God's Will

God's will be hard to decern at the best of times, but when he calls you to move from a place that you love back to a site that is harder to live, it tests the limits of your faith.

But here I am, back in Appalachia, back in the Ohio Valley. a place that once built the wealth and prosperity of Ohio, and yet now is the place where poverty has made it a shell of what it was. Once, this place grew fields of corn and tobacco. Families made their livelihood, and the wealth of the land grew wealth and power. Now, poverty, drugs, and depression have replaced wealth. The fields now lay fallow and empty. The once-great homes are falling apart, decaying even further through the years—the once powerful and wealthy cities of Portsmouth and Huntington. Once known for being men of industry and national influence, they are now known for poverty and drugs. 

When I was in Texas, I was in an area with a lot of wealth, jobs were plentiful, and you could feel the freedom in the air. How things were not as depressing, and people had more peace. I loved the culture and the land and reveled in God's calling. However, in February of 21, God impressed me that my time there was almost at an end. I mourned and couldn't believe that my time there was almost over. But I still hoped that God would lead me to another place in Texas; sadly, this was not the case.

In July of 2021, in a meeting with only one elder present, I was asked to resign from my dearly loved position. This came after my wife was forced out of the youth ministry because her testimony was, in one person's view, "too explicit to share." My wife comes from a childhood of neglect and abuse, she shared where God had brought her and how he had protected her to the teen ages 13-18, and as a result, two girls who accepted Christ. as soon as we returned from the camp she was reprimanded and barred from being allowed in youth. She was not allowed to tell her testimony, nor were two other witnesses permitted to share what they had seen and heard.

We were traumatized, hurt beyond words, and forced to leave the state and culture we loved dearly. In all of this, I was hurt very badly. I came from a background of abuse and had very little self-worth, so the events that transpired destroyed me wholly and utterly. I ended up getting a Job in the secular field, but I could only make it seven months before my mind and body gave out. The start of 2022 was a very dark time, and after transitioning to another "Christian" Job that also failed to work out, I was broken.

Then, in May of this year, God chose to do something miraculous. a beautiful church in rural Ky approached me to come to speak at the church. My first reaction was, “no, I don't think that's what I am going to do; I don't want to be hurt again." But after much prayer and counsel, I felt that God was leading me that way. So, the Sunday came that I went to preach, and from the moment I stepped into the sanctuary, I knew I was home. God continued to bless me, and in July, they voted to call me as their new pastor. 

To sum up, I went through a lot of pain and trauma. I have been hurt and am still going through a lot of residual pain. However, God has a plan, and even though we do not see what He is doing, we must have faith that we are going to come out the better on the other side. I would love to say that everything has fallen into place, and we are in a better spot, but that is not the case. Life is still difficult, and I still struggle, but I also believe that Christian life is about struggling so that God can show how great he is and get us through it, our faith becomes stronger, and we become better people at the end of it.

So, pray for us, as the Potter is still molding and shaping us, painful as that may sometimes be. 

Enjoy the journey God has you on and all the happenings along the trail!