2018 – The End of My Ministry?

Often as the year comes to end, I will share some stats about the website. This year, I am making it more personal. As I look back at 2018, I saw God open doors that I never anticipated and at one point, I felt my ministry, as I knew it, was coming to an end.

As 2017 ended and 2018 began, I knew that my time was coming to an end where I was serving as a volunteer. In the spring I made it known that I would not be returning to serve in Awana for the 2018-19 year. Soon after, I let it be known that I would step down from my other roles at the end of the ministry year (the end of August – move up Sunday). At that time, I did not know what the fall would hold and I was looking at the first Awana year in over two decades where I would not be involved in a club in any capacity. I thought that this might be the end of my serving in an Awana club and in children’s ministry as I knew it.

In July, I was contacted by a local small church whose children’s ministry director had stepped down. In a few short weeks, I was unanimously voted in to the position which I began August 1st. My first task, get things in place to begin Awana in the fall. Our first club night was Sept. 5th!

2018 was a difficult year for me with stress from my full-time job, financially, ending a ministry with no new one in place, and in several other ways. God opened doors in many ways that I never imagined. Things like being recommended to be interviewed for the book “All About Family Ministry: The Expert Interviews” and being invited to be a coach at CPC19 (Children’s Pastor’s Conference). I could echo the words written by the Apostle John in John 21:25,

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.

I do not know what 2019 will hold, but I do know that God will be with me as He was in 2018.

Finally, I would be amiss if I did not thank everyone who prayed for and financially supported commanderbill.net throughout this past year. Thank you! I look forward to a great 2019!