New Beginnings

Isaiah 43:19

For I am about to do something new.  See, I have already begun!  Do you not see it?  I will make a pathway through the wilderness.  I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

Anyone who has served in our children’s ministry over the past 6 months, knows how difficult the transition to where we are today has been.  If I look back to a year ago to when I first came on staff, a large majority of our volunteer team has changed as well.  But through all the change one thing has remained the same, and that’s God.

When we are in the thick of it, buried under the stress of the changes around us that are out of our control, it can be difficult to see God’s hand in any of it.  It’s easy to complain and grumble over how it is disrupting our lives, how unfair things may seem, and we may even try to dig our heals in the mud and refuse to be any part of the change.  I’m embarrassed to say it but this was me, at the beginning of this transition. 

Last fall when I was notified that our Children’s Director would be leaving Ekidz, I was heartbroken.  I kept trying to justify in my human mind that a mistake had been made, and this wasn’t really what God wanted for the children of Element.  As the months ticked by, it seemed like a replacement would never be found and the weight of caring for the entire volunteer team and the nearly 500 children who attend service began to really take its toll on me.  

I was complaining and grumbling, focused only on how it was making my life miserable, instead of turning toward God and trusting him, I was only concerned with my own abilities and how I was going to keep everything together.

When life throws things at us that we never expect to happen, it’s hard to trust in the fact that God has everything under control and that everything is going to work out perfectly in his timing.  In our impatience waiting for his timing feels like we are wondering in the wilderness and there is no end in sight.

But as I read in Isaiah 43:19, “For I am about to do something new. See I have already begun.” I realize how much I have learned and grown over this season of change. As I reflect on the past several months I can see God’s hand like a big neon flashing sign leading right to this moment and to the bright future ahead.

God promises us that “I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” That when we feel like we are wandering, lost in the wilderness, God is right there laying the path to where he wants us to end up. But the part of this verse that stands out the most to me is that he will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Nothing grows in a wasteland, it needs water to grow. God is promising that he will provide the growth and abundance if we can just trust him through the uncertainty.

Well I am excited to say that we have made it through the wilderness!  God’s timing is incredible!  God knew that Pastor John was the right person to lead Ekidz in this next season, as we continue to grow as a church. 

But in God’s timing, there were things that needed to happen first. God began us on this journey before we even realized it when Pastor John joined us here at Element as a resident last year.  The journey to this point has not been an easy one, but nothing that is worth it ever is.

Now here we are entering a new season, a new beginning.  I hope that you will all join me in my excitement as we welcome Pastor John as our new Children’s Ministry Pastor.  I am so eager and excited to be part of what God is doing in our church, and I can’t wait to see the impact in the children here at Element for God’s kingdom.

This is only the beginning of the great things that God is going to do in our children’s ministry.  My hope is that you will join us, and allow us to lift you up, support you and walk alongside you in your walk with Christ.