Memories From the Past, Looking to the Future, Living in the Present
This past Sunday was Pastor Lee’s last Sunday serving as our pastor. After more than eight years of him being a part of our lives, it was an emotional day. You don’t spend this amount of time with someone without there being a significant impact made.
Change is inevitable and we need to embrace it.
We need to remember that if we get stuck, we will become stagnant. Think about how fresh and clear a running stream is. Then compare that to a stinky, muddy, moss ridden pond.
A large portion of Sunday’s service was spent sharing what he means to us and what we have meant to him.
He shared that over the years we have learned a lot from each other. He knows us, who we are, what we like, and how we act. We learned the same about him and his family. Three things that he said he learned were…
- People are searching for God, knowingly or unknowingly
- The Bible is still as relevant today as it was when it was written
- The Church is necessary
Embracing these truths rather than pushing them away makes for a better community and world.
Embracing is hugging, taking up readily and gladly. There was a lot of embracing (hugging) done Sunday.
As a church we’ve been going through a lot of change in the past year and Pastor Lee’s leaving is just one part of that change. This is why it’s important to be “flexibly rigid”. (link to post)
We need to be true to who God has called us to be without getting distracted by things that are fleeting.
A good example of this is one of the stories that was shared. It was about a milk cow that was bought. It was kicker. It kicked over the milk bucket. It kicked over the milking stool. Milking this cow was not going as planned.
At the same time there was a cow in the pasture that was not feeding its newborn calf. After giving this situation some thought, it was decided to see if the kicking cow would feed the calf…it did.
So, the pasture cow became the milk cow and the milk cow became the pasture cow. This is being flexibly rigid. They got a milk cow and the calf got fed. This was not their plan, but it worked out.
This is embracing change.
Let’s embrace the past and what we’ve learned from it.
Let’s embrace the future and the possibilities it holds
Let’s embrace the present and not forget to live every day in the here and now.
Thank you, Pastor Lee, for your leadership, friendship and making us better people!
