Some Serious, Life Altering Things Have Been Happ’nin Around Here!

Over the last 18 months my beautiful bride and I have experienced some pretty big life events:

• June of 2014 we celebrated 20 years of marriage
• October of 2014 we celebrated 10 years at Friendship Church
• January of 2015 we celebrated 20 years of full-time, pastoral ministry
• March of 2015 daughter numero uno turned 18
• May of 2015 same daughter graduated
• July of 2015 I signed my life away to begin the building of Friendship Church’s new facility, to launch the next phase of our church
• August of 2015 my parents celebrated 50 years of marriage
• September of 2015 eldest daughter struck again and started college

If reading through this list makes you tired, just think how we feel…BLESSED! That’s the word I choose because even though it’s been a hectic, crazy, tilt-a-whirl year and a half there’s not a single one of those that I’d trade for anything. It would be easy for us to look at that and feel overwhelmed, stressed, run-down, worn-out, you name it, but what would that accomplish? It wouldn’t slow anything down, it would stop the world from spinning, and it certainly wouldn’t help us deal with the changes any more effectively. But, if we choose to see these moments and events as blessings, as a part of the process of growing up, we can smile, maybe a few tears of joy, but mostly smile.

One of the things I’ve learned over the years, or rather God has beaten into my stubborn soul, is that how we look at things will change the way we react to things, and even change the very emotions we feel about things. I’m reminded of David’s beautiful prayer of thankfulness to his Shepherd, “EVEN THOUGH I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil.”

You see more often than not our prayer is, “God please remove me from this situation!” not “God help me see the blessing in this situation!” But, maybe, just maybe, God’s plan for you is NOT to remove you from the situation, but to remove your anxiety about the situation from you! After all, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power…”

See it differently and enjoy the ride my friends!

Dave