{"id":681,"date":"2007-05-29T23:44:02","date_gmt":"2007-05-29T23:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/05\/changes.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T18:41:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T18:41:25","slug":"changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/05\/changes.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The eagle eyed among you may have noticed a slight change in the little paragraph about me in the upper left. The word ‘Deacon’ is now conspicuously absent.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, my wife and I stepped down from the leadership of our family group and I stepped down from my role as Deacon in the church. The primary reason was that we felt that we needed to make our family our primary, and nearly exclusive, ministry right now. Maria noticed it first, it was her maternal instincts that became more and more alarmed at how isolated the 5 of us were becoming. Maria and I had our activities, the girls theirs, and we were operating too much as individuals rather than a family unit. We talked about it and agreed, we had no business leading a ‘family group’ if we didn’t feel good about where our family was. Moreover, at 8, 10 and 12, our girls need our complete attention to get through the challenging years ahead. We need not be distracted by obligations to the church, no matter how honorable or even needed. Of course, if I feel can’t serve as a family group leader, a man made position, how could I stay on as Deacon?<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with Codepoke<\/a> and he said something that stuck with me. It was his conviction that no man should serve as an elder until his kids were grown and on a good path. The demands of eldership and father hood were each too great. Either the church, or worse, his family or both would suffer as a result. While I was not an elder, I still had responsibilities to my church that drew me away form my family. While certainly not the root of the things brewing in our family, this division of responsibility wasn’t helping. I still had things I wanted to accomplish in both roles, but as we talked things through, Codepoke’s words echoed in my head and really made it clear what needed to be done. Thanks, Kevin.<\/p>\n

So, now the real work begins. We’ve made some good decisions and changes already.<\/p>\n