Storyline Fall 2020

faith had been propped up by all kinds of
stability – and now all of a sudden, so much
of that was gone, and so we found ourselves
living in a place of faith and dependence very
different than what had been our experience
for the last number of years.
So, another season of silence … and then
another opportunity came. This one was in
the Calgary area but with a denomination
other than the Alliance. This was another
real challenge for us. Dawn was born and
raised in the Alliance. I was saved in the
Alliance. It is the only thing we'd ever known.
We love this family of churches! We love
what it stands for, we love its heart … and
now to think that we would leave that and
go and serve within another denomination
was really tricky. I'm very loyal, so the idea
of walking away from this family of churches
was just very difficult for me. As we were
working through this Dawn and I ended up
sitting in a Tim Hortons on Macleod Trail
with Mel Sylvester. Deep down I knew what
he was going to say but we just needed
to talk. With many tears we unpacked the
place where we found ourselves … And sure
enough he encouraged us to be open to
where God might be calling us. So, I went
back to that church and I said we’d be happy
to enter into a conversation with them – and
we never heard from them again.
More silence … Now committed to guarding
our hearts, not wanting to waste anything
that God was up to, we were seeing our
faith grow in ways that we hadn't in quite
some time. And then all of a sudden multiple
conversations started happening, one of
which was here with FAC. We focussed on
that conversation and through the course of
time God opened the door for us to come
and serve here.
Our church, the church where my wife was
born and raised, the church where we were
both saved and baptized, the church where
we were married, the church that sent us out
into pastoral ministry in the fall of 1985! And
now here we were, back again! What a gift!!
But the real thread through the story is a
series of surrenders. It seemed like God
took us through several big tests of dying
to ourselves. ”Are You done with us in
vocational ministry?“ “Are You asking us to
leave for a distant place?“ “Are You asking us
to leave this family of churches that we know
and love?“ They were days of picking up our
cross and just following Jesus. Putting Him
and His ways first.
These were examples of big moments in
our lives … And yet I don’t believe the big
moments get handled well if you haven’t
been surrendering as a routine. In the little
things, the mundane things, the things that
you’re not sure even matter.
And the reality is that the story is going to
look different for each of us – those crossbearing
moments are going to be unique
for you and me. And yet, the truth is that as
disciples, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are
all called to this every day – to deny ourselves,
to pick up our cross, and to follow Him.
Les Bon-Bernard
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