Reflections on the Journey

For those of you who don't know I just so happen to have a taste for Southern Gospel. Tonight I guess I needed something to express exactly where I am in life right now. If you haven't been around me in awhile let me tell you where I am at... I don't think I have ever felt as close to God as I feel right now at this moment in life. God is moving and working in my life and at Trinity Family like I have never seen Him work before. It is quite exciting. Wait. Let me rephrase that... IT IS AWESOME!!!!! :) Wherever you are, I hope you are seeing God at work in your life and the lives of those around you too. Anyway, as I was listening to my iPod tonight the following song came on...it's called More Than Ever by the Gaither Vocal Band. It describes where I am at to a T. I am not one for posting lyrics but here it goes...

When I started my journey in fresh childlike trust
I believed that the Lord’s way was best.
I would read in His Word how He mothered the bird
and grieved when it fell from its nest.
How I felt His delight when I chose to do right,
and I prayed I would not make Him sad.
We would meet on the way in the cool of the day,
what a pure sweet communion we had.

Oh, but now more than ever I cherish the cross.
More than ever I sit at His feet.
All the miles of my journey have proved my Lord true;
And He is so precious to me.

The road I have traveled has sometimes been steep,
through wild jagged places of life.
Sometimes I’ve stumbled and fallen so hard
that the stones
Cut my soul like a knife.
But the staff of my Shepherd would reach out for me
and lift me to cool pastures green.
With oil of the spirit anointing my wounds,
there I’d rest by the clear healing stream.

Oh, but now more than ever I cherish the cross.
More than ever I sit at His feet.
All the miles of my journey have proved my Lord true;
And He is so precious to me.

Is Love’s Old Sweet Story too good to be true?
Do you find all this hard to believe?
Has the cruel world we live in so battered your heart
that the hurt child inside you can’t grieve?
I can’t say I blame you.
I’ve been where you are.
But all I can say is
It’s true!
You’re wanted,
you’re precious,
you’re the love of His heart,
and the old rugged cross was for you.

:)

So I thought it would be cool to give everyone an update on my life by posting all of my tweets from the month of May. Pretty interesting. Happy Reading... :)

