Pastor Appreciation

Many churches use the months of October as an occasion to express appreciation to their pastoral leadership.  I am blessed to be a part of such a church.  This year our congregation had a special meal last Wednesday night for Pastor's Appreciation Month.   The event featured a large gathering of people giving up a part of their Wednesday evening, greeting cards, gifts (including an iPad!), and many verbal expressions of love and support.  It was a great evening, and my wife and I were very grateful for it.

At one point in the event I paused to scan the whole crowd.  I think the Holy Spirit wanted me to stop and pay attention to how really fortunate I am.  The gathering was a mix of people, but not just a variety of ages, backgrounds, gender, etc.   Some people there had been a part of this congregation for most of their lives.  Some gave their lives to Jesus and became part of this church only after weeks ago.  Some people haven taken huge faith steps to support the church's current disciple-making mission.  Some have been uncertain about the church's outward focus but they are hanging in their anyway.  Some have been my best cheerleaders in leading this church outward.  Others have not been in favor of all the ways I've led the congregation, but they care enough about the church and it's people to stick with it, no matter what.  That takes real commitment and courage.  Some have seen unbelievable blessings in their lives.  Some have walked the deepest darkest valleys and are still in them, but point beyond themselves to new life in Jesus anyway. All of them came to express appreciation.

Looking at all of them together I was reminded that this is the real gift - all of them.  To have the amazing gift of being allowed to be a part of everything God is doing here and to be with this glowing group of God's daughters and sons and sons in the doing of it, that's the real pastor's appreciation gift.  (Though the iPad really is pretty cool...I'm just saying...)

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

She Skips!

My wife and I just returned from an Autumn vacation, mostly visiting family.   We have five grandchildren, the two oldest of which are our granddaughters, one of whom is six and the other is nearly four.  We were blessed with opportunities for extended time with each of the girls individually.  You know how God's Spirit sometimes seems to speak to you by calling your attention to something otherwise overlooked in an ordinary situation?  It happened with each little girl.  The Spirit spoke as we walked together in a zoo, in a restaurant, at a playground, or anywhere.  It's like God's voice said, "Look at her.  She skips!"

Remember skipping?  I don't even know how to describe it in print.  It's kind of hopping, leg lifting, leaping, all in a rhythm.  Nobody has to teach able children how to do it.  There's no single cause of it.  In a task as simple as walking from a front door to a vehicle the girls would simply break into a skip for no particular reason.  It's as if some inner voice says to them, "You're alive.  You're loved.  Something interesting and new may happen at any moment.  Skip!"  Even that explanation is way too anal and adult.  They're just wired to skip as a way to express joy in the moment, and it happens.  It seems that growing up is a process of dismantling that wiring, so that we just walk in a dignified and controlled manner, as mature people are supposed to do.

So why do I look at Paige and Aubrey (our granddaughters) and delight in watching them skip?  Why do I hope that they never stop skipping?   Why do I wish I still broke into a skip now and again?  When I get lost in praise worshipping Jesus, why don't I just skip around the auditorium?   Maybe we really are wired for unbridled, skipping joy, and the burden of being "responsible adults" is our hunger to reconnect with the God-designed joy in us that surges in an impulse to leap before the Lord?

Do something nice for yourself today. Wait until after dark if you're worried someone will see you.  Go outside and say to yourself, "No matter what, I am a child of the living, loving God."  And skip. 
I'll see you around the next bend in the river.