Jake’s Story

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9

Most of my adult life has been spent learning the importance of faithfulness and striving to remain obedient to the asks of the Lord. Galatians 6:9 has become a personal mantra recited over and over in my life and, in many ways, is still something I’m called to regularly. 

I was raised in Illinois by God-fearing parents who taught me the importance of obedience to God, to make God the center of my life, and how to work hard with integrity. As the middle child in a family with five kids, I had plenty of opportunities to observe and learn from my siblings. My parents’ emphasis on character and hard work combined with middle child syndrome laid a faith foundation grounded on my part in my faith. Fortunately, God saved me when I was a young boy. As the years passed, my faith and knowledge of the Bible and about God grew. I’m thankful to have had a great upbringing and childhood that pointed me to God from early on. It’s wild to think that I can’t really ever remember not knowing who God was and being very aware of Him even as a child. 

By the time I reached high school, I felt called to live out my faith and obey the Lord’s commands to love Him and the people He made. Active participation in student ministry, mission trips, a Christian school education, Godly parents, a student pastor’s mentorship, and a variety of other blessings shaped my beliefs and the way I made decisions. By the time I was a sophomore, I was convinced vocational ministry was the only calling for me. So, I signed up for Bible College and left after graduating high school to learn more about this God and this Bible that had consumed most of my adolescent attention. 

Bible college wrecked me in so many ways. Mostly, God wrecked me and used Bible college to do so. Until college, I hadn’t really understood my own conformity to a false gospel centered around what I could do for God. I mean, I knew how to verbally explain that God alone was responsible for my salvation, but my heart didn’t get it. By the time I graduated college, I had been blessed with a new wife (Meredith – she’s the best!) and a new baby (Finley) on the way, and no job or opportunity to step into vocational ministry. 

I spent the next ten years of my life working in the public sphere, having three more kids (4 total – Finley, Audrey, Bailey, Grady), and wondering if God would ever make good on the call I thought He had for me to be in vocational ministry. Turns out, He had some work to do in my heart and life to shape me into who He wanted me to be. It makes sense right? We are God’s workmanship after all, so of course, He’s going to work on us. I needed to learn that a calling to ministry is first a call to ministry before it’s a call to a vocation. I needed to learn so many things about myself, business, organizational health, working hard, community, family, the gospel, loving people who don’t know God (yet), and those that do, and mostly who God is and what He’s like. (And I’m still learning most of this!) So as you can imagine, I was equal parts ecstatic and terrified when God asked me to step onto Mercy Church’s staff team!

Here’s to not becoming weary!