Weight of The Wait

There's a saying that tells us this is "the most wonderful time of the year."

And this IS the most wonderful time of the year.  I love the Fourth of July, with its sun and fireworks and flip flop tans.  It's difficult to beat a good Thanksgiving! Football, cooler temps, and turkey.

But there's something about Advent, this month leading up to Christmas, that just makes my heart go.  It's got nothing to do with presents, pumpkin spice lattes (or whatever the flavor of the season is) or even SNOW!

Advent, the season we spend anticipating, eagerly awaiting the birth of Christ, is meant to bring us to Christmas morning ready to raise our hands and praise the King that came as an infant.  Ready to praise because in the midst of hopelessness and despair, and after generations of crying out "O COME O COME EMMANUEL!!!!" the King arrived.

Generation after generation pleaded, cried, and prayed that their darkness would collide with the light.  Children were born waiting, lived waiting, and died waiting.  Their grandchildren and great grandchildren prayed they would know an end to the wait.

They were READY to praise and worship the King.  Ready to welcome him and honor him.  They were SICK AND TIRED OF WAITING.

They couldn't find the answer to what plagued them.  There was no answer, and they were beginning to believe there would never be an answer.  Ever since that first husband and wife ate from the tree, things were in disarray.

The world was falling apart: Disease, sickness, strife, and war defined the human race.  No matter what amount of good was done, it could never totally fix things.  Families were pulled apart, relationships were broken, lives were being taken.

They were told of a coming King that would BE the answer. 
He would be the Counselor to bring wisdom.
He would be the Prince that reigned in peace.
He would be the Mighty God that would defeat enemies.
He would be the Father that would never disappoint.

And still...more waiting. Would this King EVER COME?

It's hard to feel the weight of the wait.  All I know of waiting is the agony until the host exclaims "Jones PARTY OF THREE!" and I'm able to breathe again, because I know I'll finally get to eat my steak.

Waiting for a lifetime? What does that even mean? Waiting for LIFE, in a hopeless circle that only leads to death?  How agonizing it must have been to be born into hopelessness and die still waiting...

Romans 5 says "death reigned from Adam to Moses" and continued to reign through the story of the Old Testament.  Death REIGNED...it RULED...it COMMANDED the way the human race operated for generation after generation

WAIT.

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be God With Us." (Isaiah 7:14)

WAIT.

"But you, Bethlehem...who are too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me who is to be ruler in Israel..." (Micah 5:2)

WAIT.

"For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders..." (Isaiah 9:6)

WAIT.
WAIT.
WAIT.
WAIT.
ANTICIPATE.
GROAN.
WAIT.
PRAY.
PLEAD.
O COME O COME EMMANUEL.
WAIT.

"And in the same regions, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of GREAT JOY that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:8-12)

WAI...WHAT?!

Just ordinary, blue collar workmen.  Going to work on a Thursday (or Tuesday or Friday or whenever) night, like they had hundreds of nights before.  They woke up in waiting, figured they would go to bed waiting.

BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL.  God brings an end to the waiting.  God BROUGHT an end to the waiting! O to be one of those men, one of the first to understand that the first Advent was finally over! To hear the angels say "SHEPHERDS, party of three, your wait is over!"

Praise the Lord for the Gospel of GREAT JOY! Not joy that is cool to hear...GREAT JOY! There was no greater joy than that night when the first Advent concluded, and Christ the King was born.

So here we are, celebrating and remembering that first Advent.
Overcome with joy not just with the birth of our Savior, but the work of our Savior. 
The work that completed what you or I could never do.
The work that addressed the reign of death and said NO MORE.
The work that introduced hope to a broken world, life to a lifeless people.
The work that tells us in our brokenness we are loved and wanted.
 The work that makes us a people again.
 And now, the Lord says...WAIT.

But now, we can wait in Hope.  We wait in joy, peace, and assurance that just like with the first Advent, this one too will have an end.   Because Christ is coming again.  He will return, and make all creation His again.  The moon and stars will stop groaning, and the mountains will bow down because their Creator has returned.

So I wait.  I wait knowing that my wait will come to an end, whether it be when I die and see the face of Jesus, or if He first comes to claim His own, there's an end.

Because there's an end, there's also weight.

