LOST THEN FOUND

Last night we had just finished eating dinner and were enjoying a family movie in the basement family room. I touched my diamond rings on my left ring finger, and felt something unusually sharp and pointed. Dreadfully, I looked at my left hand and I saw the empty hole where my mother's diamond once sat within four white gold prongs. The diamond was gone. The prongs were extended and deformed. There was a black hole. We stopped the movie and I showed my husband. Silence penetrated the room as we all realized the hopelessness of the situation. What do we do? Where do we begin to look?

I began asking myself questions - When was the last time I looked at my left hand (yesterday). Where had I been and what I had done in the last 24 hours? The answers to these two questions were endless! I had cleaned showers and toilets, 4 of them, been at the church preparing the classrooms and gone to Worship, fixed several meals in the kitchen, organized bills, played games with friends, been to Sams Club, stripped beds and washed sheets, walked around the outside of the house showing my youngest son which weeds needed to be pulled, etc.! Maybe an easier question would have been where HADN'T I been! The options on where this 35-year old expensive diamond could have been were absolutely endless! The diamond could be anywhere!

The diamond is important to me in that it belonged to my mother. She died when she was only 34 years old, passing away in a hospital bed at home in 1977 with the ring still on her finger. When my Dad eventually gave it to my younger sister, Charlotte, she in turn gave it to me as the first born daughter. The yellowed hospital tape was still wrapped around the silver-colored rings - tape that had been wrapped on to ensure my mother's rings would stay on her ever shrinking fingers. She's gone to be with the Lord now, and the rings have been with me on my left hand next to the rings my husband gave me for many years .

What makes the rings precious to me is that they belonged to someone I seem to forget more and more as the years go by. I have vague memories of her busy-ness, as she worked and took care of family of five. She was an awesome cook - everything was homemade! She was a registered nurse. She cleaned the bathroom sink every day with Comet cleaner. She sewed Halloween costumes for all of us and hosted the neighborhood parties for families. She tolerated my love for Donny Osmond and Shaun Cassidy. I loved the way she sang at church and prayed at the table on Sunday afternoons. I even remember trying to pray at our Sunday dinner lunch exactly the same way she would pray, anticipating her every word, only to be disappointed when she prayed something else. Darn!

Through my teen years, it was VERY difficult for me to hear others speak even the fondest of memories about my mother. I would always cry. You see, I LOST my mother to a dreadful disease. It took her life. But then I FOUND someone closer than any kiss my mother could ever give me - I found a deep and abiding love and relationship with Jesus Christ!

My mother wasn't able to take the diamond with her to heaven, as I won't. But it's a precious memory of her that I am gladly able to wear today. I thank God in heaven for the things in our lives that are seemingly lost, for they cause us to pray and trust in Him. Sometimes the "lost" things in our lives are found within seconds, as this diamond was - other instances may take a lifetime.

Last night, Greg had instantly prayed we'd find the precious stone...I had been hopeless from the moment I realized I'd walked thousands of steps in many places throughout the day. Within a few seconds time I had realized the diamond to be lost, however, I found it on the carpet just below where I was standing.

Whoever may be reading this - I share a favorite scripture from Romans (15:13)- "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him; so that you may overflow with joy by the power of the Holy Spirit."

I believe that in God's economy, nothing is ever really lost. My mother isn't lost - I know exactly where she is. She's with the Lord in heaven. The diamond wasn't lost - I only had to open my eyes and look down, and there it was on the carpeted floor beneath me. I pray the same for you. May the "lost" things of this moment be "found" as you pray and trust in Him!

God's Timing is Perfect!

I am so proud of my husband! Click here to hear him preach. We have three services each weekend at church; the recording here is the 3rd of the three times that my hubby was blessed to be able to deliver the Word of God to the congregation. It will only take about 25 minutes to watch, or listen. I like to watch him. Maybe you will too. He's got a great teaching style and this sermon is packed with great stuff!

Greg and I met during my senior year at college in Anderson, Indiana - 1987. He was in the process of a divorce and his pregnant soon-to-be ex-wife had returned months earlier to her family and homeland of Germany. It was a tough time for him and everyone involved. In fact, I was a friend of Greg's younger sister, Jenny, who also attended the same college. Before meeting Greg, I remember her telling me about how sad she was that her brother was getting a divorce. I think she may have even asked me to pray for him! I felt bad for her, him, and their family. I had not experienced divorce in the family before. Although I had seen Greg in the computer lab at the college (one of his part time jobs), it was his sister Jenny who introduced us. The rest, as they say, is history.

