Influence
The sweet reason our kids call Chris "Pastor Dad" and Making the Most of January
I have been thinking about my first pastor, Pastor Brad, a lot lately. His influence, his care, and his response to personal suffering shaped my life so much. The most important thing about his influence in my life, I think, is that I didn’t realize it was so powerful at the time. Only now, when the song he sang echoes in present day words or actions, that I see how much his pastoral care impacted me as a person in ministry.
You can read a little about him here:
He was genuinely glad I was part of his church, genuinely happy to see me and any member of my family, when we came through the doors. He believed my profession of faith even though I was not bearing any fruit. He accepted, even celebrated, the slow and fumbling journey I was making in my fledgling Christian life.
Like the coach he had been before he was ordained, Pastor Brad drew out growth and spiritual maturity in those he pastored, and his hope and confidence that we would remain in Christ is probably the way he influenced me the most.
He saw spiritual maturity in my husband before my husband himself did. When Chris first volunteered with the youth group in our church, we also had a young paid youth pastor (also named Chris). One day, my husband Chris and Pastor Brad were working on something in the church office and chatting. Something made my husband say, “I always forget that [youth Pastor] Chris is younger than me!” and Pastor Brad said, “I never do.”
Years later, while still volunteering with a new youth ministry staff, we were praying about pursuing ministry as a career. Pastor Brad told us about how when our youth pastor’s family was considering a move to Canada, he wasn’t worried because he was planning to ask us to do the job. Funnily enough, this revealed to Chris and I something we didn’t know before—that was not the career in ministry we wanted. Thankfully, they stayed, and God led us to Spain. But he didn’t tell us that because he wanted us to be the youth leaders, he told us because he wanted us to know that he believed in us. It was a big vote of confidence.
His messages were not boring, but he was not the most dynamic pastor I’ve ever sat under. And who doesn’t love a dynamic pastor? I am word person—a good sermon stirs my affections for Jesus. Speaking of what stirs my affections for Jesus (Matt Chandler says that), I have a whole playlist on YouTube of “sermon jams” featuring music and quotes from sermons by John Piper, Matt Chandler, and more.
But that isn’t influence.
Influence is personal. Recently, a student in our kids’ tight-knit school community passed away tragically. There was a gathering to celebrate his life on a Wednesday night after I led our church’s prayer meeting. Our pastor, Federico, wanted to accompany us to give his condolences to the family, and I was moved by how like Pastor Brad that was. Fede is a good Bible teacher. But he is gifted in walking with people as they navigate life, in drawing out spiritual maturity and faith in God. How blessed we are to serve God with him.
Influence is visible. Before the photo of Chris below, I had led a ladies meeting where we made bread dough, and Chris came to help clean up afterwards, set up for church, and steam clean the chairs. The result of Pastor Brad’s influence (as well as Chris’s dad, other people in this photo, and those in our mind’s eye when we think about this church), is evident, here and in thousands of other ways Chris serves and speaks to people because of how he was personally influenced.
The kids hear me tell Chris when he reminds me of Pastor Brad, and it always makes them giggle and call him “Pastor Dad.” That, in turn, causes me to marvel at God’s leading and provision for Chris to even have that role.
making much of myself
a poem i wrote in 2024
We are broke, and I begin to think that poetry will save me. Instead of reading poetry, I download a book about how to write poetry. One of the chapters is titled Verse That is Free Nothing is free We know that too well these days Mary Oliver confirms In the poetry handbook: Unconstrained by formal metrical rules But not free from design Spontaneous and impulsive, Yet still composed, considered. But what is the design No one can say but the Author.
making much of others
:: I just finished Elisabeth Elliot: a life by Lucy Austin. The timing of this biography is weird, published so close to the publication of Ellen Vaughn’s two-part authorized biography, which I also read and enjoyed, particularly Becoming Elisabeth Elliot. Vaughn had more access to EE’s private journals, but Austin’s biography is a triumph and reads more like the biography of a political or public figure and less like a missionary profile. By weaving historical details and cultural phenomena into the story, Austin provides a bigger picture look at a relatively small life. I was particularly struck by the drastic the difference between the way Elliot wrote privately and the way she presented publicly, and how that affected her life and relationships.
:: Returning to the Bible in a Year from Bible Project this year has its pros and cons. I enjoyed reading Old, New, Prophets and Psalms every day last year, though sometimes it felt disjointed and I phoned in a few chapters. Interested but feel like it’s too late to start in Genesis? Check out any of these reading plans to incorporate their videos into Bible study.
making a difference
By shopping fair trade as much as possible.
Left to right, top:
February’s Hope Mail sponsors a day in school for a girl in Haiti.
Trades of Hope and Elegantees is a perfect match!
Every purchase makes a difference. You can even shop by cause or country!
Left to right, bottom:
The new Grit & Grace capsule collection features coordinating designs made in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic (where ToH is sponsoring a new home for trafficking survivors to THRIVE), India and more.
Pieces such as the Ardent Necklace come in gold or silver!
Check out the Valentine’s Day gift guide! Susanna and I both have the bow earrings and I wear them so often I’m considering getting a second piercing so I can wear them every day and still change my look.
making memories
:: Listen, in January we all got the flu. Chris was sick enough that we canceled some work meetings. I spent my aunt’s visit in bed with a fever while she played games and hung out with Chris and the kids and did not see one thing in Madrid. Then Susanna got it, causing her to miss a whole week of school and youth group camp. Then Austin got it and missed a whole week of school himself. These are the memories we’re making, and sometimes it just be dat way.
making pan de leche
:: Pan de Leche is white flour, milk, butter, sugar (a lot or a little—we prefer just enough to activate the yeast),salt and yeast. It’s not a healthy bread, but it is delicious. I made basmati rice and coconut chicken for my friends whose son passed away, but I was most satisfied to share a freshly made batch of my friend’s pan de leche with them. It is comfort on parchment paper. My friend, who is also my co-leader in women’s ministry, taught us to make it at a recent ladies event, and the dough that Susanna mixed turned out perfectly.
Until next time!