It was all worth it

It was two years of some serious craziness, while Derek was the youth pastor. Having a newborn while he was doing two essentially full time jobs. Having to change plans at the last minute numerous times due to meetings or people needing him. Attending things by myself because he had to work. Having no real routine or schedule because we just had to fit in family time whenever we could. Many, many inconveniences.

But going to youth group this last week showed me how it was all worth it. And it has been a very emotional week for me.

Our new youth pastor started this week, and they did a fun "get to know you" kind of youth group meeting. It included a "Newlywed Game" with Derek and I, the new pastor Mac and his wife Naomi, and two guys who used to be youth groupers and are now youth leaders - yes, I said two guys. One of them dressed up as a girl, to add to the comedy factor. Derek's old intern, Jake, was the host and asked us the questions. It was pretty funny. Even though we lost.

After the fun and games, Mac gave his testimony and told how God had brought him to our church. He ended his message by saying something along the lines of, "You guys have had an amazing man lead you for the past two years, and I want to take some time to appreciate the impact he has made." He opened up the mic for kids and leaders to share how Derek has affected their lives. I had almost been ready to leave, but I'm so glad I chose to stay because God knew that I needed to hear what so many of them had to say. I almost bawled my head off, listening to so many of their stories and examples of how Derek had impacted their lives. The last one to speak was Derek's intern, Jake, and he was very emotional about it. He said if he was able to touch half the lives that Derek had touched in the last two years, he would count his life as good. It was just amazing to listen to and I was so, so proud of him.

As I left youth group, that is when it really hit me that this was what the last two years were all about. All the family sacrifices were nothing compared to how Derek was able to do God's work. I love the quote that God is more interested in our character than our comfort, and he developed our whole family's character through this experience. There were so many times that I would read about the wife of noble character in Proverbs 31, and pray that God would help me to be that kind of support for Derek. Because although Derek was the one actually working in the lives of kids, I was the one behind the scenes doing the kind of work that God had set out for me to do. Every time I stopped focusing on myself or what I wanted, my whole family was blessed, including myself. God took care of meeting my needs, whether it was through family and friends helping out with the kids, or random texts from Derek telling me how much he appreciated and loved me, or particular Bible verses or studies that told me exactly what I needed to hear that day. God is amazing.

My husband has been giving me all sorts of credit, and it is way more than I deserve. He said it to the whole church last Sunday and he pulled me up front at youth group a couple of weeks ago, as well. I am only posting this picture so you can see how totally embarrassed I was, it has to be the cheesiest picture I have ever taken. In my defense, imagine standing in front of over 100 students while someone tries to figure out how to use the camera to take a picture. Pure torture. Oh, and you can't tell in this picture but also up on the screen behind us is a huge picture of our wedding day. He was clever and tied the whole thing into his message.

As much as he gives me credit for supporting him, he has supported me. I am so thankful for this experience God gave us, and part of the reason that this blog post is so ridiculously long is that I want our girls to know all these things I am sharing and the way that God used our family. They are pretty young, but they understand a lot about the last couple of years.

So, we say goodbye to this phase of our lives, thankful for all that God has done. Please excuse the misspelling of the word "pastor" on the screen below - high school kids were in charge of the slides! What an amazing ride.

Can't wait to see what the future holds as we move on! I do know it will begin with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge, paid for by a collection of $620 from the students and parents. What a great and thoughtful gift.