My dad's deepest desire was for me to attend this Christian college where my mother had received her nursing degree many years before, and get married to a pastor (he told me those exact words). When I informed my Dad that I was engaged to a divorced computer operator and father of one, and would move to San Jose, California - well, let's just say it's not what he wanted for his daughter, and he told me so.

Jump many years into the future, 20 years later, and you can now see that my husband is an ordained pastor, working at Central Community Church as Executive Pastor, and was able to preach before the multitudes his heart's desire - the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Son of God.

What I'm trying to say? God knows the desire of our hearts (Psalm 37:4 ). We don't always get what we want when we want it. Sometimes it takes 20 years...possibly not even in our lifetime! (like Bible hero Moses who only got a glimpse of the Promised land from a distance, but was not able to enter it, even though it was the desire of his heart to do so. Deut. 3:27. God had chosen Joshua to take the people, not Moses.)

What I know is that God is never late...He's never early...He's always on time! Just like you can't rush a baby's growth in his mother's womb...and you can't cause the corn to grow any faster than the weather conditions allow...and you can't wish for the bird's egg to crack open in the nest before it's due time. God's timing is perfect. In these 20 years since Greg and I got married, we have had many, MANY life changes that only God can ordain, create, and enjoy. It took a long time for Greg and I both to be ready for Greg's ordination, and now pastoral position.

My Dad was blessed to get the desire of his heart, and to see it while he's still living. May we all be a little more patient - not getting anything too early, or too late. But right on time!

I Laughed Until I Cried

Has this very strange experience ever happened to you? It happened to me yet again tonight. I'm watching a movie upstairs in the den while Greg and the boys are being ever-so-serious watching 'Braveheart' downstairs in the basement. Because I CANNOT tolerate the blood and gore (it makes me cry), I watch chick-flicks instead that strangely sometimes, make me cry. Ha! Tonight was one of those nights.

I absolutely love the movie 'Sahara' with Matthew McConaughey. So I rented 'How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days', which stars Kate Hudson and (guess who) - Matthew McConaughey. At one point in the movie (scene 12 - Our Family Album, in case you really want to know), I laughed so hard I cried. In fact, I had to STOP the movie, go to the bathroom, and still I was laughing! In the bathroom! It totally cracked me up! The tears running down my cheeks were completely silly and unexpected.

I remember a distinct time when Cameron cried because he was laughing so hard, many years ago. He was very confused by the feeling, and asked us why he was crying when he actually had been laughing. Greg and I reassured him, but being that Cameron requires understandable answers to EVERY question and sorts of confusion, we talked that feeling/sensation until it was DEAD! Agreeably, it is a strange sensation - to laugh until you cry.

Tears have come unexpectedly many times for me in my life. Sometimes it's been because I've been laughing uncontrollable, but there have been other times as well...

...like when Greg has been so gentle and tender, and I experienced true love for the first time.

...like when the Lord has shown me my past sin, and I've been so sorry and then truly repentant.

...like when I hurt a friend to the soul, when I should have been unconditionally loving.

...like when my mother was lowered into the ground and I saw a family member look at me, at the age of 12, with incredible pity.

...and then visiting this grass-covered gravesite as an adult, missing many good years with my mom.

...like when I realized God had been close by me, had never left me, yet I accused Him of forgetting me.

...like when I had to get on a bus to travel to the airport, flying to Indiana to attend my beloved Grandmas funeral, leaving my husband and boys behind.

...like when my boys were very young babies and I couldn't help but look at their precious faces, lying in their crib, fully realizing their innocence and dependence.

...like when someone I sincerely trusted deeply and unfairly hurt someone I love.

...and when Greg was laid-off from Hewlett-Packard, two weeks before Christmas (and then God turning it into one of the best experiences of our married life!)

There have been many times when I've cried unexpectedly, for whatever reason, yet I know the Lord has saved each tear I have shed (Psalm 56:8). He is SO precious to me, as I am to Him. Precious enough that He would capture my every tear in a bottle. I can't thank Him enough for the tears He gives me to express my innermost feelings, especially when they come upon me...unexpectedly.

