Hey Sermon Index!
It's been quite some time since I've posted on the forums or have even been to this website. Perhaps a year or so, maybe even more. But tonight I received a phone call from somebody who I've had the wonderful opportunity to talk with on a number of occasions, and my heart felt stirred to come back briefly and drop a quick hello.
In recent years God has really changed my life. After several years of going through a very dry and lonely season, one filled with much trial and tribulation, I entered into a new and amazing season of life in which I have been amazingly blessed. I went from always feeling like God was silent in answering my prayers and feeling like the heavens were brass, to entering a season where it seems God has done nothing but answer all of my prayers. Prayers I had long given up in praying altogether on are prayers that God has suddenly answered. His faithfulness to answer prayer was greater than my faithfulness to continually ask.
After several years of being broke, working 60 hours a week or more and not even making 30 grand a year, and even being forced into declaring bankruptcy, God blessed me with a wonderful job at a major bank. I never sought for this job or applied for it, yet somehow God seemed to drop it right in my lap. I knew very little about the job even after I interviewed for the position and accepted it, yet somehow I ended up being an ideal fit for the company, and exactly the guy they were looking for. The job has been a very demanding and challenging job. But I am constantly learning, being stretched, and growing. I've been something of a success, earning a major promotion after just a year, and nearly doubling my salary in the same time. I don't make a ton of money by any stretch of the imagination, but I do make a respectable salary that has afforded me the ability to pay my bills and have something of a small savings account for the first time in my adult life (I'm 30 now). I love my job and the opportunity I get to actually change the lives of people every single day.
Also in recent months, I started dating a woman I met through e-harmony. As the saying goes, "I liked it, so I put in a ring on it." Within 5 months of dating we got engaged, and we are presently planning a wedding this Fall in the mountains of North Carolina, in the Asheville area. My fiancee is truly the sweetest woman I've ever met. I've never known I could love another person so much, and I've never known I could be loved by another person so deeply. She is a true companion and partner, and is truly a precious gift from the Lord. My parents never liked any of the girls I had previously courted in my entire life. They loved this girl before they even met her. Such is something I had long prayed for in a wife.
I have also been very busy in the life of my local church. I oversee 3 community groups, which all meet in public places every week. My most cherished ministry is my High School guys small group, which has become affectionately known as "The Taco Bell Church of God." Every Sunday evening I meet with about 5-10 High School guys at Taco Bell, where we fellowship and talk about the Lord and study the Word together. These kids have been coming out almost every week for over 2 years, and I have been incredibly blessed to serve these young men. They are the greatest ministry I've ever had.
I don't post much of anything on the internet anymore, and can't even remember the last time I updated my website/blog. But, much of those activities were done when I had more time on my hands and not much of an outlet in the local church. Teaching 3 times a week and holding a full time job and making wedding plans leaves very little time to do much of anything on the web. But I do often think about my days on Sermon Index and how blessed I have been by the ministry on this site and the fellowship that I've had with some of you, and continue to have with some of you through Facebook. The Lord is doing a great thing in my life, and I am very happy. I am so thankful, and aware more than ever of the great grace that God has blessed me with. Everything I have gone through, the good and the bad, and everything that I have right now, is all from His hand. I may firmly be an Arminian in my theology. But I cannot deny His sovereignty in any aspect of my life. It's all been in His hands and in His plans, and I can't wait to see what things He still has in store for me.
Many blessings,
Jimmy
