Not thin enough.
  • Not athletic enough.

And then there are the boys who believe that they aren’t enough.

  • Not smart enough.
  • Not tall enough.
  • Not tough enough.

But what about the adults around us? There are many who feel that they are not enough, or that what they have isn’t enough.

  • The house isn’t nice enough.
  • The bank account isn’t full enough.
  • The job isn’t prestigious enough.
  • The home isn’t happy enough.
  • There isn’t time enough.

We all struggle with self-esteem and control issues, but real “self-esteem” and control comes from knowing WHO we are and to WHOM we belong.

Okay, let’s head for home plate here…

God made you; you are enough. 

Are you perfect? Am I? No. We are not perfect, but God made us as His unique creation and that, my friends, is enough. He asks and expects that we will seek Him and in doing so, we will learn and grow and become all He desires us to be for His glory.

Changes

On By mdannels3In Thinking about God, Thinking about Relationships2 Comments
Our Church -- the place where we have ministered for more than a decade.
Our Church — the place where we have ministered for more than a decade.

Changes . . .

…are hard.

…are good.

…are necessary.

…are here.

Twelve and a half years ago, we packed our family and all of our belongings then we moved to Colorado to begin ministry at a small church in a beautiful town near the bottom of the World’s Largest Flattop Mountain, The Grand Mesa.

When we arrived, our boys were in third, seventh, and eighth grades. We were young…sort of. Our church was small, but loving. We moved in on a snowy December Friday and began our ministry two days later. In January, John started a job and in April, he found a better one — one that he worked for nearly twelve years. Marylouise took over a multi-grade classroom at a private school and later, found a job with the local school district.

We settled into routines and the boys made friends. My Dad and second mom live 40 miles away and my sister is about 18 miles from our home and we enjoyed being near family. We created a home and we built a life.

The church we came to pastor had five retired pastors as a part of the congregation. Let’s just say that our church was filled with several “experienced” Christians. We loved them and they learned to love us. The ministry in the church was not easy, but it was blessed and the people were precious children of God.

Time passed.

The boys grew, our vocations changed — but still they allowed us to minister, people moved, our congregation changed.

During the twelve and a half years we’ve spent here in Colorado, we’ve raised our children, loved people, worked hard, and served the Lord. We pray that we’ve touched lives as others have touched ours. We’ve built a life in this place and leaving this life we’ve come to love is hard. But it is time.

It is difficult to help others understand that when God says it is time to move on that that is what you must do. We live our lives based on one premise… obedience to God’s call is nonnegotiable. Walking in faith is part of that choice, even when it doesn’t seem to make sense.

You see, we have a good “life” here. John was just promoted. I teach in a good school. Logically, this is the place where we should remain, yet we cannot stay.

Leaving means we are both walking away from jobs we enjoy. It means that our small church will be without a pastor for a time and we are sad for that reality. We will be leaving a church family with whom we have ministered, prayed, cried, celebrated, mourned, and who we love. Leaving will cause us to be without our children near us for the first time in twenty-seven years. Not being in this community means that we will not get to see our dear friends. While moving will bring us closer in proximity to John’s family, it will move us away from my parents and sister. Even so, I am assured that as we leave this place, He has a plan for those who remain and He will reveal it to them just as He revealed His plan for our lives to us.

Were we to make a list of the “pros and cons” for moving away, it would be close, but one factor has more weight than any of the others. Very simply, God is leading and we must go.

Will we have regrets? Perhaps. But we will never regret going where God is calling. Early in our marriage we learned that the best place to be is always in the middle of God’s will. For that reason alone, we are moving to Wisconsin.

Our new church family has been hurt and it needs pastors who will love each of them. We will love them — we already do.

So, we will be saying good-bye to family, friends, and even to one of our dogs, Zoey, who will remain in Colorado. We will buy parkas, snow boots, and snow tires; we will build a new life in the northern mid-west.

Changes are hard and scary, but they can be good. This will not be easy, but God has promised that His calling is His enabling. We believe Him and we trust Him.