Our family recently moved into a home we had purchased nearly two years earlier. We had decided that some changes and updating needed to happen, which we were told would take four months to complete. "You should be in by Christmas," our general contractor assured us. He forgot to tell us which year!

So many months and several furniture moves later, we finally slept in our own bedroom. Remodeling tested our resolve and our patience. But it was the right thing to do. Sometimes ministry must undergo changes and updating—also the right thing to do. And the important lessons that my home remodeling experience taught me parallel what I learned when our ministry went through a significant makeover.

Our ministry never appeared broken. To anyone looking, clear signs of strength could be seen; happy children running down the halls to their classes mixed with an abundance of volunteers. In fact, we had more men group leaders than we needed for our fourth and fifth grade boys! Attendance was on ...