Two, Two, One

I apologize for the long delay since last writing. However, I am in the middle of a major life transition and I had to make sure that certain people knew what was going on before writing anything here. This transition and the issues leading up to it have been the topics on my mind the past several months. I wasn’t sure that I could write anything without reflecting on these issues or the transition. Now all decisions have been made and all who need to be personally informed have been notified.

There were two dinners this past week that summed up the past several months. Both of these dinners had its own very different meaning. However, both pointed to the transition Amy and I are going through.

The first dinner was Thursday night. Amy and I invited the Wendel family from SouthPoint Church (the lead pastor’s family where we have been worshipping since the beginning of April) over for dinner. We had a great time. We sat around the kitchen table and talked well past 9pm. The kids played with the dog and watch cartoons on TV. I imagine that we could have talked several more hours had they not needed to go put kids in bed. Amy and I are excited about what God is doing through SouthPoint and the ways that he is already connecting us to that body through service and leadership.

The second dinner was Saturday night. All of the Memphis Urban Ministry staff had been invited over to one of my co-workers house’s for dinner. However, this dinner had a very different feel for Amy and me. Part of what was done that night was to honor Amy and me for our years of service with MUM (since 2001). We were given gifts and prayed over. I left that night knowing an era of my life was drawing to a close.

All of the issues that have led to this are too great to put into this post right now. I will summarize them all by saying the longer I stayed the more I felt life being sucked out of me. Although not diagnosed by a mental health professional, I felt that I was slipping into a slight depression. I saw how I was using food as a coping mechanism (I have put back on 45 lbs. of the 60 lbs. that I lost several years ago). The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. I was definitely practicing a form of insanity. I “woke up” and realized how unhappy I was and how little life I had. I knew that if I didn’t do something different things would just get worse.

I am not going to work for SouthPoint Church. That means that I am looking for a new job. I am now doing well with all of this. It has been a long time coming and I believe that it is for the best. Being completely honest, I probably should have made this move when I moved from Wonder City to the main MUM office in the spring of last year. However, fear of the unknown is a powerful motivator and hindsight is always 20/20. There is still some fear. I am still working for MUM, but a final day of July 31 has been set (unless I am able to find a new job before then). I have a couple of leads that I am working. Pastor Craig said yesterday that God loves surprises, but he often waits until it is a day late (according to our timing) so that we know it is him. I sure hope God does wait until after July 31 to provide a new job and source of income. However, one thing I do know is that he has always taken care of us in the past and he will do so in the future as well.

Two dinners, two different meanings, one major life transition. Praise God that he is in control.


On a different note – this is going to be my official last post to this blog. I set this up as a place to reflect on what God is doing in my life and ministry. Part of that was to keep financial supporters updated on what was going on in my ministry. Another part of it was for this to be like an open diary. I really don’t want or need that anymore. If I decided to continue blogging, I need to create something different. For me that means I need to start from scratch. I will check back here for about a week to read any comments you may want to leave.

So to use an old radio format, “This is Mack on Reflections Blog signing off…”

Straight Out of the Movies

Yesterday, there was a scene straight out of the movies in West Memphis. Many of you may have seen it on the national news. I saw it this morning on Fox News' Fox and Friends show (although I knew about it yesterday shortly after it happened). A car bomb exploded almost killing a doctor who is also the chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board. The last I heard (at least that sounds plausible) is that someone planted the devise under or around the hood of the car and did something that lured him to the front of the car and then exploded the devise. It really was a scene straight out of a movie where someone was walking to his car only to have it explode.

I have several friends in the Marion and West Memphis area who know the him and his family. Last I heard he had lost his left eye and they were hoping to save the right one. I along with many in the area have been praying for the doctor and his family. I also pray they find the person who did this!

Halloween Costume Shopping

Amy and I had an interesting night last night. But let me back up to yesterday morning. Yesterday morning my neighbor won four tickets on a local radio station to our local corn maize for last night. She called and asked Amy and I if we want to go. We said, “yes.” So all day we were all looking forward to going last night and being out of the house in the evening. However, it rained for the first time in weeks here Tuesday and yesterday (Wednesday). So the corn maize was closed last night.

But none of us just wanted to do the normal be at home watching TV thing last night—especially after looking forward to being out all day. So we eventually decided to go shopping for Halloween costumes. We started out at Mr. Lincoln’s Costume Shop. This was pretty cool. It was a traditional costume rental place. This was the first time I had ever been in a place like this. Costumes hung on the walls with masks, face paint, fake blood, fake teeth, and all the other Halloween costume accessories. We left there and went looking for a place called Trick-R-Treat. When we eventually found it after much out of the way driving (by the way—we were in two vehicles with Amy and me following) it turned out to be nothing more than a fulfillment location for internet orders. So we left there and started back towards AR. But then we found another place that sold costumes for adults—Party City. So we doubled back and went to Party City. We had lots of fun at Party City, even though no one bought anything. Our neighbors each tried on a costume (his & hers) and we all had fun with the masks. We left Part City and started home for good around 8:30.

So why were we shopping for Halloween costumes. After all, Amy and I don’t have a reason to dress up—no kids, no Halloween party. I finally asked while we were at Party City when we would wear these. It turns out my neighbors have been invited to a costume party. The one costume party that Amy and I have been invited to in Memphis was lots of fun. It was a couple of years ago and I went as a judge. I hope they have a good time in a few weeks.

I don’t know if we will get to do the corn maize on another night (Wednesday night was the Radio Station night) or not, but it looked like lots of fun. I will post about the corn maize if we get to go.

Surprise

What a surprise I had a few minutes ago. I received a phone call from Ryan S.--an old college friend and best man at my wedding. Ryan and I have had minimal correspondence since we both graduated with our bachelor's degrees in 1999. We spent about 10 minutes on the phone catching up and hearing about others we both have kept in communication with from our days at Harding University. We exchanged phone numbers and emails. Hopefully it won't be another 9 years before we talk again!

C3 Live!

Some friends of mine have started a Christian band and this past Saturday night they had their first concert. It Although it really wasn't a concert. However, they are not a worship band either. But it was worship; complete with worship videos and Christian messages (through the videos and songs). It is hard to describe what it was--and is. C3 is not the name of the band, but of the event. It stands for Christian Community Cafe. They set the place up like a coffee house and even had free coffee and cookies for everyone.

The guys who are in the group are from across various denominational lines. For their first show(and only six practices) it was great! For now they are planning on playing every first Saturday of the month. They are hoping to add more in the future.