Some things I’m thankful for this year…

The opportunity to be involved in work with lasting significance. Have you ever considered how we’ve not simply been given the incredible opportunity to have a relationship with God through His Son…Jesus Christ, but the privilege to serve as a member of God’s team as He re-establishes His Kingdom here on Earth? In my day job as a physician, I have the opportunity to do work of significance. The work we get to do through Key Ministry will have eternal significance. It’s not too hard to get out of bed in the morning with an opportunity such as this. I’m looking forward to taking on a significant ministry staff position (unpaid) in the coming year. More on that ahead…

The privilege of  belonging to a great church. I’m grateful to attend a church that views ministry as a privilege and a responsibility owned by all of the people and continually affirms the willingness to devote the church’s “best and brightest” in support of the idea that families of kids with disabilities represent an enormous outreach opportunity for churches everywhere. We have lots of Bay Presbyterian chromosomes contained in our DNA!

I’m surrounded by wise leaders. We have a great leadership group. I’m grateful that my former pastor, Hu Auburn has agreed to step forward and direct our staff in the coming year. Working alongside a senior pastor with 30+ years of experience leading a large and thriving church is invaluable as we transition into a period of very rapid growth. Our Board of Directors (Libby Peterson, Dave McKee, Carrie Lupoli, Rhonda Martin, Stephen Burks and Joe Sontich) are extraordinarily generous with their time, talent, treasure and wisdom.

Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.
Proverbs 15:22 (ESV)

The generosity of our donors. We’ll be able to pursue some incredible plans in 2014 thanks to the gifts of many faithful people who’ve embraced the vision of what churches can do to minister to families of kids impacted by mental illness, trauma or developmental disabilities.

The inspiration of ministry colleagues who serve with excellence while living with the challenges of raising a child with a disability. At the risk of leaving lots of people out, you guys are inspiring. Here are some heroes of the church…

Barb Dittrich…Blogging faithfully (and prolifically) through a year in which she spent WAY too much time at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital caring for her son with hemophilia.

Mike Woods…serving faithfully at First Baptist Orlando while raising triplet sons, all of whom are on the autism spectrum. Mike launched Not Alone to support parents in faith as they raise kids with special needs.

Colleen Swindoll-Thompson…Colleen has dealt with all manner of adversity while building a ministry to thousands of families of kids with special needs.

Shannon Dingle…Shannon and her husband Lee have been willing to go overseas in response to God’s call to pursue kids He loves who are medically fragile and embrace them into their family.

Gillian Marchenko…Gillian is a tireless advocate for kids with Down Syndrome while remaining transparent about her personal struggles with depression.

An incredibly supportive family. My wife and girls sacrifice much in terms of my time and availability to afford me the time and energy to do what I do for Key Ministry. Within this past year, my wife returned to paid employment, allowing me more latitude to volunteer for Key Ministry. Our girls make me proud. They honor God, make good decisions, work very hard, and care for other people.

Thanks for coming alongside us for our ministry adventure! Best Wishes to all of our ministry supporters everywhere for a Happy Thanksgiving!

***********************************************************************************************************

Our Key Ministry website is a resource through which church staff, volunteers, family members and caregivers can register for upcoming training events, request access to our library of downloadable ministry resources, contact our staff with training or consultation requests, access the content of our official ministry blog, or contribute their time, talent and treasure to the expansion of God’s Kingdom through the work of Key Ministry. In addition to our downloadable resources, those who register for our resource kit can view any presentation from our Inclusion Fusion Disability Ministry Web Summits “on-demand”. All of these resources are made available free of charge. Check out our website today!