Andy McGee...
• is watching The Oprah Effect.9:08 PM May 31st from web
• heard CNN say that a suspect in a murder that happened this morning was arrested near Gardner,KS!6:34 PM May 31st from web
• is trying to put together something really tasty.5:31 PM May 31st from web
• is getting ready for another Trinity Family Kidz worship celebration!9:02 AM May 31st from web
• thought the movie was great! :-)12:18 AM May 31st from web
• getting ready then heading to see Up with some friends. :)8:51 PM May 30th from web
• just had an incredibly good bowl of cereal! :-)12:01 PM May 30th from txt
• is thinking that this class has helped him see more of an importance in the Old Testament. :)7:33 PM May 29th from TweetDeck
• is tweeting from his last night in class. He will let you know if he hears anything good. :)7:32 PM May 29th from TweetDeck
• is working, working, working and not going to sleep until the to do list is complete.12:47 PM May 29th from TweetDeck
• is getting married in 233 days!6:03 PM May 28th from TweetDeck
• is having a good day and hopes everyone else is too! :-)12:58 PM May 28th from txt
• had a very productive day and is hoping that his night is just as productive! :)3:16 PM May 27th from TweetDeck
• is attempting to get two days worth of to do lists done today.11:40 AM May 27th from TweetDeck
• is walking. :-)11:26 AM May 27th from txt
• loves Kaylynn. :)1:14 AM May 27th from TweetDeck
• is learning all about Lamentations tonight! :-)7:05 PM May 26th from txt
• is cleaning and writing papers today before going to class tonight. :-)12:11 PM May 26th from txt
• is headed to dinner then a drive-in movie with Kaylynn and his small group! Yay. :-)6:02 PM May 24th from txt
• is thinking that it is amazing how everything keeps coming together into one big beautiful picture.!:)9:33 PM May 22nd from TweetDeck
• is excited because in about an hour he gets to see his fiance. :-)8:38 PM May 22nd from txt
• is at peace. :)7:43 PM May 21st from TweetDeck
• just found out that olive trees do not have rings and so their age can not be precisely determined. Interesting. :)6:22 PM May 21st from TweetDeck
• just found out what a parapet is. Look it up. :)2:10 PM May 21st from TweetDeck
• just found out the frankincense comes from a tree. Is he the only one that didn't know that?6:06 PM May 20th from TweetDeck
• just learned that a more than a decade long McGee family secret was discovered this morning. (Brooks, our checks will be along soon. :)) :)12:55 PM May 20th from TweetDeck
• is having a busy day.12:21 PM May 20th from TweetDeck
• is walking for the third day in a row. :-)11:33 AM May 20th from txt
• finally made it to class.6:23 PM May 19th from TweetDeck
• is stuck in traffic and very frustrated.5:40 PM May 19th from txt
• is clipping coupons. :-)1:40 PM May 19th from txt
• is glad that his sister finally remembered the name of that movie they used to watch as kids. It was called The Wizard.7:56 PM May 18th from TweetDeck
• 's summer has officially ended. He is currently experiencing his first day back in class.6:06 PM May 18th from TweetDeck
• is starting this thing called an exercise program. :-)11:58 AM May 18th from txt
• is headed to bed! :)1:25 AM May 18th from TweetDeck
• is getting his shopping on. :-)1:46 PM May 16th from txt
• is spending time with his mom who is in town for a few days. :-)6:45 PM May 12th from txt
• is in K.C.3:33 PM May 12th from txt
• is eating then getting ready and heading to K.C. :-)10:27 AM May 12th from web
• is watching The View and continuing to clean his dirty apartment. :-)11:39 AM May 11th from txt
• just got $25 dollars worth of coupons out of the Sunday paper! :-)6:38 PM May 10th from txt
• has a volunteer staff of all men today. This should be interesting. :-)8:55 AM May 10th from txt
• is up and getting ready for another great Sunday. :-)4:59 AM May 10th from txt
• just found out Barq's Root Beer has caffeine in it. :-(7:41 PM May 9th from txt
• is tired of cleaning. :-(1:13 PM May 9th from txt
• is up and spending the day cleaning. :-)9:11 AM May 9th from txt
• just got done watching Star Trek, incredible movie, and is now off to bed. Goodnight Everyone. :-)1:57 AM May 9th from txt
• is about to watch Star Trek in IMAX! :-)10:42 PM May 8th from txt
• is eating Mexican. :-)9:01 PM May 7th from txt
• is watching Oprah.4:04 PM May 7th from txt
• is on his way to the weekly staff meeting.:-)1:46 PM May 6th from txt
• passed his test with an amazing grade!!!11:12 PM May 5th from txt
• has officially completed his 5th semester at Nazarene Theological Seminary!3:39 PM May 5th from txt
• is minutes away from test time...1:30 PM May 5th from TweetDeck
• is getting ready to take the big History of the American Holiness Movement test in just a few hours. I need prayer. :-)9:44 AM May 5th from txt
• has decided that his job is that of a storyteller. He tells the stories of God and helps kidz figure out what those stories mean for them:-)4:43 PM May 3rd from txt
• just got done with Preschool Small Group.3:56 PM May 3rd from txt
• is taking kidz to the Holy Land this morning via Google Earth. :-)9:22 AM May 3rd from txt
• is up and getting ready for another day. :-)5:58 AM May 3rd from txt
• is going to bed. I'll be back up soon. Goodnight y'all! :)1:47 AM May 3rd from TweetDeck
• is making farfalle for dinner, Yum. :)6:16 PM May 2nd from TweetDeck
• just saw a poll that said only 21% of Americans identify themselves as Republican.5:48 PM May 2nd from txt
• just wants to say that TweetDeck is pretty much amazing! That's all. :-)2:56 PM May 2nd from txt
• is looking for something to eat then reading and cleaning. Happy Saturday Everybody :-)1:52 PM May 2nd from txt
• just watched a good movie!11:14 PM May 1st from txt
• is about to watch, "I love you, Man."9:13 PM May 1st from txt
• is having dinner with Julie then hanging out in K.C.4:43 PM May 1st from txt
• has fallen in love with the Dish Network Earth channel. Just live pictures of the Earth from space w/music. God made it all. Incredible :-)1:23 PM May 1st from txt
• is happy it's May!1:04 PM May 1st from txt
• is hoping this update from his phone works.12:58 PM May 1st from txt

Life is going amazing right now. I can't really fully describe to you how it is amazing. It just is. School is going great. Trinity Family Kidz is going great. (But we are still working to make it the best it can be.) Kaylynn and I are getting things ready for the big day (January 16th!) and I am, officially, completely in love with that girl. :) In fact, I just got back from a trip to Nashville to see her. It was amazing to get to spend time with her and see some people I hadn't seen in a while.