Thursdays - My Fav!

I love Thursdays. It's got to be my favorite day of the week!

I don't work at the church on Fridays, but I do work on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, as well as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Wednesday night, and Thursday.

You might logically think that Friday's are my favorite day of the week, but they're not because I'm cleaning, and I'm washing, and I'm organizing, and I'm driving, and so on.

Today is Thursday. Today was a great day! I LOVED today! Why?

1. I got my church classroom bins ready for Sunday morning - ACCOMPLISHMENT!

2. I laughed with my boss, a lot - JOY!

3. I had ice cream with all the toppings at 1:30 this afternoon in the office break room because the office fridge will be cleaned out tomorrow - Friday - and we needed to eat the ice cream before it got tossed - A SPECIAL TREAT!

4. I cooked frozen pizza for dinner and my boys LOVED the self-rising crust - CHEAP, EASY, AND IMPRESSIVE!

5. I ate the most DELICIOUS bagel sandwich for lunch. (Good thing I went to the grocery store yesterday, Wednesday.) - SATISFACTION FROM MY LABOR!

6. I got my outdoor potted plants watered and fed with some extra plant nutrients - BEAUTY!

7. I now know what tasks I plan on completing tomorrow, Friday, my day off - ORGANIZED!

8. I'm getting ready to watch a movie with my boys and Lewis wants me to select it - CONTENTMENT!

9. Two people have looked at my blog today. (I was probably one of them!) :) - ok, PITIFUL!

and #10. My husband came home a little bit early to see me since he had worship team practice tonight. He is SO precious to me! I was laying on the couch watching HGTV when he got home and he actually came into the den and watched with me - TRUE UNASSUMING LOVE!

Today was a great day. I thank God for today!

FARDING vs. FARTING

Went out to eat lunch with three great ladies today. As we were leaving the restaurant and heading back to the church to work, we somehow got on the very serious and hysterical subject of farts. How the dialogue digressed so far I'll never (try to) remember, but it was SO "dead dog" funny!!!

Rush Limbaugh, on his Friday, August 1, 2008 radio show, shared that many years ago he was pulled off the Chicago WLS airwaves for 45 minutes because he said, "One of the things we can do to really clean up highway safety is to get women to stop farding in their cars. If you get that stopped, we'll be safer. You can see it every time it happens. If you get that stopped, get women to stop farding in their cars, then they'll be paying attention to driving, and it will be a lot safer out on the roads." The word "farding" is actually defined as "to apply makeup" (French), but it sounded like Rush was saying "farting". Many listeners were incredibly shocked.

Apologies if this subject is a bit too personal for anybody reading - but isn't truth even a little refreshing? Did you know that belching after a meal in some foreign country somewhere (or so I've heard) is a compliment to the cook? Might farting be a compliment to someone in someway somewhere? (We do have rules in our house for flatulence. If you're brave enough and want to shock my boys, just ask one of them about "doorknob".)

To keep up appearances, though (I AM a pastor's wife), I think I'll stick with farding.

The Choice

Today is the day that Lewis was again planning on leaving home to drive back to Fort Collins, an 8.5 hour drive, to spend time with friends for the week. His last full week of the summer before school starts, and the 2nd attempt to get back to Colorado, driving solo. So why did he not leave today as planned, seeing Kansas in his rearview mirror? He made a choice. Lewis had the cash saved to make the trip - just enough money to pay for fuel there and back, with a few bucks to use with friends while "hanging out". But something happened this past Thursday that caused him to make a choice yesterday, a difficult one, that changed his plans for the week.

While out on the lake this past week, Lewis jumped into the water with his cell phone still in his pocket. It is now ruined despite the great efforts he made to get it cleaned up and working again. One reason Greg and I had agreed to let Lewis drive to Colorado for the week was not only is he a good and trusted driver, but he has a cell phone and is able to call for help at any time. No phone - No trip.

The cheap (free) alternative was to transfer Lewis' cell phone number to his old and not-too-glamorous cell phone. Voila! The trip would continue as planned. But since Lewis had lost his i-Pod last month by leaving it out on the back deck he was restaining, and a thunderstorm hit that evening, he had his eye on a new phone that also was an i-Pod - the DARE. Cost? $350.00 - the same amount he had saved to drive to Fort Collins and back. What's a 17-year old boy to do?

