A Selma-versary
The world is in desperate need of many things, another blog by a small church pastor (Bio) is not one of them. So why write one? Primarily, this will be a place for me to share all the things that don’t fit neatly into one of the other categories of life as a small church pastor. This will be a place for the snippets of sermon prep, book reviews, random thoughts, and anecdotes that I can’t fit elsewhere, but still want to share. This will also be a place to celebrate milestones, which brings me to the title of this post.
Today is the one year “Selma-versary” of my installation as pastor at NCPC. Although I started preaching here two years ago (Note to Self: Never make major life changes at the start of a pandemic…), this is my first full year of pastoring in Selma. Had you asked me a couple of years ago what my life would look like, “pastor in Selma” would probably not have even cracked the top 100 of things most likely to happen.
So how did I end up here? The short version is God had a plan that he did not consult me about. And that, in retrospect, is a really great thing. Mike from a couple of years ago would never have looked at this church or this city. Not that I had any animosity towards either, but I also had no connection to Selma. Like most of my family and friends, I thought Selma was a place you read about in history books, possibly visit for a day, but never even think about moving to. To be fair, Selma has its share of issues and unique challenges.
What Mike from a couple of years ago didn’t know, though, was that God had been preparing a wonderful church full of loving people to welcome him and his family at a hard point in their lives. NCPC isn’t perfect, but over the last two years they have loved me and my family well. Even before I was their “official” pastor, they cared for us, both with prayer and actions. Being a pastor at a small church is never easy, but I can honestly say ministering at NCPC has been a joy. Mike from a couple of years ago might not have picked NCPC given the option, which is why I am grateful God called me here.
And that is the primary thing I think about as I reflect on the last year. Sometimes it’s not easy to trust in God’s will and timing. The reality is, hard things happen and God moves on a timetable we are not privy to. It can be hard, even scary, to trust ourselves to God. We always want to wrestle the reigns away from God so we can (try to) do what we want. As tempting as that is, though, it is as futile, and exhausting, as chasing the wind.
Ultimately, I’m glad God didn’t, and doesn’t, consult me, because his plans are so much better than anything I could have asked for.
Until next time…
In Christ,
Mike
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