Heart and Skills

About a month or so ago we announced, at a Wednesday night rehearsal, that we hired a part-time technical director to assist me.  Our lighting programmer/ operator, Frank, looked at me, smiled, and thru a few tears of joy told me how he and his wife had been praying for over a year that the right person would step up at the right time.  He was genuinely joyful that God provided for our ministry and our team.  Frank had not only been a capable and dependable lighting tech, but he genuinely cared for me, my work load, our team, and our ministry as a whole.

This past weekend, my friend Frank approached me after service and (with shakey voice and a few tears) proceeded to tell me that he was recently assigned to the night shift and will be working primarily weekends.  And that he  couldn’t make rehearsals or weekend services for an indefinite amount of time.  He appeared heartbroken.  Not just that he couldn’t serve at something he loved being a part of, but he just couldn’t find a way to avoid breaking the news to me.  He was torn.  It was sad.

Now I’m sure God will provide another servant to learn to program lights and become a part of our team.  And ministry will continue. We can teach skills.  But Franks humble spirit and heart for serving, in whatever capacity needed, was a precious and valuable gift.  Serving with Frank is a joy and I’m sure at some point God will choose to re-arrange his work schedule and he’ll back in full-swing, doing what he loves to do for the Kingdom.