Call Me Jonah

So, for my birthday today, I gave myself the present of changing my name.

For years, most everyone has called me "Porter".  Which is understandable, I mean, its my name.  My last name, but my name.  In fact, so many people call me Porter that many people don't even KNOW my first name.  The list of people who call me Michael I can pretty much count on one hand.

Last September at twentyfourseven, we studied the book of Jonah.  While we were going through it and while I was researching the background for the book, I was amazed at how much Jonah's life paralleled my own, many times.

A couple of examples.  Early in my life (I'm talking like from age 6-13) the priest at the church where I grew up would annually talk about Vocation.  About how the Church (the Catholic Church) needed priests!  Every time he talked about it, I felt like God was telling me that He wanted me to be a priest.  As you can imagine, at that age, the last thing I wanted in life was to become a priest.  By the time I hit my teenage years, I openly rebelled against this call, and put all of my life's focus into becoming a rock star.  Much the same way that God called Jonah to Nineva and he instead went the opposite direction.

When I graduated high school, I got jumped on the ship of bands, then college, then career and was finally swallowed by a whale of a bad marriage.  After a messy divorce, I was vomited out on the shore's near a church called Christ Church, in Plano.  I rediscovered God in that place and was introduced to Christ.  I discovered that I could do ministry and not have to be a priest!

I was working at the Southland Corporation and I began to feel God calling me to Youth Ministry.  I was volunteering in the youth group regularly, but felt God calling me to more.  I felt like He was calling me to Full-Time youth ministry, but couldn't see how that would work.  The church didn't need a youth minister, and besides, everyone knows that churches don't pay enough!  Certainly not as much as I was making!  I was a successful accountant, had been promoted twice already and was in line for another promotion.

Then, I got fired.  For a ridiculous reason.  A reason that anyone on our floor could have been fired for, but I was targeted, because my boss wanted to promote someone else, less qualified, not me.  So I was removed.  But I also realized that God was in that firing.  I was running away from God's call to youth ministry, and God woke me up.  Three months later, I was working for Christ Church.  Two years later, I was a youth minister.  God sent a storm into my life just like he did Jonah's to get me back on track.

Two years ago, I felt, clearly, God calling me to the priesthood again.  Ever since, I've made excuses why I couldn't become a priest.  First of all, I need to finish school, which I don't have time to do.  Maybe next semester, maybe next semester.  Ever semester, it was next semester.  Three weeks ago, I lost my job.  For a ridiculous reason.  So ridiculous, I'm not even sure what exactly it is!  I have felt, though, clearly that this is a repeat of what happened at Southland.  I've made excuses for not being able to follow God's call on my life, and He's reached down again and "cleared my schedule" for me.

I'm not sure that I did a good enough job in this blog explaining why all of this means I changed my name to Jonah... to me, its obvious... God calls me, I run, God redirects me.  rinse, repeat.  Every once in a while I get to live in Chapter three... preaching the word and seeing results.  Right now, I'm living in Chapter four... sitting around a pouting that God isn't doing what I want him to do.  Last month, I was in the middle of a storm.

I've always said, I love the Bible, not because it was true a long time ago, but that its TRUE right now.. the story of Jonah recycles in my life over and over.  So does the Prodigal Son, the temptation in the Garden, the blessings of the Beatitudes.  Its all alive within us all the time.  I've just decided to make it a very real part of my life.

(PS... most of this was written after having just taken some NyQuil for my stuffy nose and while also watching the Stars/Sharks game 4.... so I hope it makes as much sense as I think it does!)