When you say yes to one thing you say no to another

I have entered a new time in my ministry. Up until this point I have received a lot of invitations to preach in different places. I don't remember turning down an opportunity, unless I already had a commitment. It is different now because I have responsibilities that weigh in the balance. If I say yes to an invitation to preach, then it is possible that I won't be there for my family or the church we are starting. Today I received an invitation to preach an anniversary conference in Monte Águila which is several states north of us. I was very humbled by the invitation but I had to turn it down. If I were to go then Annie would be left alone in this strange place for four days by herself. Also, we are just starting with our weekly Bible studies here in Coyhaique, and how can I leave them without a Bible teacher? It wouldn't be appropriate for Eduardo to be at our house alone with Annie, so what does it communicate to him if I teach "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" and then I cancel on him? Another tempting invitation I received was in Iquique where our friends the Reinhardts live. It was to preach the week of their teen or family camp. I was so excited to receive the invitation, but if I accepted then that meant that I would miss a week during the first month of our church (we plan to have our first service in February and that's when the invitation was for). We originally planned to start in January but my friend Dustin's dad Dave Reinhardt asked me to accompany him on a very special trip (I'll write about it in the next post) in January. Since the January invitation is potentially a once in a lifetime event I accepted and we are going to move the inauguration to the first Sunday in February. But how could I miss a week during one of the most important times of our new church? I am learning that when I say yes to one thing, it is often to the exclusion of another. Its so important to say no to the right things!