So many are still waiting for the First Advent.  Waiting for an answer to their loneliness, brokenness, and emptiness.  Waiting to understand their purpose, or the meaning of all of this.  Waiting for God, or a god, or something to interact with creation and make it all right again.

Church, it's our job to bring the GOSPEL of Great Joy to a waiting world.  It's our job to bring hope into lives desperate for an answer.  The answer is here.  The (first) wait is over and the second wait is worth more than the biggest gift under the biggest tree in the biggest house. 

Bring joy this Advent.  Because no one needs to bear the weight of the wait any longer.

JESUS IS BETTER.

We Know That You Are God and You Are Good

It seems like over the last seven days, this world has been bombarded and attacked by evil that is almost unimaginable.  Almost. 

As I'm writing this, here are the current headlines on CNN.com:

7 suspects arrested, 2 killed, including 1 who blew herself up
6 dead in campsite murder spree
New clues: Dead girls in barrels
Bombing makes them Stronger
Ringleader: Was he killed?

Some of those headlines are stories covering the recent attacks in Paris, while others are stories that have nothing to with Paris, but everything to do with evil. Evil is abounding in this world, and it is heartbreaking.  It hurts to think about, brings questions from our children that we struggle to answer, and causes adults all over the world to wonder why.  Even Christians, who have an unwavering faith in Christ, are pleading for His intervention.

NEWSFLASH: Christ HAS intervened.  Christ HAS stepped in to a broken, depraved, hopeless generation.  He offered peace, hope, healing, and life to a people that did not and do not deserve it.

The effect of sin on this world breaks the heart of our God.  In Scripture, He openly weeps (John 11) and groans (Mark 7) when He witnesses his people devastated from the brokenness of this world.  It wasn't supposed to be this way!

When Jesus looks upon the city of Paris, he doesn't do so from a distance, or as a Creator disinterested in the life of His creation.

When Jesus looks upon a horrendous scene at a campsite, he doesn't turn his back and move on, or shrug and begin work on the next disaster.

When a miscarriage occurs, or the death of a child from a horrible cancer, or the senseless murder of a gang member in the inner city, Jesus is not absent.  He has not removed Himself from that situation or abandoned those families that are now suffering an unimaginable loss.

He is weeping for the only part of His creation that he deemed "very good."  

So he intervened.  He intervened in a way that IS unimaginable.  He willingly subjected Himself to the same evil that is ravaging the world today.  He was willingly tortured, beaten, spit upon, and murdered.

He intervened so that our battle with this evil would only be temporary.  He intervened so that one day these headlines will cease and only HIS name will remain.  He intervened so that the same people committing these horrendous acts would have an opportunity to know their Creator.

He intervened so that the man who wrote the majority of the New Testament, a murderer, persecutor, and hater of all people different than him, would have the opportunity for life.

Jesus willingly subjected himself to the evil of the world so that Paul, a man who could be equated with the same terrorists who devastated Paris,  could receive LIFE.

"For I am the LEAST of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the GRACE OF GOD I am what I am." (1 Corinthians 15:9-10)

By the grace of God, grace MOST undeserved, Paul knew who he was: A terrorist who was given life by Jesus when he least deserved it.

By the grace of God, grace MOST undeserved, I know who I am: A wretched man who was given life by Jesus when I least deserved it.

And, with the intervention of the grace of God, grace MOST undeserved, we should pray the people behind the attacks in Paris, and those behind every act of horrendous evil, come to know who they are: Wretched, broken people offered life by Jesus when they least deserve it.

I believe the role of the Christian in a time like this is simple: We don't pray or plead or argue for their death.  We pray and plead with the Lord in Heaven for their life.  Not because they deserve it, but because we didn't deserve it either. 

We pray and plead for his intervention in this broken generation.  We pray, like Paul, for his quickened return because then we will be made entirely whole again.  But, like Paul, until that day, we must recognize that there is work to be done. 

Work that we should want to be a part of. 
To love people, forgotten by their own nation, even if we're unsure about our safety. 
To pray not for death, but for life. 
To pray not only for safety, but also for opportunity.
And to pray for God's glory, not for our vengeance.

We already own the promise that death has no hold over us.  We should want that same promise for every person of whom God spoke when he said, "it is very good."

"When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall it come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  BUT THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.   Therefore, beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:54-58)

Lord, may we not be a people that believe only we are deserving of the grace you've given.  AMEN.

