In about 10 days my wife and I will begin traveling to our latest adventure in our life. Actually we have been pretty involved in the beginnings of it already, but our move to work with a new congregation in California is coming very quickly.
I mentioned in the past that we are now in the process of visiting with some of the congregations with which we have worked and saying our "Good Byes". Yesterday we visited with the church in Portland, Indiana. I preached and the church had a special "Carry-in Meal" so we could spend some time visiting with old friends. It was a special time for us as we remembered times gone by and people who have left this earth and are now with our God.
They say (whoever they are) that confession is good for the soul, so maybe it's time for me to reveal that I have not always been the wonderful considerate husband I now am! (Don't laugh too hard!)
As I look back on past Mother's days I realize that I really blew it sometimes. We brought our first son, Kirk home on our first wedding anniversary after mother's day had already passed The second year however, mother's day rolled around and I reasoned that Melody was my wife, not my mother so didn't get her anything to recognize the day as special.
What do you treasure in this life? It's amazing what some folks hold as their "Most Treasured" things. A few nights ago we were given a treasure, something we will treasure always; it consisted of 4 little pieces of plastic and love.
My friend Jerrie sent me the following paragraph, so I thought I might just expand on it a touch..
"We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice vacation or when we retire. The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges."
You may or may not have noticed that the frequency of the messages has fallen off for the past few weeks. The reason for this is that my wife and I are undergoing a change, a period of transition if you will. In fact it is a major life change taking place. No, it's nothing bad, but it is challenging for us.
You see, I have been looking for another congregation with which to work and trying to let God work in our lives in the process. The fact is that I have just accepted the position as the minister for the Church of Christ in Tehachapi, California. The transition of course is our coming move 2,600 miles across the continent to a new place, a new environment and in some ways a new culture. We have begun packing, making plans for moving and trying to find a house in the new city.
We have traveled to; preached for and met with churches in several locations in the United States in the past few months and firmly believe that God has led us to this group of Christians in a small town in a mountain valley in Southern California.
What have you done to encourage someone lately? That may seem like a strange question, but it is an important and valid question for us today. Encouragement is one of the basic building blocks of the church.
During quail season in Georgia, an Atlanta journalist met an old farmer hunting with an ancient pointer at his side. Twice the dog ran rheumatically ahead and pointed. Twice his master fired into the open air. When the journalist saw no birds rise, he asked the farmer for an explanation. "Shucks," grinned the old man, "I knew there weren't no birds in that grass. Spot's nose ain't what it used to be. But him and me have had some wonderful times together. He's still doing the best he can and it'd be mighty mean of me to call him a liar at this stage of the game!"(*)
