Author: Wick

We visited Decatur about a week or so before officially moving here, and found out some important aspects of our days to come.

1. We found an apartment not far from family, for a really good price.
2. We found out Sarah would be eligible to substitute teach right away, whenever an opening came.
3. I was offered a job working for $10 an hour at a home for the developmentally disabled.
4. I was in conversation with a small Nazarene Church here in Decatur where I could help lead a Youth Ministry effort, and they would even try and pay me something!

Working with the developmentally disabled was a lot different from anything I’d ever done. I’m a big fan of Henri Nouwen, and so quickly began getting back into his writings…as many of them were connected to similar circumstances. I worked 2nd shift, so that was tough as well…being gone from 1pm until 11pm everyday.

I loved the men I worked with, though. Their accidental honesty, and genuine “being” in any situation…was refreshing. From leading a Karaoke Night for the house, to making dinner amidst accusations that I was poisoning them, to turning John’s socks and underwear pink on accident (he ran through the whole house, yelling “thanks Chadwick, I’ve always wanted pink underwear!!”, being all sarcastic. Apparently, you don’t wash whites with reds.)….it was an opportunity to grow in many areas. Specifically, my identity. But it was only the beginning of that struggle.

There were plenty of opportunities to love as Christ. Helping a man older than you shower, because he can’t remember how….is something that had so far been reserved for “Tuesdays with Morrie” type of fiction. To be reminded that entire populations of these incredibly special people existed, forgotten by so many in society….was good for my soul.

But honestly, at $10 an hour…realizing it may be a while until I was full time in Youth Ministry again….and wanting to start our family soon….I continued searching for a new job. My identity as youth pastor already gone, I would do anything. My search took me to Taylorville (a 40 minute drive), where I interviewed and was hired at the beginning of April as a Radio Advertising Salesman….with “unlimited income potential”.

A whole new world. One of smiles, handshakes, and slick words. I was good with the smiles, the handshakes, and even prayed that God would help give me situations where I could be a “light in the darkness”, connecting with so many people who’s highest goal was a profit margin.

I enjoyed meeting new people every day. I enjoyed being challenged to see them with God’s eyes, while at the same time trying to sell them something that didn’t exist. I sold airtime. I sold minutes of radio spots to advertise their business, but had no real idea why they would want it. That didn’t make me a very good salesman…but I was able to pretend long enough to have a decent run.

But when I realized that the “unlimited income potential” was pretty much ONLY potential, and never actualized….and I was driving a couple hours just to get to and from work….I knew the search was still on. Still trusting that God had something in store….we prayed….

So there’s a story that probably doesn’t get told enough by me. About how I believe God actively moved in our family’s life. A journey that was hard, but very worth it. I don’t want to have a long, drawn out post…but I want to tell you the story. Maybe I’ll spread it through a few posts.

Just out of college in 2003, Sarah and I moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was our first full time ministry opportunity. I worked for CR 1st Church of the Nazarene. Things were going well. But as we ministered, and lived among the people there, we felt nudges. Something wasn’t right. I’m too optimistic and keep myself too busy to listen much…especially then. But together with my wife, we realized a couple things.

1. We felt good about the time we’d spent in Iowa. God had used both of us, and used our friends there to grow both of us as well.

2. God was moving us in a new direction. We felt strongly, and it continued to be affirmed, that we needed to focus heavily on family…ours specifically.

More important than any job or ministry to others I had…was the calling to be a husband, and a father. We decided that moving to Decatur, IL would give us a large family base in one area, and that would be a good starting point for whatever was to come.

Problem was…in Iowa, we both worked full time, and lived in a parsonage. In IL, neither of us even had jobs. But looking at the city…there’s like 4 Nazarene churches. Pretty good odds, right? As we moved forward though, we realized there probably wouldn’t be any options for full time ministry right away. But, feeling that the call was not to get comfy professionally, but to do the hard work to build a solid family foundation….in late February 2005, we moved to Decatur.

It was tough, leaving friends and some as close as family in Iowa. But we are definitely grateful for the time we had with them, and the relationships we still hold in prayer today.

Stay tuned…for more on our first days in Decatur, IL. No job. No house. No idea what we were doing…except that it was good.

might be old news to you. but wow. Just stole this video from a friend (thanks Scott). Ignore the narration, and the drama before and after the clips. The narrator has his own agenda, and the book they promote at the end of it seems to have political ties, etc…I don’t support whatever that kool-aid book is saying.

But just in her own words, and the words of the confused Christian to her…and the words of the author of this book they’re all reading together….wow. Take a few minutes, and listen for yourself…

Interesting that the author would quote Jesus saying “you are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14)….but then ignore Jesus saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Seems as if they’re looking at the belief (or feeling, as Oprah puts it…which is a whole other topic of lunacy) of Jesus Christ as Savior as a sort of “debatable” aspect of Christianity. I’m pretty sure Jesus is a bit more prominent than that. Should someone tell her?

She “figured it all out” at the age of 26 or 27…that God could not be jealous, and still be God (omnipotent, omniscient, etc.). That God is a feeling, and an experience of emotion, etc. Wow. Really? And THAT is what is leading to all these people following you away from Christ?

Still…gotta love those Dr.Oz episodes, right?

Looking around online, you find people standing up for Oprah. Saying things like “she does a lot of good in the world”, etc. I won’t argue that. Whether she’s done it for the right reasons, or to build the “O” empire, is up for debate. But still, that shouldn’t enable her to buy the position of a spiritual leader in the lives of so many as she has.

Anywho…I posted this just in case you’re like me, and hadn’t heard all this yet. It’s probably important for us to realize this is going on.