GinaMcClain.com

I woke up this morning with a sense of sober fear.  As a children’s pastor I spend much of my mental energy thinking of opportunities and creative ways to equip parents for the journey of teaching their kids how to love & serve Jesus.

But this morning all I could think about is that my oldest is 10 years old.

To many of my readers this might seem like a small thing.  I’m clearly a young mom.  I never define myself otherwise.  But the truth is… the clock is ticking.  I’ve got less time with him before he moves out of my house.  The season where my influence is greater than the influence of his friends is coming to an end fast.

The last 10 years of my life have gone fast.  The pace of the next 10  years will be no different.

Yet as I write this post there is a sense of excitement and hope.  He’s 10 years old.  He can understand things his younger siblings cannot.  He can chew on spiritual truths and internalize them on a deeper level.  That’s exciting to me.

Sometimes I watch him as he processes things like why a homeless man would choose to spend money on alcohol instead of a place to stay.  Why a country would make Christianity illegal.  How a kid on the other side of the country could enjoy life in a home with dirt floors, no toilet and livestock walking around.

I want to have more of these conversations.  I’m praying for more of these interactions.

As a ministry leader I confess that I’ve had my share of moments where the ministry has superseded my role as mom.  Many opportunities for time with my son were lost due to ministry demands or just plain fatigue.  I’ve not done this perfectly.

But my hope is in the Author of great relationships.  And my prayer for the next 10 years is that He would keep my eyes focused on the opportunities ahead.  That I would maximize those opportunities and continue to foster a relationship with my son that is a source of refuge, encouragement, guidance & love.

I want him to love & serve Jesus with more passion than I ever thought possible.

It’s Sunday morning… and I don’t want to go to church.

I know how that sounds considering my calling and my love for the local church. I can’t explain how it is that I feel this way. But over the past 8 weeks my family has attended other LifeChurch campuses and other churches in our area. Until God reveals our next ministry assignment, we’re looking for a new home to settle into. But that’s easier said than done.

The places we’ve been don’t feel like home. So we consider attending yet another church, yet I’m faced with this one thought…

I don’t want to be the visitor again.

I don’t want to fill out more paperwork to get my kids into kids church. I dont want to be unfamiliar with the process, the culture or the layout.

Where to find the coffee.

Where to find the bathrooms.

I don’t want to answer the standard questions,

Have you ever been here before?
Are you from the area?

blah, blah, blah

The fact is… I’ll get over myself and we’ll attend church this morning. I would miss it if we didn’t. But I thought I’d share a moment of transparency with you in hopes of reminding all of us of the internal battle a person can have when they take a risk and visit your church. I’m not suggesting that everyone goes through this. But I doubt I’m the only one.

I don’t have answers to this challenge. The fact is, we can only remove so many barriers from a guest experience. But we can certainly be reminded that people take a risk when visiting your church for the first time.

What can you do to make that experience extend beyond informational and make it comfortable.

I was eating a banana when Darin rang my doorbell.  Day 4 of a 21 day Daniel fast and I’m still trying to figure out what I can eat and what I can’t.  Bananas are a safe bet… so a I bought a lot.

Darin is a friend of ours that owns a pest control company.  He came to confirm our suspicions.  Termites.

Those tiny little bugs that love to eat wood.  The greatest nemesis to a home.

Silent

Destructive

Tough to detect.  In fact, you can go several years with these critters and never realize they’re eating away at the framework of your home.  You can paint walls, hang pictures and install new flooring all you want, but these cosmetic touch ups have no affect on the destructive process taking place behind the drywall.

Behind the drywall sits the primary component used to build a house.  Once the foundation is laid, the framework is the next major step.  It’s the skeleton of the home.  No amount of paint, drywall or finishing nails will make the house stand without the frame.  And the frame is made of wood.  Termites love wood.

The problem with termites is not their love of wood.  The problem with termites is their impact on a house.

Worry is to faith what a termite is to a house.

Worry is the pesky little problem that lurks behind everything you do and say.  Worry about illness.  Worry about finances.  Worry about the job situation.

Worry eats away at your faith.

Faith is the framework of your relationship with Jesus.  Without faith, no amount of righteous works will stand.   Worry is the greatest nemesis to faith.

Silent.

Destructive.

Tough to detect because we package it in pretty words to disguise it.  But its still worry.

Just like termites, worry is something to be addressed immediately.  Not an easy thing to do.  It will cost you some sense of control.  But allowing it to go unaddressed any longer simply results in more erosion to your faith.

Worry has been a regular part of my life over the past month.  I realize today the damage it’s done to my faith.

So I’m relinquishing control again.  Releasing my need to worry over the details.  And putting a stop to the critter that eats away at my faith in the Master Architect and all He is crafting in my life.