Lewis had to make a choice. He investigated his options. Got smart about the past (Fort Collins) vs. the here and now (Wichita, Kansas). What choice did he make? He bought the DARE and is completely satisfied with his decision. His money is gone and there will be no trip - BUT, he's got his phone and i-Pod.

Life is full of difficult decisions. Either decision may satisfy. What will you choose?

P.S. In momma's eyes, I couldn't be happier! I wanted to make the decision for him, but had to leave it up to him so he has nobody else to blame. Also, he now realizes the cost and appreciates the value of these teen toys. YEA!

If I Could Do it Again...

I'd say something more encouraging, and
something else less critical.

I'd stop and listen to the one who needs to talk things out, and

not participate in the gossip.

I'd relax just one hour more with my hubby sleeping next to me, and

enjoy the quiet moment of his breathing.

I'd rise out of bed just a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord, and

enjoy a holy presence with a steaming cup of Starbucks coffee.

I'd be a little more humble, and

raise up the one who truly needs and deserves it.

I'd pay a little more attention to what the boys are saying, and

less time on the phone hearing my own voice.

I'd play one more game, read one more book with the boys, and
give my husband just one more kiss good bye.

I'd walk the extra mile, smile a little more genuinely, blow one more kiss, and

hug just one more child.

I'd make another batch of chocolate chip cookies, and

walk a plate of these warm treats to my elderly widowed neighbor.

I'd do a splashy cannonball into the pool, and

not worry about my hair or who was looking at my hips.

I'd give someone the benefit of the doubt, and

not convince myself they're just out to get me!

If I could do it again I'd still strive to do better, and

still wish I could do it again.

What would YOU do differently if you could do it again?

Verbal Vomit

If you've ever had children, you know the mess their vomit can make, especially on carpet. No matter how hard you try to clean it all up, there always seems to be a stain to remind you of who did it and when.

I made a little mess this week. It doesn't need much clean up, thankfully, but I have a mental reminder that I whined and vomitted, verbally, on friends who really didn't need the mess.

It's been Vacation Bible School all week - my first super-sized VBS program. Always great anticipation in the preparations, but by the end of the week all the volunteers and workers are ready for a break. By the end of Thursday morning, I was a semi-sick, ticking time-bomb, ready to blow, but desperately trying to hold it in. Oh how I tried to hold it in - like being truly sick and running to the toilet with your hand over your mouth as to not make a mess...(gross picture, I know, but do you get what I'm trying to say?). I ran to my bosses office and I spewed it all out, unfortunately. She wasn't alone - there were two other children's leaders in the room that I complained and whined to as well. I remember standing there spewing out the words of frustration and thinking, 'Stop throwing it all up! You're making a mess!' Was it abusive or rude? No. But there were other leaders in the room who might have been dealing with their own issues at the time, or celebrating the great week and all God was doing in the lives of these children! I really should have prayed it and not said it.

Taking back words once their said is an impossible task. A pastor once used the analogy of squeezing toothpaste out of the tube...once you squeeze the paste out, it's impossible to get it back into the tube. Verbal vomit is the same. Once the words are spewed out, there's no way to get them back in your mouth, you just have to clean it up. I've cleaned up a lot of my kids vomit over the past 17 years and it's never pretty, fun, or appetizing...but it must be done.

Side story - early on in my friendship with Robin, I knew she was very special. She and a few other ladies had come over to my house on Silver Oaks in Fort Collins. Cameron had eaten some corn bread with jalepenos baked in and had thrown up in the kitchen afterwards. While I got Cameron to the bathroom to clean him up, Robin was in the kitchen cleaning up the floor. I'll never forget this new friend who got down on her hands and knees to help a new friend clean up the mess.

What do I learn from this?
1. We all verbally vomit at some time, in some place, regretting our words.
2. To clean it up, we must get down on our hands and knees and ask the Lord to help us clean up the mess, and ask that He help us not repeat this offense! Maybe some healing needs to happen before we share the contagious sickness with others.
3. Sometimes, we need to intercede and help our friends when they verbally vomit, as we would if they actually had physically been ill.
4. Although the stains may remain after the clean up, time does help cover up our mistakes.

