Thank you for traveling with me on the journey of founding and building Best Care Ministry.

When I began this journey a few years ago, I hoped God would use Best Care Ministry to help others become more caring so that pastors and ministries would be more effective and regain their influence on our culture.

What I didn't expect was how much He would use this journey to change me.

The initial lessons of care I learned in Hospice, over a decade ago, got me started on this care ministry journey. They sharpened my focus and purpose for ministry. Those lessons are valuable, but there is so much more.

As I continue my work to understand and package what care actually is, God helped me see the 7 Essentials for Caring that Makes a Difference: A Nature to Care, A Focus on Others, Your Presence, Extreme Listening, Patiently Persist, Safeguards and Be Ready. They have become the prism through which I now see life.

It is exciting to keep learning and discover the impact of care in and through me.

I notice people I might have missed. I listen when I would rather speak. I slow down when I want to hurry. I am present even when I cannot fix the problem. And perhaps most importantly, I am learning that before I can give care, I must receive it.

That begins with the presence of God.

Recently, as I studied God's presence throughout Scripture, I thought I was preparing a sermon about one of the 7 Essentials. Instead, God was reviving my soul with the reality of His presence—day by day and moment by moment. Every day is a better since that sermon and the fresh application of God’s presence in my life.

That has mattered on the hard days. When I have felt vulnerable. When ministry is confusing. When the work has taken longer than I expected. Even when something as ordinary as learning HubSpot has frustrated me. God is present there too.

Yes, I continue to develop and refine resources to teach and train. Churches are beginning to use the 7 Essentials. New relationships are forming.

The journey continues.

But what excites me most is not simply what God is doing through Best Care Ministry. It is what He is doing in you and me and through that work there is great potential in our world "for such a time as this."

Our hurting and divided culture desperately needs caring people. People are lonely, anxious, angry and hurting. We may not be able to solve all the problems around us, but we can become the kind of people who care for the people experiencing them.

As we experience God's care, we become people who care. We notice others. We listen. We become more patient. We show up. We discover opportunities to make a difference that we might otherwise have missed.

I am enjoying this journey more than I ever expected. I hope you are too. And I can't wait to see the difference God makes through all of us as we become people who care.

We receive His care.
We become caring people.
We give His care away.

And our ministries are stronger and the world is different because we cared.