LIVING AS CHRISTIANS: Week of October 2 to 8, 2023, I thought I was doing everything right, Video: Mitchell Birdwell: I thought I was doing everything right, Analysis and Answers.

LIVING AS CHRISTIANS: 2-8-October-2023, I thought I was doing everything right, Video: Mitchell Birdwell: I thought I was doing everything right, Analysis and Answers.

I thought I was doing everything right (10 mins.): Analysis with the audience. Play the video. Then ask: 

Why did Brother Birdwell think he was “doing everything right”?

Because he had his stable job, he had his family, he felt that he had what he needed, and for him the most dreamed of, such as his house. In addition to serving as an elder in the congregation.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

As we saw in the video he comments that he was serving as an elder, his wife as a pioneer, in addition he worked and did very well in his construction company and provided financially and also spiritually for his family. He thought that he was fine and that he did what he should do and that others did too much.

Brother Birdwell thought that he was doing everything right, since he did not think that he was doing too little, but that others were doing too much, and in this way he was justifying himself. However, his perseverance changed when he traveled to Japan as a construction volunteer and realized that the regular pioneers working on the project could also care for his families. So he began to question whether he was really trusting Jehovah's promises.

What effect did the words of Matthew 6:33 have on him?

Upon reading Matthew's text he understood that he must seek the kingdom first and trust that Jehovah would sustain and take care of other things but everything would depend on his decision.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

This is striking, since as a congregation elder he knew these words perfectly. The Brothers on the committee asked him to read those words aloud at least twice, and he says that he was going through a moment of doubt and indecision, seeing that brothers who were being pioneers and who despite everything were volunteering without receive a salary, they were there as pioneers, and on top of that taking care of their family, I didn't understand how they managed to do it.

Before listening to and meditating on this verse, he was focused on his own goals and material achievements, and he thought that what he did in the congregation was enough. In fact, he thought that by having a happy family, a beautiful home, and fulfilling his responsibilities in the congregation, he was doing everything right.

So these words hit him deep, he felt that he was not very intelligent. He even had insomnia that night, since his head was spinning around and around that topic, and he kept trusting in that promise, but thinking about how they could trust in that promise. He remembered the game of letting himself fall on his back and trusting that the other would receive it, and he understood that serving Jehovah is like that, letting himself fall and trusting that he would receive it.

As he meditated on this text, it was a moment of reflection in which the brother questioned whether he was truly trusting in Jehovah's promises, and whether he was willing to make changes to put Jehovah and his service to him first.

Meditating on this text led him to ask himself: In what fields could he change, in order to make his family serve Jehovah full time, and it was possible because he understood that they had to give the best to God.

The words of Matthew 6:33 deeply impacted Brother Birdwell and caused him to reflect on his confidence in Jehovah’s promises. For he realized that if he sought first the Kingdom of God, he would also receive the other things necessary in his life. This led him to question his previous approach and make changes to serve Jehovah fully.

What did you like most about the Birdwell family experience?

I liked that as a family they were willing to resist changes, they left things that they believed were important to better serve Jehovah, and they worked as regular pioneers and it was the best decision. Because they all trusted in Jehovah and that allowed them, thanks to that trust, to enjoy leading an exciting life and for that it was the best thing they could have done. 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Well we see that they came together and supported each other, the brother told them about the change they were going to make as a family and they supported him, and we also see the good heart of the brother who, despite his circumstances, made an effort to give even more to Jehovah. Of course they were giving enough, but they wanted to give even much more than what they were doing to seek the Kingdom and justice of God, and now they are really happy serving Jehovah.

What I liked most was seeing how the Birdwell family quickly began to make changes. Although this meant giving up many things they previously believed were important, and doing so allowed them to be regular pioneers.

I really like this experience, that thanks to making a good decision and making changes, the brother's daughter married her husband and they began to work as construction servants for the Ldc. Her son also married and became a regular pioneer and began working for Bethel as a remote servant. He and his wife began to collaborate as construction servants for the Ldc.

What I like most is that Brother Birdwell now trusts in the promise of Matthew 6:33. He understood that we can always do more for Jehovah in our service when we decide to put Jehovah first in our lives. It also strikes me that although the Birdwells had to give up many things that they previously believed were important, they did not regret doing so. His children, brother, and wife all enjoy their new roles in Jehovah's service. Plus her brother and his wife now have more time to spend together.

It is interesting that as a family all the Birdwells agree that giving up material things to serve Jehovah full time was the best thing they could do. They think that their decision was the right one and that it was the fact of meditating on the text of Matthew 6:33 at that exact moment in their lives that motivated them to make all these changes.

What I liked most was that the Birdwell family dedicated themselves to full-time service, although to do so they had to give up material things. This decision gave purpose and satisfaction to their lives. And from this I learn that when we make courageous decisions in relation to our service, Jehovah blesses us greatly. 

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

My name is Mitchell Birdwell. I honestly thought I was doing everything right. I had a wonderful family. I had a son and a daughter. My wife was a regular pioneer and I was serving as an elder. He worked building houses and had just finished building my family's dream house, it had everything I had always wanted.

I was assigned to travel to Japan as a construction volunteer for a project. And that trip changed my life, when I got there, I realized that all those who were working on the project were regular pioneers, the truth is that that made me think, I tried to justify myself saying: You are doing it well, you are doing the right thing. What should you do, they do too much. 

One day I said to the brother who was acting as interpreter: Why don't we go talk to the construction committee? I had a question that kept running through my head: How can you be regular pioneers and at the same time take care of your family? The brother asked the question, and they asked me to read Matthew 6:33, I started to read it to myself, but they said out loud please and when I read it, they told me read it again, so I read it again. Then the brother told me that the Bible is very clear. If you truly seek the Kingdom first, you will also receive the other things. That touched me deeply. I stood there with the Bible open, and thinking about the text I felt a little silly.

That night I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking about what had happened and I kept asking myself, Why don't I trust this promise? When I was little we played by falling on our backs and the person behind us would catch us. I never liked that game, but that's what serving Jehovah is like. You have to let yourself fall. You know he will catch you, but you don't know how and you don't know when.

The next day the president of the committee wanted to talk to me privately, he told me stop writing as is a typical day for you, and he began to describe my life down to the last detail, he got everything right. From the moment you wake up the phone is ringing, you are busy all day with things in the congregation, collaborating with the construction committee and taking care of your business, you come home from work your children want to talk to you, but you are very busy, you finish everything and it's already late maybe 10 at night, now you want to spend time with your wife, but you fall asleep.

When the brother finished his description, he asked me a question: Why do you only spend time with your wife and your children when you are tired? So from that moment I began to ask myself: What changes can I make? I need to make adjustments, we have to find a way to serve full time as a family, I know that in our organization there are many brothers and sisters who cannot pioneer, but give Jehovah everything they have. In reality that is what he asks of us: "Give me the best of yourself." 

As soon as we returned we started to make changes, it wasn't easy because we had to give up many things that we thought were important. Being regular pioneers opened many doors for us in serving Jehovah; my daughter and her husband serve as construction servants for the local design and construction department. My son also got married and is a regular pioneer and works for Bethel as a remote servant.

Now my wife and I collaborate with the Ldc, as construction servants we really enjoy participating as a couple in this facet of service to Jehovah, we would never have imagined that we would have such an exciting life, although a lot of time has passed, we still comment on family the decision we made, we all agree that giving up material things to serve Jehovah full time was the best thing we could do when. I look back, I know that it was that decision, it was that text at that precise moment in our lives that changed everything. 

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