It Will Feel Better (When It Quits Hurting...)

The announcement this week that Pastor Jeremy Malekos will be leaving our staff and taking a position in the power industry in California was greeted with mixed emotions. For some, there is sadness over losing Jeremy and Amy from our staff, and their family from our LifePoint family. For others, the joy of knowing that God has laid out a plan for their lives that will put them in position to continue to serve God, learn and grow, and be better prepared for the next ministry calling God would put on their lives in the future. There are also some feeling confusion about what this means for LifePoint, for our Student Ministries, and for our own personal lives and relationships.

So before we make any other public announcements about this transition, let me say this: we will all need space to process this both mentally and emotionally, so let's give ourselves and each other permission to grieve and walk through this loss. We all will need time to process all that this will mean in our lives and our church, and no one is in a rush to 'just get over it.' We need to move intentionally to deal with all the feelings and aspects of this loss.

A friend of mine used to joke whenever someone stubbed a toe or hit their thumb with a hammer: "It'll feel better when it quits hurting!" That's actually true. It won't feel better before the hurting is done, so you can't rush it. Some things just take time, and as Pastor Roy Conover likes to say, "There's no substitute for time." But when it does quit hurting, when the grief and grieving are past, it will feel better. We will have a fresh perspective on our lives, our church and the steps God has ahead of us, and we will be able to appreciate where we've come and get excited about where we're going.

I just want everyone to know that the leadership at LifePoint is working on the details of moving forward in this transition time, so you don't need to worry about that just yet. Focus on loving the Malekos family through their transition, and then on healthy processing of this whole deal. If you need to grieve, then do so without feeling pressured or rushed. Just walk it through, and let God's wisdom and grace (along with His family, the church) help you through it.

And trust in the promise that God has our church right where HE wants us. It's going to feel better...