This is a repost from November 2009.
This morning I shared breakfast with my YS roommate. Bruegger’s Bagels and chocolate milk, case you were wondering. Our discussion centered around the question, How do you know when God is moving you?
It's a good question and often asked when we feel the push to move on to a new ministry or call. As we talked, I thought about my own experiences and knowing when God was moving me from one spot to the next.
Here's what I've learned. GEt on Your Knees and Pray
Without a doubt, prayer is the most important part of the process. Seeking God diligently is a must. Each time we thought a move was coming, my wife and I bathe the possibilities in prayer. We pray together, we pray separately, we pray for specifics, and we pray for the unknown. We’re not afraid to ask God to answer and provide the details. Like Gideon, we put out the fleece and ask God to send the dew.
And don’t forget, prayer is a two way street. Spend as much time listening for God as you do listing your requests and demands. God still speaks, we just have to learn to listen. Seek Godly Wisdom
Wise counsel is priceless. Surround yourself with trusted, Godly men and women, who can give you unbiased and confidential advice and support. These need to be people who love you and can be strong enough to say no. Tell them what they need to know. Ask them to pray specific for you for a designated time frame, then set up a time when you can meet and hear what they think God is saying. And listen! The counsel they bring might not be what you want to hear.
Watch and Know
God speaks through what happens around us. Events and circumstances help to push us the direction God wants us to go. I am a firm believer that God opens and closes doors as He deems necessary. Watch what’s happening around. Too often, irony is the hand of God turning a door knob.
Know your history. How has God moved you in the past? How has He moved in others lives? How did He move people in the New Testament? How did He move people in the Old Testament? Our God does not change. The same God who moved Abram to an unknown country is the God who might be moving you into the unknown. Knowing how He works will help you recognize when He is moving in your life.
I can’t say that these three things were my own brain child. They were shared with my wife and I many years again when we were considering our first full time call to serve a ministry. We practiced each of these three points then, and God was faithful in revealing what we needed to know and where we needed to be. Since then, we have applied each point for every move we’ve made and we have been blessed.
The only other suggestion I would add is idea of total surrender. Two captains cannot steer the ship. Each one will have his own agenda and desired destination. With both at the helm, confusion reigns. The ship needs one captain and one first officer. The captain commands the ship. He sets the direction and navigates the terrain. The first officer’s place is to obey the captain, follow his lead, and stay on course even when the captain steps of the bridge. Not too long ago, I staged a mutiny. My wife and I knew we were done serving a ministry and that it was time to move on. What we didn’t know was the where. For us, the when was as soon as possible. So we made some phone calls, did the job search, and let some people know we we’re looking. But really, our minds were made up. We were going back to Philadelphia. My office was packed into boxes, and in my mind, I was already planning for a new youth ministry. We did everything we could to make this happen. But despite all our efforts, nothing was working out. We pushed and pushed and pushed. But the doors closed every single time.
After four months of trying to force the square peg into the round hole, the final door was slammed in our faces. We were not moving back to Philly. This was a crushing realization for me. Because of the nature of the work I was doing, I had to resolve to do what I was called to do. I asked for a peace about everything and the ability to surrender the situation and wait on God.
Three months later, we heard the youth pastor who was serving the church we were attending had left. We went away for a weekend as a family right after hearing about the opening. My wife and I agreed to pray about the news and w would talk about afterward. When we returned home, I made a call. Three weeks later, I had a new call. God moved me when He was ready to move me. He was just waiting for me to surrender to Him. If you are at that point, the point where you ask yourself, Is God moving me right now? Take the time to pray, seek counsel, watch for the signs, and surrender to what God is doing. He’s got it all taken care of, you just have to let him Captain the ship, then enjoy the cruise. – jay
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No one likes being sick, especially when you are actually sick. But too often we neglect our health in the name of ministry. I know I do. And now I'm paying the price. After struggling with a nagging cough, I am now confined to the house "resting" with pneumonia. Ugh!
It was March 8th. I was shopping for our spaghetti dinner fund raiser at our local big box store. As I was shopping, I could feel my body shutting down and a fever rising. By the time I reached the office to unload, I know I was sick. As soon as I could I got home and crawled into bed. I had a low grade fever, body chills and aches, the sweats, and complete exhaustion. But all of that didn't stop me from getting up and picking a few last minute items and heading to the church to fire up the stove and ovens. I felt horrible but I pushed through the dinner, meeting and greeting our diners while giving instructions to my amazing volunteers. Sunday came and I continued to push through. I went to church for two services and Sunday school plus our first mission trip planning meeting. I was zapped when it was done. So much so, I canceled our high school ministry gathering that night, spending the rest of the afternoon and evening in bed. Monday was my Sabbath, a day of rest. But Tuesday, I was at the office again. Oh, and I developed a cough.
Four weeks later, the cough is still a problem. Not only did I have to deal with a cough, but I was constantly feeling rundown. Then my wife said something. She remembered back to when she was down with pneumonia. She had all the same symptoms I was experiencing. It clicked. That evening I was at the express care facility, being diagnosed with pneumonia, in both lungs.
