Thursday, March 13, 2014

Jonah, Me, and a 2014 Version of a Whale

Once upon a time, a girl didn't listen to God and got swallowed by a whale.

Not buying it? Ok, maybe I didn't get swallowed by a LITERAL whale like Jonah did, but I definitely have some stuff in common with that guy. For those of you who may not be familiar, there's a book in the Old Testament called Jonah. In it, we learn that God told Jonah to go and preach against the city of Nineveh. Jonah wasn't too hot on that idea though...he knew his message wouldn't be well received. So he went the exact OPPOSITE direction God told him to go.

Just to clear things up, God did not tell me to go and preach against anyone. He did however, put a very specific whisper in my ear that I ignored.

In the spring of last year, some very good friends announced that they would be moving to Florida to plant a church. When they announced it, I was sad, but at the same time kind of curious about it. I had never thought about church planting before. I told Mark Bernard, who would be the lead pastor and head up the plant, that I was interested.

Over the next couple weeks I kept asking questions until one pivotal service. I can't tell you everything about the service or even exactly what was said. I remember that Steve Hutmacher was in a video, talking about the future of the Church and how new churches were needed...and I knew I was meant to go with Mark and the rest of the team.

In May of last year, a team of 9 of us went to Florida to decide on the final location for the church. There were 3 locations that were looked at: Palm coast, Jacksonville, and Melbourne. At this point, I was doubting my decision to move. When we visited Palm Coast and discussed Jacksonville, I had a sense of relief. If either of these places were chosen, it would be easy for me to stay in Toledo. Then we visited Melbourne.

Melbourne was a beautiful town on the Atlantic coast. About 45 minutes southeast of Orlando, it reminded me slightly of my beloved Myrtle Beach. It had the same laid back, coastal city feel...but without all the garish tourist hype. I fell in love...and my immediate thought was "Crap. I have a choice to make."

When we got back to Toledo, I kept putting off the decision, saying I was thinking and praying about it. The truth was that I had things I was clinging to and wasn't ready to give up...and moving to Melbourne would mean surrendering those things for good. And that's when I was swallowed.

Slowly, over a period of about 6 to 8 months, I saw most of these things I was holding on to begin to disappear. There were several different facets to these things: relational, occupational, spiritual. Eventually I reached a place where I was more depressed and miserable than I had ever been; I was in the belly of a whale, and I wanted out. Then I got a phone call that changed everything.

One of my best friends (and Mark's daughter), Jess, called me while I was at work. I shot her a quick text telling her I was at work and asking what was up. She said that Mark just had a couple questions for me. I told her I'd call him after work. I figured he just wanted my opinion on something for Student Ministries since I had been so heavily involved when he was in Toledo.

The first words out of Mark's mouth were "What do we need to do to get you down here?" I promptly burst in to tears. I'll save you the details of the conversation, but after I hung up, I promised God I was done running.

What's amazing is how everything has fallen in to place since that conversation. Anyone who knows me will tell you I HATE making decisions...and constantly second guess mine. I can honestly say this is the first decision I've made that I've felt total peace about and haven't second guessed. I'm excited to begin my new life in Melbourne and see what God has planned for me there.

There are lots of people in Toledo I will miss. My best friend Kelly, my dear friends the ENTIRE Shortridge clan, my family...I could probably go on and on. But I know that God has amazing things in store for me. He's been faithful in redeeming the hurt in my life before, and He will be faithful again.

Have you ever known that God wanted something of you and run the opposite way? What was it? How did it end up?

2 comments:

  1. Happy for you punk! I doubted my calling to ministry early on... decided to pursue nursing because I wanted financial security and a good back up plan in case ministry didn't work out. I hated every minute of my clinicals. Walking into Riverside Hospital made my skin crawl... I KNEW I wasn't supposed to be there but I put it off. Glad you've stopped running although I'm super bummed to have you leave us! Visit often!

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  2. Nicki, i consider you a friend of mine. I am glad to see you grow into the beautiful woman you are today. God has molded your heart to help his people. I am glad to see that you are answering His calling. Sad to see you leave wonderful North West Ohio where you get to experience all four seasons in one week. Keep us Ohioans updated of your Devine journey. You will do well down there. Keep up the good work ! Till we meet again , #representing God's love

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