What was really fun about the trip, this time, was being able to tell people about the counseling center that Kaylynn and I have been called to open. It was amazing to hear their responses. To be honest, I didn't really know how they would respond but they all seemed to be very supportive, especially after we told them about how we had both been called to open one. Some people seem to have a lot of questions after we tell them what we want to focus on (sexual issues (Kaylynn focusing on battered and abused women and children and me focusing on those dealing with sexuality issues.)) but these people didn't. They were just supportive. One person even said something like, “That seems very appropriate." I am not sure exactly what they meant but that seemed affirmative enough to me. It was just great to know that people support the idea and stand behind us. I still stand amazed that God is willing to take two poor souls like Kaylynn and myself and use us to fulfill His plan to see lives restored but I am so glad that he has asked us to join Him on this adventure.

Even though I know that we still have a while before we see everything come together, I can't wait for that day that we finally cut the ribbon on the place and begin to see lives renewed. It will be amazing to work side-by-side with Kaylynn every day, knowing that we are fulfilling one of God's plans for our lives. We have been blessed.

This is just part of why life is amazing right now! That's all. :)

So, I thought I would share a funny story from the past few days...

Thursday, I had to call the billing department of one of the surgeons at the hospital about a bill. This call started out normal. I picked up the phone, dialed the number, and the phone rang, and rang, and rang. Finally a machine answered and I typed in numbers to get to the right department to ask about my bill. When I got to the phone of that department though, I got another answering machine. Well, I was OK with that so I started to leave a message.

The message sounded a little like this...
Hi. My name is James McGee. My account number is xxxxxx and my phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx and I was wondering if insurance has gotten in contact with y'all about my bill.

and that is when it happened...

I must have been in a prayerful mode because...

the next phrase I said was something like this ....

If you could give me a call back... IN JESUS NAME I PRAY, AMEN...oh...um... If you could give me a call back I would be very thankful.

at that point,being totally embarrassed, I hung up the phone.

I then started laughing my head off.(Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself.)

I still can not believe I did that.

I guess I have officially become a pastor... In Jesus Name :)

It has happened again. God has winked. Not sure what that means? Allow me to explain...

If you hang around me long enough you will hear me talk about times when God winks at us. You know what I am talking about right? Those times when you are trying to figure out how everything is going to work out in a situation and you get kinda worried but God says, "Don't worry about it. I got this one." but you still worry then God shows up, takes care of everything, and looks down at you and says, "Told you I had that one. Stop Worrying." Those are the times that I feel like God winks. You know that kind of wink that says, "I told you I would take care of it."? Well it seems like that has been happening a lot over the past four months. I don't think I can even count how many times God has winked lately but the last time was just too good for me to not share so here it goes.

It all started before I headed to Africa in 2005. See, I have always known that God was calling me to missions but I also have felt like he was calling me to open a counseling center too. (I don't want to give all the details about it here but if you want to know more just ask.) Well, in actually unusual Andy fashion I fought this calling. I talked myself out of it multiple times. I thought to myself... "Andy, that was totally just you thinking that up." and stuff along that line. It has seemed, though, that every time I convince myself that the counseling center was not something that God wanted me to do He somehow speaks to me again about it. In fact, I remember that when I got to Africa the first time I thought for sure that going half-way around the world would get me away from that calling and firmly focused on missions. Now I know what you are thinking, "Andy, it just doesn’t work that way." Well, I know that but on this one for some reason I threw reason out the window. Well, wouldn'ta know it. Just about as soon as I stepped foot in Africa I felt Him calling me to open the counseling center. I just couldn't out run this calling. But guess what. When I got back to the U.S. I ran from that calling again and I thought I was doing a good job of running from that calling. Now I know running from a call is completely stupid but this calling, to me, seemed to be God asking me to really step outside of my comfort zone and I just didn't know if I could do that. Well, you probably know what happens next but keep reading because I promise this story gets so much better...

