- May 26, 2017
- 3
- 4
- 50
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Calvary Chapel
- Marital Status
- Married
Ps. 133:1!
My name is Steve. I'm a married homeschooling dad of 3 children from New Jersey. I'm 43.
I first heard the Gospel when I was a young boy; mom and dad are founding members of their church (dad is still treasurer and an elder). Long story short, I didn't receive what I was told - I just wanted to believe it to please mom and dad and church people who loved me.
Fast-forward - in my early 20s, I started dating a woman I had originally met when I was about 10. We dated for a number of years. She was raised semi-casually Catholic, in the sense that she was 'baptized' there, 'confirmed' there, went to Saturday lessons, etc. Her home life was not typified by prayerful parenting or any sort of spiritual guidance; when I talked to her as an adult about me getting back into church and having a "personal relationship" with Jesus, she had no idea what I meant. Briefly, I committed my life to the Lord and was used to lead her to saving faith a short time later. We were married in 2000.
I've been a musician for over 25 years. I started playing in church as soon as she and I started attending together. I've served as senior worship leader, a co-leader, a band member and as a Sunday School teacher. I was later hired as a youth pastor by a Baptist church.
Lots and lots of stories in between, but last year, I began to battle with severe depression and anxiety. I stopped attending church and quit playing music almost altogether.
Sadly, the congregation I had spent the last seven years with, serving and attending faithfully, had basically allowed me to fall through the cracks - no one reached out, no one tried to contact me. My wife and children were still attending, but it was as though I had ceased to exist except for the occasional "how's Steve"? politeness.
Skipping ahead, I have experienced a revival in my personal life with Jesus - and I have experienced two of the most difficult challenges I've ever faced.
My wife was diagnosed with an infection in and around an artery. She spent three days in the hospital and is still under the watch of specialists. Her issue was (still could be) potentially life-threatening.
Then, the day before she was due to be released from the hospital, I was out running errands with two of my daughters. Our van broke down and then caught fire and burned to the ground. We got out a minute or two before it went up in flames. Praise God, we were unhurt.
Now we're faced with the loss of nearly a week's worth of my wife's wages and the total loss of our van - my wife, thank God, has a small car that she can use for work. It has 200K miles on it, problems of its own, and tires that show the metal belts through the wear.
On top of all of that, my music ministry has had to basically stop. I had been in the process of recording an album, and financing it had been difficult enough. I was trying to raise money to offset the costs of recording and duplicating CDs and hosting a site for digital downloads.
I had been saving money to buy a guitar (I sold all my instruments and gear over the last year to pay bills and buy food). I lost that ability when we lost my wife's income and then our vehicle.
Ultimately, I am facing all these things with the promises of God's Word and the surety of my security in Jesus. I am hungry for fellowship - our family has started visiting a different church where other friends of ours attend; I am enthusiastically hoping that it will feel like home soon, as the Lord leads.
In the meantime, I'd like to meet more brothers and sisters, both here on the forum and in person in my area. I'd like to network with churches, coffeehouses and other ministries that would be interested in hosting FREE worship-music events.
Lastly, I covet your prayer. Please ask the Spirit to guide and comfort as the Lord directs our path.
Maranatha!
Steve
My name is Steve. I'm a married homeschooling dad of 3 children from New Jersey. I'm 43.
I first heard the Gospel when I was a young boy; mom and dad are founding members of their church (dad is still treasurer and an elder). Long story short, I didn't receive what I was told - I just wanted to believe it to please mom and dad and church people who loved me.
Fast-forward - in my early 20s, I started dating a woman I had originally met when I was about 10. We dated for a number of years. She was raised semi-casually Catholic, in the sense that she was 'baptized' there, 'confirmed' there, went to Saturday lessons, etc. Her home life was not typified by prayerful parenting or any sort of spiritual guidance; when I talked to her as an adult about me getting back into church and having a "personal relationship" with Jesus, she had no idea what I meant. Briefly, I committed my life to the Lord and was used to lead her to saving faith a short time later. We were married in 2000.
I've been a musician for over 25 years. I started playing in church as soon as she and I started attending together. I've served as senior worship leader, a co-leader, a band member and as a Sunday School teacher. I was later hired as a youth pastor by a Baptist church.
Lots and lots of stories in between, but last year, I began to battle with severe depression and anxiety. I stopped attending church and quit playing music almost altogether.
Sadly, the congregation I had spent the last seven years with, serving and attending faithfully, had basically allowed me to fall through the cracks - no one reached out, no one tried to contact me. My wife and children were still attending, but it was as though I had ceased to exist except for the occasional "how's Steve"? politeness.
Skipping ahead, I have experienced a revival in my personal life with Jesus - and I have experienced two of the most difficult challenges I've ever faced.
My wife was diagnosed with an infection in and around an artery. She spent three days in the hospital and is still under the watch of specialists. Her issue was (still could be) potentially life-threatening.
Then, the day before she was due to be released from the hospital, I was out running errands with two of my daughters. Our van broke down and then caught fire and burned to the ground. We got out a minute or two before it went up in flames. Praise God, we were unhurt.
Now we're faced with the loss of nearly a week's worth of my wife's wages and the total loss of our van - my wife, thank God, has a small car that she can use for work. It has 200K miles on it, problems of its own, and tires that show the metal belts through the wear.
On top of all of that, my music ministry has had to basically stop. I had been in the process of recording an album, and financing it had been difficult enough. I was trying to raise money to offset the costs of recording and duplicating CDs and hosting a site for digital downloads.
I had been saving money to buy a guitar (I sold all my instruments and gear over the last year to pay bills and buy food). I lost that ability when we lost my wife's income and then our vehicle.
Ultimately, I am facing all these things with the promises of God's Word and the surety of my security in Jesus. I am hungry for fellowship - our family has started visiting a different church where other friends of ours attend; I am enthusiastically hoping that it will feel like home soon, as the Lord leads.
In the meantime, I'd like to meet more brothers and sisters, both here on the forum and in person in my area. I'd like to network with churches, coffeehouses and other ministries that would be interested in hosting FREE worship-music events.
Lastly, I covet your prayer. Please ask the Spirit to guide and comfort as the Lord directs our path.
Maranatha!
Steve