Psalm 141:3, "O Jehovah, set a guard to my mouth; keep watch on the door of my lips."

Leaving the Nest - Part II

The tears fell down my cheeks that Sunday morning, despite the great efforts I made to smile and pretend they weren't there. After giving me many hugs and smiles and words of encouragement, my baby was leaving church, going home to pick up his suitcase, and get on the road. He was very excited!

I got a call from Greg just over an hour later to tell me that the car had overheated (hmmm... never happened before...) and Lewis was on his way back home. Fortunately Lewis was only an hour north of Wichita and not six hours into the trip, stranded on the western plains! Praise God for His perfect timing!

After getting the Volvo's thermostat replaced, Lewis is planning on repeating this adventure in two weeks...two weeks more for me to prepare for his leaving the nest.

Leaving the Nest

My friend Jack once said about me that I could move anywhere and adjust because I'm a "nester". I see what he means. I can move and unpack very quickly to put everything in it's place (exception: this past move...I'm still not entirely done!). I like to keep the house neat and picked up (not necessarily always clean). I like everybody to be home. I can move furniture, clean a cupboard, or hang some pictures and feel I accomplished so much. But one aspect of nesting is changing in my home. My children are getting older and wanting to spread their wings and leave the nest.

Outside the nest is an environment where I do not have control. There are hardships, uncertainty, dangers, and distrust. Inside the nest is safety and familiararity: family movies, board games, homemade chocolate chip cookies, school night dinners (and homework) at the kitchen table, Italian night (ask the boys), and summer vacations. How do I let my little ones leave the nest and fly away?

My oldest son (and the Lord has blessed me with three) is 17 years old now. Although he's taller than me and has bigger feet than me, I probably outweigh him by about a pound. I can still take him (NOT!). Anyhow - he's made some friends here in Kansas, but he is still best friends with those he left behind in Colorado eight months ago. After attending an international youth conference in San Antonio this next week, he's planning on driving our Swedish chariot back to Colorado to have a week with friends. He has worked and saved enough money. He's nearly paid his debt to society (his parents - $40 from a speeding ticket still owed). He's given us no reason not to trust him. He's learned how to change the oil, check the oil, and change a tire, and he's willing to make this trip in July with no air conditioning in the car. So why can't I let go?

Because there is safety in the nest. I have control in the nest. I gave birth to this boy, nursed this boy, lost hours of sleep to care for this boy, took care of every doctor appointment, broken bone, and cut, bathed him, carried him, fed him, encouraged him, and mothered him in the nest, and now he wants to leave. I cry not because I feel betrayed, but because I know I need to let go and let him - give him permission to leave the nest. It's very hard.

I'm like the mama bird that made a nest in our backyard grill this summer (yea, not too smart on that one but we accommodated mother bird and let her continue with her nesting, using the charcoal grill instead...). This beautiful European starling prepared for this baby by going to great lengths to build a nest in this gas grill. She gathered sticks in the yard and then worked REALLY hard to pull them through a small opening on the side of the grill. It's an amazing testimony to hard work, commitment, and diligence! Really! A beautiful and very large nest! Two of the three eggs hatched already and now they are all gone. The babies have been birthed, nursed, cared for, fed, and then let go. The nest in the grill is empty. I've got to let go, too - it' s just so hard.

Dear God - please watch over my little (and very tall) son who I am releasing to whatever is outside the nest. Leaving the nest is easy and exciting for him, and oh so difficult for me. I trust You to watch over him and take care of him because you love him even more than I do. (Matthew 6:26)

(He'll be gone only for a week. Sunday's coming - and he'll be back...)

Staff Changes = Pursuing Christ

"Following Christ isn't something that can be done half-heartedly or on the side. It's not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we are. If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream. When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream."
- Francis Chan, Crazy Love

(Thanks, Kristin, for posting this quote! It's a great one!)

POEM

by Annie Johnson Flint

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercies,
To multiplied trials His multipled peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father's full giving is only begun.
His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

Bittersweet Street

Driving to church with my hubby at 8 a.m. this morning. The drive to our church has become a familiar drive since we both work there and worship there. One, two, and sometimes three of our cars drive that street to church every single day, with hardly any exception. Driving this morning , though, I felt a sense of heaviness building as we knew the church announcement of another pastor's decision to serve another church would cause many to react in a variety of ways...and sometimes, unfortunately, it's not very pretty.

