I’m almost a year into a journey that has included time away from being on a church staff. 
It has been strange to experience (in some ways) a “normal” church member experience. The disorientation of this journey has been a desert of sorts. It has removed me from most of the normal ministry circles, the “Christian Subculture” that can slowly envelope you in a 15 year span of ministry.
This is not a “I’ve left the church and I am glad I did post”. I love what I do with NNYM and have an even bigger heart to serve churches and help them work together to further the Gospel. In my new role, as I work a 9-5 job while I raise support, I feel that I have been pulled to the desert to learn some things, like Paul mentions in Galatians 1. I only wish I was as receptive as Paul was (or maybe he wasn’t and God kept him there longer so he would learn). There are days I thank God for the experience of being “in the real world again” outside of church politics and subculture. Other days, I beg and plead God for the means to do what I see as the eventual calling full time. Still other days, I question if I’ve even heard God correctly, or maybe I have. Even in the desert, there is an occasional rain shower in-between the dust storms.
I know I have much to learn. Pray that during this time I learn it well to serve others better, because we are Better Together.
