Step by Step

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Just one little step. Followers of Jesus take those steps as He directs us. Step by step into His purpose and will. 

I just heard an old Rich Mullins song called Step by Step. There is a line in that song that captured my heart back in the early 1990s. Hearing it again this morning reminded me of that God encounter at a youth camp as a wet behind the ears youth pastor. Ironically I was the youth pastor here at Spring Creek. 

Fast forward three decades and thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of steps to get back to this church. Sitting in this office is surreal. I look back at all the twists, turns, heartaches, triumphs, caverns of confusion, and the plains of promises to get me back here where we belong. To bring us back home. 

Brenda and I have been back here two years. I am still not over it. I am still humbled and thrilled to serve as pastor here at Spring Creek. What a time we have had. My breath is taken away still when I walk through the empty sanctuary. I feel like pinching myself to see it is real. It is real. Like a groom madly in love with his bride, this pastor is head over heels in love with this flock. 

It is amazing how God led us step by step. Our journey has not always been an easy one. Sometimes the pilgrimage has pummeled us to our knees. At times we nearly lost heart. Step by step God prodded us onward. He comforted when needed, strengthened as the trials necessitated, and instilled the grit not give up. 

Many times I stepped outside myself in serving as pastor of other flocks and thought to myself, "I do not belong here. I do not feel at home." This often frustrated Brenda. She wondered why I just not could not be happy. 

In the mercy of God, He brought us step by step back home. It is hard to explain. We only stayed at Spring Creek two years the first time we were here. The relationships went much deeper. I loosely held a dream to come back here. So loosely that many times I forgot about it. I thought it would never happen. They had never contacted me before. 

One day I was at a youth camp talking to the camp owner. He mentioned a church from Weatherford that attended that camp. I told him I once served a church in Weatherford and asked what church he meant. When he told me Spring Creek I could not have been more shocked. He told me they were without a pastor at that time. 

I was on vacation and decided that upon my return from preaching that youth camp we would go and worship at Spring Creek and see what happened. We showed up and saw many familiar faces. I prayed the whole time that someone might ask if I were interested in serving as pastor there. Not one person brought it up. I left disheartened and died a little more to that dream. God moved us to follow Him in steps away from here. The timing was not right. Four years passed. 

Step by step God opened a door to pastor another church on the north side of Weatherford about fifteen miles from Spring Creek. I tried to content myself in that work. The people loved us but we did not grow during that time. Then one day I got an email from the chairman of the search committee at Spring Creek. I got so excited. The process took a long time as the committee worked thoroughly. Then in May of 2019 we came for an interview. We came back to be voted on at the end of July. My first official Sunday was the first Sunday of August in 2019. Step by step we trusted and followed God. He brought me back to the desire of my heart. I am contented and deeply rooted here. 

Step by step God guides us. He lights our paths. He directs our decisions. He counsels our course and maps our journey. He sees the beginning from the end. I sit here humbled and amazed at the way God directed Brenda and I over the course of three decades to trek all over Texas, eventually leading right back home. Step by step back to Spring Creek.