Jesus is Better

"A satisfying reality is not to be found in things or thrills, but in a Person--Jesus Christ." -Warren Wiersbe


In the midst of one of the most difficult seasons in my life, this quote is TRUTH.  Things or thrills, comfort or security, victory or defeat: Jesus is better.  It's the deepest truth that I believe, it's the core of my worldview,  but it's also a daily decision to choose it.

In a season of questioning and wondering, it is something I must believe every day.  I know what the Bible says, and the promises Jesus makes.  In John 10, he tells us that the life He offers is greater than life anywhere else.  He says in John 6 that when we come to Him and choose Him, we will never be hungry for anything or anyone else again.  And I know that when I chose Jesus, I was free from proving myself righteous, or earning my reward.  Jesus IS my reward!

And to daily believe that can only happen one way. 

In his letter 1 John, the apostle John is trying to convey this exact point.  You know Jesus is better, you've believed Jesus is better, so DAILY choose to believe He is better. 

"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His names sake.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children, because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one." (1 John 2:12-14)

His message is simple: REMEMBER THE GOSPEL! You know it and you believed it, so remember it this day! Remember how the Gospel made you alive, and who you once were.  Remember the hold sin had on your life, and the freedom brought by the Gospel! Remember it, and cling to it!

This is my daily hope, remembering the Gospel.  Understanding each day the work that Christ did for me and in me, to bring me that life He teaches about. The moment I allow my heart to stray from what the Gospel has done in my life, the "things and thrills" of this world become more appealing.

This is what John writes next:

"Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him.  For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of the God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17)

Remember the Gospel.  Cling to the Gospel.  Because remember what it was like chasing the "things and thrills" of this world.  They disappear and leave you empty.  They take you to places you don't want to be. 

As a follower of Christ, I must daily be confronted with the truth of the Gospel and the life that it brings, because only the beauty of the Gospel will make the pursuits of this world seem worthless.  If I allow my eyes and heart to forget for even one day the Gospel in my life, then Satan wins that day.

Jesus is better.  I believe it, and daily I must choose it.

When I want so desperately to be satisfied in Christ alone, and yet I'm overwhelmed when I wake up in the mornings with the need to provide for my family and pay the bills and buy food for my son that I fail to recognize my blessing in this season of unemployment!

I wake up every morning and can have coffee with my wife instead of rushing out the door.
I wake up and am able to change my sons diaper, laughing with him the whole time because of the "blessing" he's given me.
I wake up and am able to passionately dive into His Scripture and understand Him more.

Jesus is better than our sorrow AND our victory.
Jesus is better than our employment AND our unemployment.
Jesus is better than the things and thrills.

Jesus is just BETTER.

BUT GOD…

The word but gets a bad rap.  But is often the beginning of an excuse: “I would have been at work on time BUT I had a flat tire.”   

But often precedes something that you are doing wrong: “You’re doing great in class, BUT you talk too much.” 

 But has even been known to break a heart or two: “You’re such a good friend, BUT I could never date you.”  This one hits particularly close to home.

A simple three letter word that so many of us don’t like to hear.  If you begin a sentence with it, you’re wrong.  If you use it to explain why you started a sentence with it, you’re still wrong.  And if you use it to explain to your parents why you talked back to your teacher after getting marked down on a paper for using it incorrectly, you get grounded.

There’s simply not a fun way to use that word.  And yet, with it, we are given a hope that is so far above any other hope, all other hopes look like little ants.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” (Ephesians 2:4-6)

Don’t tell your English teacher! Paul started a sentence with but!

Wait…actually, go tell your English teacher.  Paul started a sentence with but, and that sentence is the hope your English teacher needs.  It’s the hope you need, the hope I need, and the hope to which we can cling so tightly to.

BUT GOD.

Look what came right before those two words: I was dead in my sins.  I walked in those sins, living in them every day.  I followed the prince of this world, Satan, the one who so enjoyed seeing me ALIVE IN SIN, but DEAD.  I was alive in my worldly passions, alive in the sins that brought glory to me.  I was a child of wrath, deserving the total wrath of the Creator of everything that is good. I was carrying out the desires of everything God stands against.

BUT GOD was rich in His mercy towards me, when I was most deserving of His wrath.

BUT GOD had a great love towards me, greater than any love I could fathom.

BUT GOD saw me dead in my trespasses, dead in my sin, dead in my flesh, and made me ALIVE in Christ Jesus.

