After nearly eight years of part-time employment, I have resigned my position at Meadow Heights, effective December 31. The past eight years have been the greatest of my life. I have developed friendships that I cherish more than anything else in life. I have learned leadership skills and developed abilities that I never dreamed possible. The past eight years have provided opportunities to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually, and for that I will be forever grateful. But as 2007 approaches, it is time for me to move on from this point in my life - to begin a new chapter, beginning with this step.

When I started attending Meadow Heights, we were a small, country church with an average attendance of around 75. I started attending the weekend after Bryan and his family began, and we've been together since. At that time, he was the youth pastor, and I was in the youth group. A couple of years later, he asked me to serve as the youth representative on his new advisory council. At that time, I never would have dreamed that our journey would have lasted this long and reached this far.

In 1998, when he formed a group of volunteers to transform the student ministry (called the Dream Team), Bryan asked me to come alongside and volunteer as his administrative assistant. I attended Dream Team meetings that lasted until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning; we dreamed huge, unimaginable dreams for the student ministry and for the church. I created flyers and bulletins and PowerPoint presentations for the student ministry; I maintained the database and kept him supplied with reports; I helped promote Youth Explosion, with posters, mailouts, another database, and even some websites. In the fall of 1999, Bryan offered to pay me $25 a week to help compensate for the time commitment and so that I could qualify for a scholarship as a church employee. And then the fun began!

Throughout my junior and senior years of college, I would drive home from St. Louis every weekend to perform my duties at church - and during the week, we operated virtual offices through email and IM. I was in my dorm in St. Louis and he was in his classroom at FMS. I can't imagine how much bandwidth we used sending stuff back and forth to get ready for the next big event. I also kept up with some of the work while I was holding down the midnight shift at Black River Electric on the weekends, and during my stints at the gas station, I would sometimes field cell phone calls about church work.

Then, sometime in 2000, I was sitting in my dorm room and the phone rang. It was Bryan. He had some news to share. Our pastor, Jim, was resigning. Things on the church-wide level were about to shake up, and that was about to take me from being the youth pastor's assistant to being the interim pastor's assistant, all the way to being the pastor's assistant . . . in a very short period of time.

After the change in leadership at the church-wide level, the philosophy of the church began to change. We began to abandon the traditions of Southern Baptist practices in exchange for simpler, more biblical ways of doing church. We adopted mission and vision statements to reflect who we were, and we began to be the purpose-driven church that God had in mind. With a new pastor with a background in education, the style of the messages also went away from a traditional sermon to more of a teaching style, and with that, PowerPoint support was added in the messages. Hymnals had all but been replaced by PowerPoint slides a few years earlier. And the design and presentation of the songs and message became my responsibility. I loved it!

Most churches lose members and attenders while they experience a change in leadership. Many become stagnate and take a while to start growing again, if they ever do. But Meadow Heights had grown during the interim, and we continued to grow as Bryan took the lead. So by now, it was time to add a second service, and that was about the time that Bryan asked me to start designing the bulletin rather than the secretary. I didn't think it could get any better than that!

We were on the fast-track to creating a new image in the community and being able to promote our church and the gospel in a way that few other churches around could do. We had a website! And at some point in there, we started a whole identity campaign, including a logo, that has really professionalized what we do ever since. I remember sitting in my bedroom floor, staring at a preliminary logo design, and talking on the phone with Bryan. We were trying to figure out if the sun had enough rays, if the rays were the right shape, if the MH looked right . . . it just went on and on. The preliminary design also had green on the top and blue on the bottom. We decided if that would be flipped, it would look like the sky and a field. Some people would have referred to us as idiots . . . but the logo was VERY important to us, and we had to get it just right. That was just one of many items that we've discussed and debated for well over an hour.

We started pumping out a more professional bulletin, mailouts, and newspaper ads. We bought a huge, color laser printer to do most of the printing in-house. It was about this time that I started focusing mainly on technology and graphic design, and my official title became Director of Technology & Publications. We went through some secretarial changes for a while, which provided the opportunity to professionalize the operation of the office.