About five weeks ago, right before I began a one week class on Theology of Work I decided that I would burn the journal that I wrote about that calling in because I had convinced myself that calling was just not something that God was asking me to do anymore. Now I know that was a very stupid thing to think and as Donnie said, "I just don't think it works that way." Well I ended up not burning the journal and the next week I think I found out why...

The next week I began my class on Theology of Work with Dr.Tink and as the class was going on I kept hearing God call out to me during class in only that special way that He can. I kept hearing Him say, "Open the counseling center...open the counseling center." "It wasn't a joke. I am still calling you to do that." "Step outside your comfort zone." "Go." Well, this happened for a few days and I even told Kaylynn that I really felt God moving in my life but did not tell her how. That was until Wednesday night. I just couldn't stay quiet anymore. I had to tell Kaylynn what I felt like God was calling me to do. I have to open a counseling center, go to Africa, and do Children's ministry too. I feel called to them all and I firmly believe that God gives people multiple callings. I wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen when I said this but I NEVER expected what happened next...

I told Kaylynn that I felt God calling me to open a counseling center and she said, "Andy, I feel like God is calling me to do the same thing. I have felt Him calling me to do that ever since I came back from Ireland. (A year after He called me!)." I just sat there in shock as we kept talking. As we talked we just continued to see how God had been working in our lives. I realized that God was winking...

He was saying, "I was taking care of this one the whole time."

God is AWESOME y'all!

We are still not sure how all of the callings are going to work out or what they are going to look like when they are all played out but we are determined to take it one step at a time all the way to the end. I do know though that we will be opening a counseling center! Finally, much later than I should have, I have accepted my call! All of it! Counseling center, missions, children's ministry, all of it and Kaylynn has accepted her calling too! We are so ready to continue to see how God is going to work in our lives and the lives of the people we hope to help reach and we know that if we keep trusting in Him He will order our steps in the way He wants us to go.

God is winking and here we go! How amazing!

;)

I am always seeing the Trinity Family Kidz live out what we like to call around Trinity Family Church the "The Five." There is only one problem though. See, I have forgotten to take time to recognize them when they do these things. What I have seen some kidz do lately though just can not go unnoticed.So let me begin a new tradition on my blog. Let me introduce to you the first five of hopefully a long line of Trinity Family Kidz All-Stars!

1. Cole Billings

















2. Laney Strahan


3. Caeley Billings


4. Chase Forrester


5. Emory Forrester


All of these Trinity Family Kidz have helped to pass out over 200 Trinity Family Church door hangers in Gardner and Edgerton over the past four weeks to help spread the word about Trinity Family. Some of them have even stopped along the way to have conversations with people about Trinity Family Church! Way to go y'all!! Way to live out the "Top Five!"

In addition to these things, these kidz also...
Bring offering to church.
Invite people to church.
Attend a Kidz Small Group.
Worship God
Are part of the Christmas County Spelling Bee Cast
and
Will be joining all the other Trinity Family Kidz in ministering to the residents at Vintage Park next month!!
Wow what a group!! Way to go!!

If you see these kidz out and about give'em a high five for living out TFC's "The Five"

