Changing Careers

For one family, going beyond started out as giving and it turned into receiving. And what they received was immeasurably more than they could ask or imagine—it was a calling to a new way of life, and a new career... 

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Most of you know Ryan (musician, singer, and Worship Leader) and Bethany (Director of Family Life- Children’s Ministries) from their roles around Good Shepherd. You may not have known that they are parents to two young children and that, until recently, Ryan was also a teacher in the Naperville school district. Just like other young families, the demands on their time and the financial commitments of life in the suburbs could be incredibly stressful.

Yet, as the Hammers listened, prayed, and talked about how they were called to go beyond, they soon realized that for them it wasn’t just about giving more and doing more. Although they started doing and giving more, it became clear that for them, going beyond would in a strange way mean giving less and doing less… so they could be more of who God was calling them to be as individuals, as professionals, as a couple, and as a family. After much discernment, they realized that Ryan was being called to leave his teaching career (and the stable salary, pension benefits, and top-notch health insurance) to go into ministry full-time.

Questions, doubts, and concerns soon crept in. Could they still give generously on a lower income? How would they save for college for kids without his school pay and what would retirement look like without his pension? What about higher daycare costs? All real-world questions that were addressed… and that didn’t necessarily come with easy answers. But there was something else… what about the great beyond? How many more people could be reached and transformed at Good Shepherd through music, worship, and their work? And what did God have in store if they followed the call?

They listened to that call and Ryan accepted a full-time position at Good Shepherd. Now, the story is just beginning—and it involves more than the Hammers. It’s also about you! Without the recent financial commitments from the people at Good Shepherd, there wouldn’t have been funds to hire Ryan full-time. And, without the faithful commitments before these, there wouldn’t have been funds to build the Worship Center that is packed out each week!

The story continues to unfold and if we listen to what God is calling each of us to do, there’s no doubt it will be immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Is God calling you to do more, give more, be more … or maybe even give up something so that God can give you more? These are all incredible ways that our most generous God shows us that generosity is for us, not from us, and the experience is waiting for you!

Zac L.