With the addition of a third service came a change in my life. I was introduced to my future wife, and with that came a desire to back off from my commitment to church a little. I had become so involved that there really wasn't much room left for her in my life. There was a period of adjustment, but we worked through it well. That's when I started seeing the need for help. I couldn't devote every Sunday to being at church all morning (5:30 am - 12:30 pm) and still keep my sanity and help her keep her own. I had to get help. Dave was a huge asset to me by allowing me time away during those first couple of years of grown-up life. I would get everything ready for the weekend, and then he would run PowerPoint when I needed him to.

Then came service number 4 - Saturday nights. The days of the one-man technology show were over. I had been married a few months, and I already knew that adding that commitment was not going to work. I recruited additional help and started training them so they could take the weekend load. They have been great! We've also added more staff members - many of whom have taken some of the load that I used to carry. By the end of 2006, my weekend responsibilities are almost gone. I've worked maybe ten of the last fifty weekends, and I've loved it! I've been able to enjoy the weekend services . . . gatherings . . . as a participant rather than a performer. And I've been able to go to church with my wife (and now with my daughter). Having that opportunity over the past year is something I'll always be thankful for.

So 2006 is wrapping up. With only seventeen days left, it's almost history. With the end of this year comes the end of an era for me . . . almost a decade of being employed by Meadow Heights. With all of the wonderful memories that I've shared, you may wonder why I'm giving it up. After all, I'm resigning - not being fired. If I've loved it so much, why am I walking away? It's very simple - one four-letter word: E-L-L-A.

I've said it before - parenthood changes everything. It's time for me to re-evaluate my course in life and decide where God is leading me, then focus on that. I have to give up the good stuff that I've been a part of for the great things He has in store. In that re-evaluation, I've realized that I'm holding onto a part-time job to supplement my income, while taking time away from my family each week - sometimes their best time. As a member of the church, and as a follower of Christ, I'll continue to serve, but I need to step away from the position as an employee. I met with Michael this morning to work out a transition plan . . . an "exit strategy" . . . and to talk about some of the things that I will continue to do as a volunteer. By the first of the year, I will only have one job - after having two (and at times three) for the past six years. But more importantly than any job that I could have, I now have a family to devote my time and attention to.

To those of you that I have worked with over the past eight years, thank you for the opportunity to serve with you and to share life together. To the members of Meadow Heights, thank you for the opportunity to serve God and you. To everyone else, if you've never taken the opportunity to volunteer or work in your church - if you ever have that opportunity - go for it. If God can take what I was in 1998 and put me in the position I have been in since then and use and change me the way He has, I know that He has something in store for you, too.

Last week, I finished my fifth class toward my Master's degree. I now have fifteen hours of graduate work behind me, and I'm looking forward to graduation . . . with only twenty-five more hours in my way. No problem! I have registered for eighteen hours this spring, and I'll take seven over the summer. If I can finish my internship before the end of the summer, I'll be finished. If not, I'll have the fall to complete it. Either way, I'll graduate next December.

With all the excitement of tripling up on classes to finish early, I've also been caught up in planning the next step in my education. I'm weighing the options of working on a Specialist degree or going straight from Master's to Doctorate. A large part of that decision will be based on cost and the programs offered at various universities. I narrowed my list to four institutions: Southern Illinois University, St. Louis University, Ohio State University, and Mizzou. From there, I started looking at tuition, availablity of distance learning (which is a must), and the overall convenience of the program.

This morning, I found out that SEMO is part of a cooperative program through Mizzou where I can get my degree through Mizzou without leaving Southeast Missouri . . . much. I also found out that my current advisor received her Doctorate through the program. So . . . I have decided (subject to God's approval) that I will enroll in Specialist classes through SEMO following graduation next year, and then in the Doctoral program through Mizzou.

Lofty goals? Maybe. Some people have the philosophy that if you "aim for the moon, you'll land among the stars." I believe we must always keep dreaming about the next step - in our professional lives, in our spiritual lives, and in our relationships. Do you have plans for your future? God does. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." He's not satisfied with the plans that we have conjured up based on our limited knowledge. He's dreaming big things for me and you - things that we couldn't imagine, even if we were told.

Dream Big. I am!

Quiz: What's Your American IQ?
Questions from the citizenship exam.