Too often, we find ourselves busy with commitments, functions, and activities that rarely allow us to slow down long enough to care for ourselves. We place our careers, our students, our church tasks, and our families needs ahead of our own needs. And while we might take a Sabbath, how many of us really take that day to rest? And when we are feeling under the weather, well, many of us just push on because we think we have to. So here I am, 5 weeks in and I am taking an antibiotic and have to take a week (maybe more) to rest. That means I'm not supposed go anywhere or do anything until the cough is gone. Yeah, me. Too often, we find ourselves busy with commitments, functions, and activities that rarely allow us to slow down long enough to care for ourselves.
Being housebound with pneumonia has given me plenty of time to think. And as I think about the last 5 weeks, there are a few things I've already learned.
When You're sick, Be sick
It might sound a little strange but it's okay to be sick. None of us are invincible. We too get sick. So when we start to feel a little under the weather, slow down and take the time to be sick. Take the day off. Stay in bed. Sleep. Rest. Give your body time to heal and get better.
Listen to those Around You
There are plenty of people around you who love and care for you. And there are plenty of times when they see something about ourselves before we see it. I had a number of people give me plenty of advice. Some of the advice was helpful, some of the advice was from people just being kind. But the best advice came from my wife and a few very close friends who said I should rest and seek medical help.
Go To The Doctor
Learn to Rest
Now for the hardest lesson, learning to rest. What does your sabbath look like? Do you really do things that allow you to rest? Rest your body? Rest your mind? Do you find time on your sabbath rest in the Lord? Neither do I. My sabbath is writing and reading, taking care of our chickens, ducks, and rabbits, working on projects around the house, or running errands for my wife and our family. Rarely do I take my time off to turn off. But that is going to change. It's time I learn to rest.
Take the time to take care of yourself.
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Jay Higham is a veteran youth worker of over 25 years; having worked with students in the local church and Christian camping settings. Jay is currently serving as the student ministry director at a church, located in Western PA. Jay has been married to Amy for over 21 years. Together, they are raising 5 kids, (4 boys and 1 girl). Jay is an aspiring author, blogger, speaker, vlogger, and social media junkie. He is passionate about student ministry, family ministry, and training youth workers to love and serve their students with passion and excellence.
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I wanted to share these games here with you. In the coming weeks, I will be posting pictures, instructions, and video of the games in action. I will also do my best to include links to sites or blogs where we found either the games or instructions for constructing the games. So let's get started.
Super-Sized Kerplunk
It's a kids game with sticks and marbles. One by one the sticks are removed from the cylinder holding the marbles up until all the marbles fall. Super size it and now you have a fun game to play with your students. We borrowed a homemade super-sized Kerplunk from a church member. The game included a number of thin dow rods, plastic balls and a piece of plastic netting that was secured with clips in the shape of a cylinder. The cylinder was fixed to the wood framed base that elevated the game for play.
We turned our Kerplunk into a relay race. We divided our students into teams and stationed them on opposite sides of the room with the Kerplunk in the middle. On "GO" the students would race to the Kerplunk, pulling one dow rod at a time. The goal was to not be the team that pulled the rod that caused the balls to go kerplunk! |
BUY THE CLASSIC KERPLUNK
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Super-Sized Jenga
Jenga is a popular table game where players pull small wooden blocks from a tower of blocks that are stacked in a crisscross fashion. As you pull out your chosen block, you return it to the top of the stack. The tower grows taller and taller with each round. But be careful, pull the wrong block and the tower will come crashing down.
Now super-size the Jenga game. Teams face off, each pulling one block at a time trying to build the tower as tall as possible without causing it to fall over. The winning team is the one who does not topple the tower! Like Kerplunk, we turned this into a team event. With some monitoring, it turned out to be a lot of fun to play. |
BUY THE CLASSIC JENGA GAME
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Because we want to use the super-sized jenga in the future, we decided to build our own homemade jenga game. I found a website that had detailed instructions and a complete materials list with estimated costs. That proved super helpful.
Because I used the instructions and materials list from another site, I want to make sure I give you the link so can build your own and credit to the owner of the site. I found the site through google. DIY Projects with Pete's (https://www.diypete.com). |
Jay Higham is a veteran youth worker of over 25 years; having worked with students in the local church and Christian camping settings. Jay is currently serving as the student ministry director at a church, located in Western PA. Jay has been married to Amy for over 21 years. Together, they are raising 5 kids, (4 boys and 1 girl). Jay is an aspiring author, blogger, speaker, vlogger, and social media junkie. He is passionate about student ministry, family ministry, and training youth workers to love and serve their students with passion and excellence.
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Author
Jay Higham is a veteran youth worker of over 30 years; having worked with students in the local church and Christian camping settings. Jay is currently serving as the director of family ministry at a church, located in West Virginia. Jay has been married to Amy for over 25 years. Together, they are raising 5 kids, (4 boys and 1 girl). Jay is an aspiring author, blogger, speaker, vlogger, and social media junkie. He is passionate about student ministry, family ministry, and training youth workers to love and serve their students with passion and excellence.
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