BUT GOD gave me the free gift of His grace, not because of anything I did, but because of everything that HE IS.

BUT GOD brought me near to Him through the blood of Christ.

BUT GOD, seeing me in all my wretched sin, restored me to His presence.

And that’s hard for me to comprehend.  This whole thing would make more sense if the words were “So God…” I was dead; deserving of wrath, walking in sin, fulfilling the will of Satan against God, SO GOD let me continue without intervening.

Or if it sounded like this: I was dead, deserving of wrath, walking in sin, but realized the error of my ways, started repairing all of the wrong I had done, SO GOD decided to recognize my efforts.

BUT GOD said “BUT GOD.”

My hope is found in one simple conjunction that appears in a way it’s not supposed to appear in the English language.

BUT MY HOPE doesn’t conform to the English language, or to the American way of thought, or the human mind.  God has given me what I do not deserve, at the time when I did not deserve it the most. 
 

And He offers it freely, to anyone who is ready to hear that conjunction differently than they have ever heard or understood it before: You don’t deserve His grace or mercy, BUT GOD.

Jesus Knows Me

I'm a sports junkie.  If you've ever met me for even just a couple minutes, it's something you've probably picked up on.  And if you watch enough sports, you'll see some crazy things, and a lot of them don't even happen in the game itself.

In an October 2006 Monday Night Football game, the Arizona Cardinals played the Chicago Bears. The Bears were one of the best teams in the league, and the Cardinals, well, weren't.  Even so, the Cardinals jumped on top by 20 points, only to surrender the lead and lose the game 24-23.  The game itself was weird, but it's what happened after the game that sticks in my memory.

The coach of the Cardinals, Dennis Green, went on a post-game tirade in front of the media.  Visibly furious over the collapse of his team, a reporter asked him if the Bears showed them anything different than what they had game planned for.  Green went ballistic, uttering the phrase (with a couple colorful words mixed in) "The Bears are who we thought they were! They're what we thought they were!" He then smacked the microphone, and stormed out.

The tirade became an instant hit.  It was developed into a commercial and has since been played on TV countless times, but I remember it as if it happened last week.  The sentence Green yelled over and over is etched in my mind.  "They are who we thought they were!" The Cardinals had studied the Bears, seen all the tape, even played against them in the preseason.  They knew their formations, knew their tendencies, maybe even knew some of their signals.  Yet they still struggled to keep up.

There's a flip side, though: If the Cardinals knew who the Bears were, then the Bears knew even better who the Cardinals were! The Bears were the best team in the league.  They had the best coaching staff and the best players.  They probably knew things about the Cardinals that the Cardinals didn't even know about themselves.  And they were able to use those things to overpower them.

Result of the game aside, I believe that sentence speaks volumes into our walk with Christ.  We know who Christ is.  Whether or not you believe what you know is a different story.  There really is no mystery when it comes to His identity.  Christ knows even better who WE are.  He knows things about us that we don't even know ourselves.  So why do we struggle to rest in the fact that if Jesus says something about who WE ARE, it must actually be who we are?

______________________

I've had this song called "Seek The Lord" by Isaac Wimberley (find it here) running through my head for a week now.  I want to share a few lines from the song right now:

          "If God is who He says that He is,
           then He has done what He said that He has done.
           Which means that Jesus Christ is the Risen Son.
           And if God is who He says that He is,
           then I am who HE says that I am."

As a pastor to students, I get asked some pretty honest questions.  One that occasionally comes up is this: "How can you believe in something as crazy as a man who died and then rose from the dead?" So, I pull out my Bible and read 1 Corinthians 15.

"But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied."

My answer is pretty simple.  If Jesus hasn't risen from the dead, then everything I teach and believe is useless and futile.  If I'm wrong, then it's a pretty sad life I've got.  BUT JESUS IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS.

I've studied enough Scripture, studied enough history, experienced enough in this life to understand one simple truth: JESUS HAS RISEN.  Jesus is alive.  And if Jesus really is alive, that tells me more about myself then I could ever hope to learn:

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)

"But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

"And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son! And if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:6-7)

"In Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God, through faith." (Galatians 3:26)

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:3-4)

"He has put His seal on us, and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." (2 Corinthians 1:22)

What all of those verses tell me is this: I am HIS.  I belong to Jesus.  He has my life thought through and figured out.  And I MATTER TO HIM.  Think of the beauty behind those words.

