Jaydubbs.com » Hope/Spiritual Growth

The Decision Is…

Jaydubbs — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:25:45 +0000

After several months of searching, praying, processing, thinking, and all the other “ing” words that I’m sure we took part in at some point in time, we’ve landed on where we think the Lord is wanting us in this new season.

Remember, we had 2 opportunities that were really exciting to us…Seattle or Scottsdale. Long distance or local.

Well, Jessica and I have decided to stay in Arizona and accept the Scottsdale position at Scottsdale Bible Church.

It was definitely a very difficult decision. Not that Scottsdale Bible was not a fantastic place to see ourselves at. It is. Our family has a loooooonnng history there. And the maturity, solid Biblical foundation, and vision to really see people live in Christ is practically unparalleled in the city. It was difficult in the fact that we anticipated God giving us a real discernment into where he wanted us. But God does not always work in our expectations.

We had the chance to visit the church in Seattle a couple weeks ago. To be honest, we thought the community there at Bethany Community Church was fabulous. The staff is caring and vibrant. The people are inviting and warm. Pastor Richard Dahlstrom is a real visionary, incredible teacher, and he’s at the helm of a tremendous and thriving community. Not to mention the city of Seattle is dirty sweet! Can’t wait to get back there again.

So we did a lot of wrestling.

And in the end, in the depth of our gut and heart, we felt like we needed to be at Scottsdale Bible. The truth is, we couldn’t be more excited about the future and my role at SBC. There is indeed a part of me that feels like I’m taking somewhat of a “sidestep” in my journey as a worship leader. Scottsdale Bible is more of a support role, whereas Bethany was an opportunity to be the director of the ministry. Casting the vision and steering the ship. After a decade of leading worship, I think it’s only natural to aspire to be “the guy” at some point.

But, there are opportunities this role gives me that I really felt called to. I’ll be working with a couple really amazing ministries in both a worship leader and mentoring aspect. And there are some guys I’ll be rubbing elbows with that I know are going to grow and strengthen me immensely. In this moment, God is teaching me and molding me to be humble and joyful in the small things. And I’m getting the chance to take a breath. Grow. And focus more on being the most open and loving leader that I can be.

My family and I are once again learning that we do not ever really steer the ship. And if we were to think deeply…we prefer it that way. Let’s face it, we would just screw stuff up. So we’re perfectly content in the Lord and simply riding the coattails of His leading in this season.

God’s faithfulness is found on the other side of obedience.

Remember

Jaydubbs — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:01:39 +0000

I thought of little Kate this morning.

Sometimes I go far too long without praying or thinking of her and her story. But then, something causes me to remember how her 5 year old life has been completely flipped upside down. How she hasn’t had time to be a little kid yet before disease crept in to her world.

But Kate’s a straight up fighter. And she needs our prayers and the McRae’s need our support still. Let’s not forget.

Would you say a quick prayer for the continued healing of little Kate McRae?

I Wanna Be, I Wanna Be Like Mike…

Jaydubbs — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:05:30 +0000

Remember that little jingle back in the early 90’s? Gatorade had kids and adults alike singing that simple tune in every conversation and basketball dreamers attempting dunks from the free throw line whenever they could. The ad campaign was a phenomenal success.

And it was all centered around “being” someone else.

As harmless as the advertising was, nearly 20 years later I find myself sometimes pondering what it would be like to “be” someone else. No, not completely, I love my life. Just to have certain skills or attributes that others have. There’s times where I wish I could be some bomb-diggity graphic designer. Or a better guitarist or photographer. Or that I could just sit down and hammer out 5 new songs every time I attempted to write.

The fact is sometimes, my mind just feels like it’s ten steps ahead of my actual abilities. I can see, hear, and feel how I want something to be…a lot of the times I just can’t “do it”. (Wow. Two different Michael ad campaigns in one post?)

The tension that I’m leading up to here is that in those times, when I feel inadequate in my skills, I have to remember that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Created in the image of the Creator. With nothing lacking. And I’m in the camp that believes that He does not make mistakes. So I just try and be bold and purposeful with the amazing skills that He has given me…and simply try in small steps to grow and learn from others in the ones that I’m not that good at.

If I get there, great. If not, I just gotta pay some people to do it instead.

What are some areas/skills/attributes that you find yourself at times wishing you had or were better at? Are you pressing towards them or are you realizing that it’s simply not YOU?

Tell us on the jump…

To Be Or Not To Be…

Jaydubbs — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:08:43 +0000

I was encouraged by this quote today and it began a shift in thought for me…

What does these words mean to you?