My New Home

It has been almost a year since I sat at the keyboard at Fellowship Baptist Church in Marble Falls, TX.  Last year at about this time, I informed the congregation that I would be taking an interim Music Ministry job at First Baptist Church Eastland. Fellowship, the church who had been my family for over eight years, would now be in my past.  I was excited about the future, but I had no idea how FBC Eastland would compare with FBC Marble Falls.

Walking into a brand new career was exciting.  I knew Eastland was where God had led my family. But there are always anxieties with change.  Though I had been involved in music ministry in one way or another for a long time, I had never been a Music Minster before.  New job, new town, new church, new people.  

I don’t mind new.  While change is not always easy for me, it also feels like a fresh start, which I like.  I wasn’t afraid, a bit apprehensive, but not particularly nervous.  

I do remember thinking, “It’ll be nice when I’ve made it past the awkward period.”  You know what I mean, those two or three weeks of being the new guy, not really knowing anyone, not in the loop of inside jokes or office banter, and not quite sure where your responsibilities stop and another’s begins. The awkward stage.  Kind of like middle school for employees.  Who will sit with me at lunch?  Who do I ask if I don’t know how to do something?

Unbelievable that I have now been here almost a year. I made it through the preliminaries, the pleasantries, the hundreds of questions I had, the trying to remember a thousand names and faces, and the settling in to the ebb and flow of church staff life.  Of course, I still have questions, I still see people and think, “Do I know her? What is his name again?”  And sometimes I am reminded that I am the newbie on staff (though only by a few months after the pastor!).  I am still learning – always learning, I think – and growing and listening and absorbing and tweaking, and I imagine I will be for as long as I’m here.

I still look around occasionally and think, “I can’t believe this is my job.”  I really didn’t think it was possible.  We’re not talking Look at me, I made it on Broadway, or Whoa, I’m in the Women’s NBA. But this right here, where I am, what I’m doing, this is my dream.  Music ministry is my dream; it’s where I’ve always belonged, and now I call it my career. Amazing. 

I am a woman in ministry, which for some can be a hang-up, something even today you don’t see very often in Baptist churches (aside from a children’s minister perhaps, which I will gladly steer clear of, thank you very much).  It’s by the awesome orchestration of God that I was first invited to FBC Eastland to interview, became the interim, and then was voted to be full-time by the congregation. I will recount that story sometime because it’s a good one.

Last Sunday I looked out into the congregation before church began and I was able to name most of the people I saw (though I still have a ways to go).  I say hi to them in the hallways, I ask how their children are doing, I send birthday cards and thinking-of-you cards and let them know I’m praying for them.  I have ladies I’ve grown close to who are prayer warriors for me, a choir that warms my soul at every Wednesday rehearsal, and an office staff who supports me and makes me laugh.  I have a place, and it feels amazing.

This weekend I will be back at Fellowship Baptist for a visit, and Music Director Darrell Fishbeck (who is also a good friend), was kind enough to invite me to sit at my place at the keyboard once again. I am thrilled to be able to help lead worship the way I did for over eight years, singing alongside two of the most talented musicians I know.  I can’t wait to see the faces of my Marble Falls church family, people that have been incredibly supportive of me, people that are dear friends.

But on Sunday afternoon, I will drive back to Eastland, TX, population 3,900, drive to my new house where paint is still fresh on the walls, and on Monday morning walk into the office, say hi to Kim, sit in staff meeting with Kevin and Josh and Betsy and Kathy and Derrick and Kim, prepare music for the next Sunday, plan the next choir rehearsal, email the greeters to remind them it’s their Sunday to greet, type the sermon notes into ProPresenter, and all the other things I do in a normal week.  

In short, I will return home.