Steward

It may be no secret that running a non-profit organization is a lot of work. Admittedly it is more work than I imagined at times. With our conference coming up, a strategic plan in the works, a board to lead, and the 2024 budget staring at me in the near future, it's easy to feel a sense of overwhelm. "How will we do it, God?"

Today as I was washing dishes I was telling God that I felt very overwhelmed, unprepared, and un-equipped to be doing this. Praise God for that. Truly! If I felt fully prepared and with all the right skills I may run this entire operation into the ground because it wouldn't be dependent upon the God who created the earth and called this mission to be. Still, feeling unprepared is scary and hard. "We haven't hit the numbers we wanted yet, we should fundraise more, how will we grow?" These questions raced in my mind and prayers until I heard God whisper "I called you to steward". 

Steward. 
Not run independently. 
Not grow by a certain percentage in the next 3 years. 
Not fundraise a million dollars.
Steward. 

As this word has run through my mind today I googled what the Christian definition of stewardship was. 

"Stewardship, quite simply, is recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is a gift from God and being grateful and generous with those gifts."

Ahh the sweet taste of humility. I'm reminded of my "potato dream" as I reflect on this. As I looked around the garden and said "I didn't do this", the woman replied "you planted the whole potato, God did the rest".  He was telling me that while he would want my full commitment, I wasn't going to grow this "garden" alone. 

How quickly did I twist and complicate the very clear command God had given. The message was clear yet somehow I twisted the truth and tried to take back all the gardening work. I remembered the garden I saw in the dream and decided the full weight of getting to that view was on my shoulders. Thank God that isn't the case. Thank you, God. 

So here's the business plan for Unstoppable God Ministries: We're going to steward what we have and trust God with everything. We're stewarding the campers who are signed up for UGC right now. If we add more, praise God. If we don't, praise God. We're stewarding the finances we have and asking God to give us wisdom on how to use it. We're stewarding the relationships we create, families we connect with, leaders who serve among us. We are stewarding, but we will not be trying to take the master gardener position. There's no one more qualified than the man who already has it. 

We serve an all powerful, all knowing, all loving God... who is kind enough to let us be part of His work. So we will be in the business of stewarding and see where God takes us. Here's to chucking potatoes in the ground, watering what we have, and trusting the ultimate creator. 

-Krystian
Unstoppable God Ministries Steward