Things I Will Miss

So last Sunday was my last day working for my former church. I don't like the word former...it seems negative. And the word "old" sounds old. How about this *by the way I did start this blog with the word "so" I just forgot the .......... that ran through my mind before I kept typing*

Last Sunday was my last day on staff at Eastpoint Fellowship.
(That sounds good)

I thought about it and I have been involved working and getting paid by a church or some religious organization consistently for the last 6 years almost. I think that what most people that haven't worked at a church don't understand as much as those that have is that it is still a job. You still have your good days and your bad...your ups and downs. There are times when you love your job and think there is nothing you would rather do and wish you could do it forever and a day. And then there are times when you hate your job and you hate the people you have to deal with and the stupid hoops you have to jump through. Every pastor ever has felt these emotions if they have been at a place for at least 1 year or maybe even 6 months. Nobody really talks about it though because that might look like we don't love well or our hearts aren't big enough or whatever.

Just like I cannot read into your life and your job and your growth as a person...you will never understand what it was like for me to work at Eastpoint. In a great and positive way I was stretched to my limits and forced to grow up and take on responsibility that I had not seen before and that I was not always sure that I could handle.

In the same way that you know in your heart that it is time to move to another company or to alter how you interact with certain people or how to improve on your relationships and it is just a matter of doing it...I knew that it was my time to leave Eastpoint. And there is nothing negative about it. I believe that I left Eastpoint at the time when the church was the strongest and on the verge of something bigger than anybody on staff could truly comprehend. The excitement and love and energy of a group of people is now at it's highest in the community of Eastpoint.

That isn't when you are supposed to leave though right?

I believe in our hearts God whispers truth in the clearest voice even when it doesn't really make a lot of sense or it doesn't look like the best career move or whatever.

But we know what we are supposed to do.

Now to the topic at hand. There are some things that I won't miss, but today it hit me some of the things I will miss.

I will miss the old people. From my beginning as a 19 year old leading worship there the people over the age of around 55 were the most encouraging and loving and supporting of me on a consistent basis. Before I started I feared that we would have nothing in common...musically or socially. But I found the gentleness and patience of the Father in their eyes and their hearts as week after week they have hugged me and given me words of wisdom and encouragement. Sometimes they smell funny. On occasion I thought that I had done something that had really touched their hearts and I saw them tearing up as they talked to me...only to realize later that it might be glaucoma."

"Why are you crying mam?"

"Whaat?

"Are you ok...why are you crying?"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

"Never mind...thats ooze. See you next week."

Funny, but I will really miss them. I have grown to love them dearly.

I will miss people like Michael Barton. I still have memories as a little kid seeing his basketball card collection and talking about how amazing Jordan was. He would come up to me pretty much every week after service and chit chat for a little. No matter if we talked Gators or how my mom was doing I felt so comfortable and knew he was supportive of me. One time him and a man named Antonio knew that I wanted to know this wall out on stage that was taking up wasted room and they did took it upon themselves to do it and do a great job. They weren't looking for recognition. They just wanted to help out. That meant more to me than anybody can ever know.

I will miss people like Charlie Fish. He is seriously one of the nicest guys and most willing to help I have ever met. He does so much for the church that nobody knows about and he does it so well. Such a blessing to the staff and he probably doesn't realize it.

I'll miss hanging out with the little kids in the nursery during the 2nd service and holding the babies.

I'll miss waking up at 6:30am every sunday with a great attitude and having to warm my voice up from the moment I get out of bed to my blinding drive east so I can hit the notes on "Famous One". Just kidding. I'll never miss that.

This is way too long. But it is starting to sink in a little bit. I love the people at Eastpoint and will miss being a part of that church...but I am excited about joining Jesus' work in another section of orlando for a more focused age group.