A Change of Vocation

I’m not one to make important decisions hastily. I take my time and I think through the ripple that will form due to the decisions I make. Over the course of my life, I was consistently told, “think before you speak.” In the same way, I take very seriously the choices that I make and consider the way that it will affect myself, my family, my friends and those who are just in my sphere of influence.

As of January 31, 2018, my employment with Citipoint Church ended and I stepped into a new season of life. After a solid 7 years of serving as the Youth Pastor, 5 of those years on paid staff, I felt as though my assignment had come to an end and God was calling me to take a step of faith elsewhere. My journey has been a fun one, full of ups and downs as I grew in my leadership, speaking abilities, knowledge of the Bible and understanding of people. As I mentioned earlier, this decision wasn’t made flippantly, as I knew I was closely tied into the lives of many individuals and families.

Back in August of 2016, I really began feeling like my time in vocational ministry was going to be making a shift. Not knowing what that looked like or what that feeling meant, I continued to plug along in the place that I was at, learning and developing my skills as I patiently yet eagerly awaited God’s direction. It was late March to early April of 2017 that I was confidently able to tell Indya, “I believe that my assignment is over.”

Amidst the transition of a new Lead Pastor stepping into his role at Citipoint Church, I decided to hold my course and aim to be as useful as I could be to our new leader. As he was learning about the culture of the church and developing his plans for the future, we were having conversations about what my future and next steps looked like, whether on staff or not. His willingness to allow me to be completely honest and transparent about my understandings and thoughts for the next season were so refreshing and encouraging to me.

December of 2017, Indya, our daughter and I took a trip to Mexico with some close friends to relax and play on the beach. In doing so, I began reading a book. As I was sitting on the beach in the cabana and reading, I got 27 pages in, closed the book, looked at Indya and said, “I think I’m done and our assignment is over.” Although we had many conversations about this decision, that was the definitive point in our story. I had peace, I knew that God was challenging me to take a seemingly illogical step and completely trust Him to provide. To step away from a paycheck and health insurance with a baby due in the next few months to start my own business doesn’t make sense, but we have full faith that God is taking care of us and leading us to a new adventure.

So what is the new adventure?

More can be read on our website, but in 2013, Indya and I started a business called Washington Concept. Over the course of almost 5 years, our vision and our overall goal has shifted dramatically and we are going to be focusing on marketing in 3 key areas — graphic design, website design and videography. I’m looking forward to challenging my creativity, learning what it means to be a self-employed business owner and completely trust God to provide for what I need.

Our plan is to stay at Citipoint Church. We love the family we’ve come to know and trust, the community that has been created and the friendships that have taken place over the last 8 years that we’ve been apart of the church and the team.
Both Indya and I still have a passion for helping students work their way toward Jesus and learn about the opportunities that He has given them. We still have a desire to work with people and spend time developing relationships and community with those around us. We are still passionate about being in ministry, but we are just taking a step out of full-time vocational ministry into full-time non-vocational ministry role within our day-to-day lives.
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As we take this step, it’s exciting to watch as God challenges me to grow personally and professionally. We don’t always know why God does the things He does or why He asks us to do the things He does, but I can say that it’s very exciting to be in a place in life where I have nothing to do but trust that He will take care of me and my family.