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Back in the fall we were trying to figure out a way for us to move to the South with a job.  I was working for a non-profit at the time, so one of the possibilities was to start a branch office in GA.  This is a fairly common practice for the type of business that we were involved in.  As my job came to a close it only deepened our desire to return to the South, but there was no job.  I sent a resume out to 20+ different businesses for jobs that I had little to no experience in.  At the same time we started up Grace Giving International with a handful of friends and was then offered a job as the Executive Director.  I loved the ministry and loved the people, so I took the job with the understanding that we would be moving to GA.  It was agreed upon and we moved.

At the same time, the economy was tanking.  Of course it had been tanking for awhile, but the effects were beginning to hit potential donors.  While our Board and specifically our President worked hard at pursuing donors, well, resources simply were drying up.  I volunteered for a pay reduction so that we could stay on task and not sink the organization.  That meant Jennifer and/or I needed to look for a job.  At the same time I was volunteering a small amount of time to New City Church downtown.  They hired me on a part time basis as the Executive Director of New City.

Shortly after I was hired, a position opened up to work with Macon’s City Watch program.  So I joined the City Watch Program to help the Coordinator out with business management and forward thinking.

That’s 1, 2, 3…jobs.  It’s pretty amazing how they intersect.

Grace Giving International – primary purpose is to help at-risk kids in hiv & poverty stricken areas to feed, educate and provide the tools necessary to be successful in life and reinvest into their areas.

New City Church downtown – primary purpose is to share the Gospel in our city because the Gospel is transforming and as people are transformed our city will be transformed and made new.

City Watch Macon – primary purpose is to unite businesses and residents in beautifying and protecting our city – think urban renewal.

At the center of all three of these jobs is the desire and purpose to redeem and renew. We know that when sin entered the world it corrupted man, plant, space and time.  When Jesus came into the world He came to make all things new.  It’s exciting to see the effects of sin be washed into newness.  Jesus showed us on the cross that it is incredibly hard work.  He paid the greatest price and then called us all into His mission – to redeem and transform.  It would be hard, but it would be worth it.

While I am still trying to get my arms wrapped around working and leading in three different organizations.  I have counted it as a privilege and an honor.

The word ‘blessed’ has many meanings both positive and negative.  For example, if I say ‘That blessed Board of Directors is a pain in my neck’ – it is used in a negative context and accentuates my dislike for said Board of Directors.  However, if I say, “I am blessed by my Board of Directors” it changes the meaning significantly.  Not only does it sound differently coming off the tongue, but adds an element of thankfulness.

I am blessed by my Board of Directors. Quite honestly, I continually ask God if He knows what He is doing putting my in the position of Executive Director of anything.  Some days I have a hard time being the Exe. Director of my household let alone an organization that is being used by God to change the lives of children in Africa.  One of the great joys I have in this journey is working with an incredible bunch of people that I am surrounded by.  It’s really humbling because they are smarter than I am, more creative than I am, and have more experience doing what it is that I am supposed to be doing.  I seriously look at the Directors and think “God, shouldn’t he be doing this or she be doing this?”   So far God has said “No, I want you doing it” and so here I am.  It is one of the greatest privileges of my life and is most definitely a labor of love.

Applied specifically and loosely to my situation I am reminded of Hebrews 12:1-2:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Raising money to help children that are not begging for their next meal on our doorstep but face a hopeless future thousands of miles away is a daunting task and one I could not embark on alone.  I am extremely thankful to be a small cog in the wheel that turns for the opportunity to be Jesus to children.

The next time someone asks you or if you are kicking around the same question, I want you to remember this video.  If you want to do something about what you are going to see, contact me at patrick@gracegivinginternational.org or stop by our site www.gracegivinginternational.org.

I was so humbled to hear the urgency in his voice. This is a man who is still adopting little girls from 3rd world countries because he wants to give them hope so bad. Most people I know over 50 start dreaming about retirement and settling to ‘just be grandparents’. But here was a man who hears that there is 143 million children who have nothing and wanted to lay it all down for the sake of the Gospel in the lives of children. I was so choked up watching such raw passion from such a godly man that I needed to do something for me to process it. I put together a video called ‘The American Dream’. This is for you Dale.