As we drive this very familiar road, Greg is praying aloud. We are holding hands and praying over the morning and our various roles of responsibility - over our pastor as he preaches - over the safety and security of our children - over the congregation - and praising and thanking the Lord for His many blessings. I've got my eyes open (as it's nauseating for me to close them in a moving vehicle) and we pass a street I've passed a million times (well, maybe not that many, yet) but never noticed before. The street sign says: Bittersweet Street.

So what's it like on Bittersweet Street?

It's bittersweet that we have released three wonderful men from our church body to let them pastor in other churches. We can all be sad that they, and their families, are moving on, but oh how sweet that they have been in training at our church, for a number of years, and are now ready to use this God-given wisdom, refreshment, and experience in other congregations.

It's bittersweet that some members in the congregation would rather judge, point fingers, gossip, and assume the worst instead of enouraging and edifying the body of Christ and realizing that staff changes happen - frequently - even in churches! Just because someone is leaving doesn't mean something is wrong. In this case, it shows God's amazing power (and timeliness!).

It's bittersweet to see our leaders agonize, evaluate, question, and yes, lose sleep over these transitions, but oh how sweet to see them trust in the Lord with all their heart...acknowledging Him in all their ways knowing He will guide their paths (as the Word promises in Proverbs 3:5&6).

It was bittersweet when we moved here to Wichita from Windsor, Colorado. I absolutely loved my life back in Windsor - my wonderful neighborhood and caring neighbors, the kids in established schools, important ministries within our local church, volunteer groups we were a part of, and our many, many great friends. Believe me it was VERY bittersweet! But we knew God had called us to use all we had learned and all we had experienced in Colorado and begin serving Him here in Wichita. Bitter to leave - but oh how sweet to serve Him here.

God, however, is not bittersweet! He is always, always, always sovereign and in control. And you know what? Sunday's coming! May I be His instrument of peace - spreading around even more sweetness (a tender term of endearment my husband voices to me every day) rather than bitterness. May we all be a little more sweet than we are bitter.

And, please God, may I never dwell on Bittersweet Street...

A Few of my Favorite Things...

...Rome, Kansas Part II

After dropping off the boys at the villa where Greg's sister and parents had stayed, we drove away and I sobbed. I was just devastated that we had a full day to do something, our last full day near Rome, and we couldn't go tour what I had so meticulously planned and prepared to see.
It was then that the Lord, my caring precious Lord, spoke to me. He brought that beautiful, melodius, unforgetable Rolling Stones song to mind - You Don't Always Get What You Want. I even began hearing Mick Jagger tauntingly sing these words in my head, over and over. What? But I've worked so hard to get here, have planned every detail (except the train workers strike...), and now I can't go? But I'm so close!!!
God was so good to me and forgave me for my HUGE pity-party. I heard Him speak in an audible-inaudible voice: you'll be back some day. You'll be back. It was then I could stop crying and tell my husband, who was totally shocked, dismayed, and confused by my weird behavior, what was going on in my head. We ended up going downtown Campagnano di Roma (see me in the red blouse, to the right...) and found a coffee shop (what a surprise), a clothing store, and some beautiful medieval architecture, which included a church that was under restoration. It really turned out to be a beautiful afternoon, walking through these old city streets, with my adorable and eager-to-please husband. A truly sweet, memorable moment!
So when we returned home to Fort Collins, Colorado, two weeks later, I had already begun planning in my head that we would have an auction and sell everything in the house, find an international English-speaking church in Rome, or thereabouts, and move to Europe to serve the Lord. You can now understand my amazement and confusion when we got a call, out of the blue, from a pastor John from our now home church. Who is this? and where do you live? Kansas? Where's Wichita? I don't even know how to spell it!
It was then I pulled out the state map of Kansas to see if there was a city named 'Rome' near Wichita.
You see, I don't get to chose where we serve the Lord. God does. I believe with all my heart that for today, the here and now, we are serving the Lord in Wichita - but the day will come, I don't know when, when God will say - 'Here you go. I promised you'd be back!'
Sunday's coming, ladies and gentlemen. No matter what building we may be in, no matter the city name or state, or even continent, we still serve the same God. Let's serve Him and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and thank Him for the opportunity without complaint.