Steve's Story...
Spiritually, 2009 was a pivotal year.  Since professing faith in Jesus 31 years ago, a lot of highs and lows -- successes and failures have come and gone.  The decision to join the Sunnybrook ministry team in 2006 served as a watershed moment in my journey toward spiritual maturity.  The highs and lows have smoothed out a bit and the failures occur in less spectacular fashion than before.  It feels more like a "slow and steady wins the race" approach to life.  I don't attribute it so much to deriving my living from working in ministry as I do the decision to commit more deeply to following the call of Jesus on my life.  There's something about setting your direction based primarily on biblical priorities that puts life into sharp focus and enables you to set aside distractions that don't matter from an eternal perspective.  I don't execute on that truth perfectly, but the difference is stark.

It seems like God works on different things at different times.  Last year, 2009, focused on generosity (among other things).  I have always struggled to let go of things in generous living.  The upshot is that the things I cling to end up controlling me and closing me off from blessings I couldn't previously understand.  It reflects a lack of trust in His goodness and provision -- and that realization rips my heart because, in my head, I know I should trust God without reservation.  So...  I've had small, growing opportunities to demonstrate generosity of spirit.  They seem embarrassingly small compared to what I know of others among us, but that's not the point.  God takes me where I am and moves me where He wants me to go by the power of His Spirit.  It looks like 2010 will bring more of the same joy in growing in this area (among other things...).  May God grant us all the blessing and the fun of living with a generous spirit.

Chad Picken's Story...
One of the hardest things a man must do is wait...

When I was a senior in high school, I just knew that God wanted me to go to Bible college. I even got accepted to Ozark Christian College before the summer came. But God said, “wait”-only I was simply hearing him say, “no”. I am not certain, but I do believe that was the first time I ever literally cried to God in prayer because I felt so strongly that vocational ministry was what God wanted me to do. But God said, “wait.”

Four years later, here I am; a 23 year old freshman at Ozark Christian College. It is almost unreal to me that I am here. I look back and think about the reason that God told me to wait. At the time, waiting seemed like the worst thing ever-maybe not the worst thing, but I sure didn’t like it. But now, I can see that waiting was the best thing ever-I mean, it was God’s idea. Over the four years that I stayed in Stillwater, I grew so much, not only spiritually but simply in becoming the kind of young man that God needs me to be. Through the people he surrounded me with at school and work, he shaped my worldview into one more like his-although I’m still learning. By the relationships and circumstances he put in my life he taught how to pray-although I’m still learning. And because I had to wait, it makes me appreciate this gift that he has given me, so much more.

I believe that a lot of times when God says, “wait”, he is really saying, “I will bless you, but first, I must prepare your heart”.  

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps” –Proverbs 16:9