I MATTER DEEPLY TO THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. 

When I believe that Jesus is who He says He is, when I am convinced beyond any doubt that what I read in Scripture is the truth, the way, the life, then I am free to believe what that Truth says about me! 

That the Truth knows me better than I know myself.  That the Truth created me, formed me, knew my life before the foundation of the world.  That the Truth will walk behind me and before me, that the Truth desires His best for me.  That when I seek Him, I will find Him.  That He won't leave me to figure things out on my own.

When I believe Jesus, I get to believe that He wants me.  That he doesn't want me because he needs me, but He wants me because He LOVES me, and I MATTER TO HIM.

Here's where all of this must lead us.

Do I believe in the Truth that is Jesus? Do I believe that He is who He says He is, and that He's done what the Word says He's done? Because if the answer is YES, then it's clear that I also get to believe what He says about me, all the beautiful pieces of Scripture that point to his unfailing love and intimate knowledge of our lives.

Or am I struggling with who Jesus is? Do I have a hard time believing in the death of some guy who presumably raised from the dead? Do I really place my trust and faith and life in that? If so, it's hard to believe what He says about ME! Am I really loved? Am I really a child of the creator? Does my broken life actually matter to Him? 

What if it does? Ask Him.  Right now.  Even if you've never spent one second of your life praying, ask Him if your life matters to Him.  

 

 

Life in Transition

My favorite baseball player of all time is Cal Ripken Jr.  He had a 21 year career, and is regarded as one of the greatest shortstops to ever play the game.  He holds the record for the most consecutive games played at 2,632.  That is 16.25 seasons without missing a single game, taking a single sick day, or spending one second on the disabled list.  That's an incredible, unbreakable streak.

But perhaps an equally incredible statistic, Cal spent all 21 of his seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. 21 seasons, 21 years of his life, with one organization.  That doesn't happen much today, and I'm not just talking about baseball.

_____________________

I woke up this morning as a resident of Spring, TX.  For the past four years, I had called Ft. Worth home.  I knew the roads, knew the people, knew the weather, and now I don't. An hour ago, I had to Google the closest Starbucks.  I have to learn new running trails, and hundreds of new names.  I have to learn to sleep in a different room, shop at different stores, and sweat in more humidity.

Stuff Cal Ripken never had to deal with during his career.

I've wrestled a lot during the moving process with why I was dragging my wife through the tearful goodbyes and the stress of packing.  I've wracked my brain with reasons to stay in Ft. Worth, to keep things comfortable and easy.

I want to know what it feels like to be in the same place, with the same people, at the same workplace for 21 years.

I loved my home in Ft. Worth.  I loved working at The Church at the Crossing, and with the students of Aledo.  Loved it more than any other place I have done ministry.  I met my wife in Ft. Worth, and some of my best friends.  I finally was able to call it home.  

I don't want to be known as the guy who moves from place to place to place, searching for something that will satisfy in the way I want to be satisfied.  Those thoughts have been my life since we found out we'd be moving.

And it wasn't until our final goodbyes that they were put to rest.

Until this week, each move I had made in my life happened because I was afraid.  Afraid of never moving out of my mom's house.  Afraid of being alone.  Afraid of not being equipped for what I was doing.

Over the past few months, The Lord has spoken so clearly to Raven and I that this is what HE wanted for us.  That He had been preparing us, the students we loved so deeply, and the students we will begin to love so deeply, for this transition.

But that wasn't enough.  I needed a fleece, a talking donkey, a sun standing still.  I needed a sign, because of my decisions in the past.  I had scared myself out of transitions, because of all the other times I transitioned.  They were all on me, on my word, on my confirmation, and not the Lord's.

This time was going to be different.  And the Lord (not surprisingly) proved Himself faithful.

He spoke through pastors in three different states.
He spoke through an apartment complex owner that neither Raven nor I have or will ever meet.
He spoke through David Platt and Francis Chan over a year before we knew what was coming.
He spoke through a mom that I thought I could stop listening to once I turned 18.
He spoke through High School Freshmen who had no idea what they were saying.
He spoke through a toddler boy who can't even say his own name yet.
He spoke through Wells Fargo and Exxon.

So this morning, I woke up as a resident of Spring, and already call it home.  Jesus has made it so abundantly clear that He has something great for us to accomplish here.

