Things I Never Asked For

I never asked to work with youth as a volunteer.

• Even though I had no rapport with the youth, the youth pastor of our church in Austin asked me to help develop a youth retreat based C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, which soon led to weekly involvement with the youth.
  

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have seen how teachers can use creativity to challenge young minds.

I never asked to teach Sunday School for adults.

• I rejected requests to teach Sunday School year after year, but then our church in Seattle needed an occasional fill-in, which eventually led to me being the only teacher left.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have developed a love for bringing God's Word into the lives of others.
  

I never asked to be changed from developing software in OS/2 to developing software in Windows.

• I loved OS/2 and hated Windows, but upper management didn't love OS/2 and canceled our project. My choices were to leave and pay back over $10,000 of moving expenses, or work in a Windows environment.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have ended up in management, which then led to other things I didn't ask for.

I never asked to be a manager in the software industry.

• I professed repeatedly that I would never go into management. One day, one of the vice presidents of the company said, "You're a manager, starting tomorrow."

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have begun the process of learning leadership skills which would later be crucial in church ministry.

I never asked to have a separated shoulder.

• Night skiing sounded like so much fun.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I may never have gotten serious about serving Him as He revealed His will to me during recuperation.
  

I never asked to give up career pursuits in order to go to seminary.

• Every told us we were crazy to give up software to go into seminary - it was pretty "foolish" to give up something that came naturally and that I was good at in order to pursue something that is way outside of the area of my strengths.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have known what He's been preparing me for all along.

I never asked to be a pastor.

• Our plans going into seminary included all kinds of scenarios, none of which included pastoring. Before I knew it, I was asked to join the staff of a church in a wild experiment, even though I had already rejected the idea.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I never would have seen God at work in lives like I have as a pastor.

I never asked to live in a small town.

• And I especially never asked to be placed 100 miles from the nearest Starbucks! (A problem now remedied.)
  

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I would not have had to face how theology meets everyday life in so many ways.

I never asked to be childless.

• In fact, I was coldly critical of those who chose childlessness.

• If God had not given me what I didn't ask for, I would have missed out on transformative lessons on compassion, purpose, and the extent of God's sovereign goodness.

Matthew 6:6-13

But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

So pray this way:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,

may your kingdom come,

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.