Volume 4 is definitely the hardest to write. One of the toughest parts of leaving Chicago was leaving the one who was shepherding my soul. It all seemed so fun at the time, that I never realized fully what I had until I was 3,000 miles away.
Is it possible to describe what it was like working with Pastor Kevin?
To have meetings while someone was throwing a ball at the wall next to your head. To be constantly on the verge of something incredible.
To have someone there to tell you when it's time to rebuke, when it's time protect, when it's time to press through, and when it's time to let go.
To have someone willing to climb into the car you just crashed and get it unstuck from the other car.
To have someone to call when you just got back from a missions trip, you're sick as a dog, and your apartment just got robbed.
To learn something about computers (or boats), get an SAT word of the day, get a nugget of spiritual wisdom, a little bit of Strongbad, and half of one more sentence and he's out the door...
One of the incredible priveleges I had was spending time with Pastor Kevin and Gillian at their house from time to time (especially when they were mentoring us toward marriage).
There, I got to see a household that is somehow run like a tight ship and cruise ship all at the same time... Spontenaity and routine imperfectly intertwined to create a perfect balance.
As each year of marriage passes, I am all the more grateful that they were willling to trade their pain in for our joy - to go through all the unnecessarily difficult parts of marriage so we didn't have to. (I mean, really, the necessarily difficult parts are enough, aren't they!)
They trained us well, and with each storm we weather, we are so grateful to have such a solid foundation!
We also got to catch so many glimpses of them raising their kids- I loved the brilliant way they taught them how to repent, how to love one another, how to show respect, how to receive love, how to love God - and that they were daring enough to let people see when they made mistakes.
The truth is, it's not really possible to explain what it was like being shepherded by Pastor Kevin & Gillian - At least not on a blog post. You know what will fit on the post, though? Everything Pastor Kevin has done to annoy me...
Regardless of the quality of someone's character, if you work with them full time, it's pretty much a guarantee that you will get annoyed with them at some point. Perhaps every few weeks? Every few months?
Well, over the course of working with Pastor Kevin for 3 years, I got annoyed with him 2 1/2 times. For those of you who aren't too good with statistics, that is less than once per year.
The first time I got annoyed with him was about (drumroll, please......) the size of the file folders in our file cabinet. He wanted legal sized and I wanted letter sized.
The truly ironic part?
Now, I work at an office that does all filing electronically.
The second time I got annoyed with him, I honestly don't remember. (Must've been extremely important.)
The "half" time I was annoyed with him was when the Servant Year staff was meeting for, in my view, an important prayer meeting. It was when our staff was at its largest, and we were all there - except him.
He had accidently double-booked the meeting at the same time as his daughter's ballet concert.
I was irritated for a few minutes, as his "employee", and then I saw it from my pastor's kid perspective (growing up as the child of a pastor adds a truly unique perspective to life). I saw that, sure, he double-booked (most of us have done it at some point), but when it came down to priorities, he picked his daughter.
And that is so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes. That is a choice that will stay in my heart's memory.
That is what a humanly flawed, God-focused man does.
That reflects the heart of God.
Holly, I'm on the edge of tears. You are FAR too kind in your sketch. This will be printed and left in my encouragement file for the rest of my life.
ReplyDeleteHolly, I too am on the verge of tears. Thank you for choosing to remember the good times you had with Kevin and me. (Surely there must have been more annoyances!) ;) It does my heart good to know that we have been a help to you and Jelani in your marriage. It also does my heart good to hear that you really loved working with Kevin! :) I often get to hear the criticism of him, but not what an awesome guy he is! :) I too will treasure this for life. Thank you for taking the time to write it.
ReplyDeleteGillian
Holly - what great words.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I missed out on really getting to know Kevin. God moved me on before I really developed new relationships back at New Life. I like the way you spoke of his priorities. That speaks volumes about his character. And it challenges me as I seek to shepherd well.
See, here I was thinking mostly about how well written this was. Maybe my priorities are askew? =)
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of an encouragement file, though. I don't think I have one of those. I need to start an encouragement file.
And by the way, let me also say that I think Kevin is great, and though I never got the opportunity to experience the tennis-ball-to-the-head thing, I'm pretty sure I've unconsciously taken on some of his isms.
(Perhaps using an SAT word of the day?)
Holly says that's not an ism.
Okay, fine... maybe I haven't.
But I'm still his friend, so, uh... that makes me cool. =)
I can testify to this. Although for most of my working months I was pregnant and as the two following I am not my best in that state. So I find myself wanting to apologize to all those close to me during those years. It was also during these months that Kevin realized how similar I and his wife were. I loved hearing that - I adore Gillian. I miss them terribly!
ReplyDelete