So, allow me to be honest for a bit. Over the past few weeks I have been in what you might call a struggle with God. I have sort of felt like Jacob wrestling with God overnight except my night has lasted quite a few weeks. It has seemed like one thing after another has happened to make me worry.In fact,so much has happened that I officially made it to the end of my rope and I will admit that this wrestling with God has been the toughest thing I have ever had to face in my life. (You got it. It has been that bad.)In fact when I felt like I was about to make it to the end of my rope I was talking to my mom and she told me something that helped me a lot. She said, "Well you know what to do when you make it to the end of your rope. Tie a knot and hang on." Well I took her advice and have been hanging on for quite some time now. See I knew that even though I was wrestling with God I knew he would eventually have to win the fight or I would become an atheist. Seriously. It has been a difficult few weeks. I guess even pastors struggle from time to time. See the problem was that I have continuously faced things that made me worry. Not just your normal worry but the type of worries that sort of shake the foundation of who you think you are. These are the type of worries that I have had. I realized something though.I finally figured out what I had more than a worry problem was a trust problem. Yes a trust problem. See God has promised to take care of His children. I just so happen to be one of them. See with each worry that has come along the process has sort of gone like this... I worried. God said, "Let me take this one." I said, "Ok." Things didn't happen as quickly as I would have liked them to. I started worrying again. God said, " Let me take this one." I said ok but was weary about whether He would take care of it or not. He took care of it but the process happened again. I just wasn't learning the lesson. This child of God just wasn't trusting. I was gripped by fear.I thought the problems of the last few weeks were just too big for God to handle. I even found myself getting depressed. Then came what I have come to call "the week from hell." That was last week. Everything was going wrong. Nothing was going right. I had conversations with one person after another about this or that thing. Relationships were falling apart. Things weren't going right. Things were not working out right in my life and in the life of the church. Things were horrible. Of course all of this started the vicious cycle of worry I mentioned above. It was just too much. I couldn't take it but I did make it to the end of the week.Then Sunday happened. Sunday was actually an incredible day. Not only did the kidz have fun learning but the chaos that has seemed to always be present during Community Time was gone because of some changes we made. Also, our 3rd-6th graders were more engaged in the lesson then I had ever seen them before and our preschoolers had more fun learning as well. Everything was going great. We even had two new families. Incredible! Everything at the Child Safety Table went well too. It was an all around good day and a break from the chaos of the week before. After church I went to lunch with Donnie, Erin, and Jeren and that was good too.I even came home and was looking over some survey results from last week and found some good replies. I even found four that made me feel really good. One said, "I am very excited about having my children involved with TFC Kidz program. I think Andy is doing a great job.". Another said, "This is something I have been extremely impressed about. Pastor Andy seems to have a great passion for these kids and the activities they are involved in. I have never been to a small family church that has so many great activities and goals for the children that are followed through on. Andy is also so good about reminders." The third one said, "Andy has made some great strides in our kids ministries. I think you can tell he has a heart for them." and the final one said, " I think Andy has done a great job." All these were very nice to hear. With all of the good things that happened on Sunday though, Sunday night I started worrying again because of some little something that had happened during the day. I knew I had to get out of town so I called the girls and said let's go do something. They said ok so off I went to Kansas City and we went out to eat. When we arrived back to their house we got to talking and I started debriefing to them about all that had happened. Well, them being the pastors that they are, good things came out of that conversation. See these two have a way of talking through a situation with me. As they were talking I realized that no matter where I lay my hat in this world there God will be continually leading me and guiding me in the way he wants me to go. All I have to do is follow Him. Now yes I do live in a corrupt world and from time to time things will happen that is not in God's will. Those things happen to all of us but we must trust in God to bring good out of bad like He is so good at doing.We must realize that at the end of the day God will take care of His children. All of them. Now that taking care of His children may not be exactly what we had planned on and things may not always go our way but at the end of the day God will still be looking out for us and will make a way for the callings He has put on our lives to happen for His glory. See,when we trust in God it takes something that I guess I had forgotten over the last few weeks. It's that thing called faith and as the word says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6" I believe this but the faith was not there. This Sunday I realized this and I realized I can not meet the challenges of this life without God's help and I surely won't make it to the point where I hear, "Well done good and faithful servant." unless I have faith that He is who He is and that He will do what He says He will do even in the storms of life that I have been going through.. On the way home from Melissa and Julie's I broke down in the car and cried my heart out to God and I told Him to take everything once again. Take all the worries. Take all the fears. Take all the frustrations. Take everything because I can not do this on my own. He did and life is looking up around McGeeworld these days. What a joy it is to know that God will take care of not only me but all who follow Him.

Oh and by the way, when I arrived home I looked in a book that I read every night before going to bed and the verse for the day was, "Where God's love is, there is no fear, because perfect love drives out fear. 1 John 4:18" :)
God has a way of making His point.

May we all live without the worries and fears that can so easily entangle us and may we continue to have faith in the God that we serve.