If He's got something great for us to accomplish here, He's got something just as great for someone else to accomplish back in Aledo.  And that's when I realized it was time to go.  As much as I loved my home and family in Ft. Worth, God was bringing someone else to bring about the next pages in His plan there.

"Jesus said to him, 'no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.'" Luke 9:62 (ESV)

Jesus told us that if He leads us somewhere, we don't look back.  If we spend time looking back, we aren't fit for the Kingdom of God.  Sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

If I want to look back, then my place isn't with Jesus.  It's with me. Jesus moves us forward, to things that sometimes only He knows, only He can see.

Behind us are the things we know, the things we are good at, the things we don't need faith for.  In front of us are the things that we can only hope to accomplish because Jesus is in charge.

We aren't looking back.  We will still carry on relationships and conversations with the people we love. But we won't look back wondering what we might have missed, what we could have done if we had stayed.  Because then we will miss what He brought us here to do.  And I want to be fit for the Kingdom of God.

_________________

I'm starting the streak all over.  21 years to go.  I pray that Raven and I are able to stay here for a long time, move into our house, see our kids grow up, grimace as our hair turns gray or falls out, and glorify our Provider and Rock until our bodies give out.

But I also know that when we desire to let Jesus use us as He wants to, that might not be the case.  It might be another four years and gone, or 10, or 43.  I know He already knows where we are then.

Here's to life in Spring.  May Jesus be glorified.

Here Comes Summer!

"A lot of parents pack up their troubles and send them to Summer Camp."

______________________________________

Yesterday it hit 100 degrees here in Fort Worth for the first time.  Nothing special.  That's how it'll be until Thanksgiving.  HOT. 

Working with High School students, it seems more and more that my life revolves around the school calendar, and it is officially summer vacation.  I've already been sunburned, my flip flop tan is alive, and my steering wheel is almost too hot to touch.

But summer brings something into my life that I CRAVE each time it rolls around: A break in the routine.  Not that my life would ever be defined as routine, but the summer is so different from the other nine months of the year, that it is just about the opposite of routine.

Here is just a brief glimpse of the summer of a High School Pastor:

GRADUATION WEEK: Yep, that's right, I get to go to graduation.  And not just graduation, but all of the celebrations that come along with graduation.  This year, we graduated 27 seniors.  That's a lot of parties and shuffling between houses and hanging out with ten times that number of students.  It's always a fun time watching these guys and girls you've worked with for three years reach one of their goals.  This year, I made it my goal to congratulate each of them for finishing the easiest part of their lives.  I don't know if they appreciated the encouragement or not.

MFUGE: In two days, I'll spend 12 overnight hours on a 56 passenger charter bus with...yep...56 people.  It's going to be crowded.  We will make our way to New Orleans for a week of camp.  But not just an ordinary camp.  It's a camp and mission trip mashed together into one incredible week.  We will have students ALL OVER the city.  Building, cleaning, working with their peers, hanging out with elementary kids, and so much more.  It is by far my favorite week of summer, and something you look forward to again once it's over. 

ADVENTURE WEEK: If MFUGE is my favorite week of summer, this is definitely the craziest.  Our church will be filled with 700 kids in what can only be described as "Organized Mass Chaos." Singing, Dancing, Crafts, Bible Stories, Water Balloons, Snacks, and my favorite, Rec.  Each day I'll be in the gym with the kiddos playing dodgeball or tag or any number of games to keep them from attacking me.

MISSION TRIP/WEDDING/VACATION: For two weeks in July/August, I'll be back home in Colorado for a mission trip, and then a quick mountain vacation with the incredible Raven, and then I have the honor of officiating the wedding of one of my best friends. 

FUNRUNNERZ: Once a week throughout the summer, we go to an apartment complex in Ft. Worth and work with refugees from Africa and the Middle East, and put on a sort of day camp for the kids there.  It's hot, but it's awesome.

POOL PARTIES, PICNICS, AND THE OTHER CRAZINESS: And, as always, there is the random craziness that will be a part of our summer as we welcome in the new freshmen and officially say goodbye to the graduating seniors. 

Then school starts, and the "routine" begins again.  But between now and then, I'll spend about 14 minutes in my "office", and I couldn't be more excited.  It may be hot in Texas during the summer, but we will be going too fast to notice.