I remember a distinct sermon from Tim Bourne, pastor at Genesis Metro. He spoke this the weekend after the men’s retreat. He said that God spits out luke warm milk. He wants hot milk, but would even rather have cold milk than luke warm. I talked to my wife that weekend and we both knew that we were both just luke warm. Not in our marriage. Our marriage is awesome and having a baby girl is a total blessing. But, outside of that everything was just luke warm. There simply was no passion in what we were doing. When we spoke about the Church and prayed about it, a sense of passion began to stir in each of us. Once we committed to going, without knowing how all the things were going to work out, the passion was starting to burn.
So, how were we going to get to Hutto? One critical area that had to be figured out was my job situation. I had posted my resume to a few companies and then my boss got promoted. I knew that with her promotion that there would be several other changes in the functions that were going to report into her. I knew that I was looking for a way down to Hutto (Austin area) and felt that I owed it to her to let her know what I was doing. I didn’t want her to make a bunch of job changes assuming that I would be part of the team when I realized that I would be quitting in a few months. I really didn’t want to tell her because I didn’t know when I would leave. I mean, would you go tell your boss that you’re going to quit, but just don’t exactly know when? Seems kind-of stupid doesn’t it? But, I knew it was the right thing to do. So, I set up a meeting with Darla. I told her the story of the Church and that we were going to be leaving. I told her that before I left TI (Texas Instruments) that I wanted to close every possible door because it is such a great company. I knew two things. 1) I was going to be moving and 2) it was going to be pretty soon. The rest…well, the rest was just somehow going to work out.
Darla’s response was amazing. She told me that they wanted to keep me. That I could keep doing my same job remote. I would need to travel back to Dallas (3 hour drive) one day every other week, but the rest of the time I could work from an office at home. Now, it helps to know that my job is very conducive to working remote and I do it a couple of days a week right now…but to agree to let me do it full-time was far beyond anything that I could have expected. So, one of the monster items that had to be worked out was now worked out! I would not have to change jobs to help start this Church. And, working from home would give me even additional flexibility to have a greater impact for the Church. This is crazy! And, you know what. Not only did TI retain an employee by allowing me to work remote, they will also get an employee who is going to work harder for them. I mean, how can I not? What they are doing for me is amazing and I hope that the results that I can deliver for them are equally as amazing.
Who knows if this will really work out? Maybe I’ll get down there and six months later I’ll be leaving for another company. Maybe TI will want me to go? But, this company is giving me a great opportunity to follow my heart and God’s leading to start a Church, while continuing in my current job. How cool is that!