Josh's Dive into Full Time Ministry

In July of 2016 I had a dream about my family moving to Charlotte, NC. My wife was born and raised in the Charlotte area. Ever since 2012, when we got married, we have discussed the fact that North Carolina is where we were supposed to end up. However, every time we tried to move there things would never work out. So when this dream came it wasn't a new feeling. The difference was things seemed be going great in Oklahoma. For the first time in four years Addison, my wife, didn't want out of Oklahoma as fast as she could move. 

Over the next few weeks I couldn't get the thought of moving out of my head. Ultimately I came to a difficult conclusion. God was calling us to North Carolina. I don't know that I can remember a time in my life that I felt connected to a location. But my heart knew that my family was supposed to relocate to a new place. We were supposed to leave behind our relationships, our foundation.

At the time I was a stay at home dad and Addison was managing a property in Norman. Once we decided that moving was on the table we determined that we would just see if there were any jobs available in the Charlotte area. Sure enough there was one job available. So Addison started going through the process of transferring. Ultimately she wasn't able to get that job. It seemed as though the move to Charlotte wasn't meant to happen. Later, in that same day, her job contacted her and told her that two more jobs had been made available in Charlotte. Unfortunately the properties were much smaller and if we wanted to transfer we were going have to take an $11k/year paycut. 

Literally, we were being asked to put our money where our mouth was. 

After a roller coaster of emotions we had to determine was the call to Charlotte really from God or not? Because if it was then no money was going to be able to keep us from going. After some time in prayer we decided that we had to move, no matter the cost. So on July 1st we packed up our stuff and headed out across the country. 


After the emotion of moving was resolved we started looking for a church. Throughout our married life we hadn't truly found a home church. More or less we just kept bouncing around trying to find our place. We looked for a little over a month, trying multiple churches. Eventually we found The Line Church.

The church was small but it made us feel at home. 

So I filled out the connect card and ended up meeting with the pastors. From there, to me, it seemed like this story took off like a rocket. There were so many things that they needed done that I seemed to be perfectly equipped to do for them. After a few weeks I was connected and helping them work through a new design, website, and dreaming about video.

As always God had a plan bigger than what I could see. Slowly my pastor began to see in my life the call to ministry. He began to counsel me on why I couldn't stay at a job and how I couldn't be the stability for my family that I needed to be. He showed me that I was never going to stick to anything until I started doing what God had crafted me to do.

He understood on a deep level that I was only going to be fulfilled by preaching the gospel.  

So in January of 2017 I entered into an internship with the church and started serving as much as I could in every way that I could. For the first time since I was a teenager I felt myself coming alive. Something was unlocking in me. Today I'm still hammering away at serving the church trying to grow it and reach the area around us. For the first time in my life I'm called to a place. I'm here. And I'm trying to take Charlotte the Gospel. 


So what's next?

That's a wonderful question. For me to go head first into full time ministry I need help. My church isn't big enough to pay my salary, yet. But I know what God has called me to do  and I know size isn't supposed to keep me from doing it. 

Right now I'm a stay at home dad and I fit in my work for the church during nights, weekends, and any other time I can find. But I know that God's future for me is full time ministry. I know that I'm called in a capacity that my ministry will be able to support my family. So I'm asking for help. With that help one of two things is going to happen. 

1. If we can raise the full amount then my wife can can come home and be at stay at home mom, which has always been her dream. She will be able to care for, play with, and school our daughter. Not to mention the kid that's set to be here in October :)

2. However, we understand that God's plan is not always our plan. We can accept that. So if the full amount isn't raised then we will still move forward to me being in full time ministry and we will place my daughter in daycare until we can afford for my wife to come home.

Finally, my ministry isn't just being confined to the walls of The Line Church. I have a passionate vision for the internet and media and how we can take the gospel to millennials and the generations to come. I want to do this by creating compelling content on the platforms they're already using like Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat. I believe that my generation needs the gospel and as a church we are going to have to adapt where and how we preach it. I want to be a part of that adaptation. 

Thank you so much for reading my story. It means so much to me that you're on my page at all. I hope that, at the very least, my story has been a ministry to you. Pray for me my friends. And pray that the Lord's will be done in my life.