What a week...

Met some New People 
I was so pumped this week to meet some new people! I saw some great guys from Wawasee that I had never seen at NMC before! Shout out to Justin and Keegan cause they are sweet and Justin can sing the roof off the place and I met Keegan when I was umpiring one of his baseball games last year or so.
 

Ministry Firsts
This was the first week that Derry has been out of the office and I had to coordinate all things Senior High. Ok, clearly not everything, because of the amazing Kristy Mikel, however, of the things that we usually do on Wednesday Night or Sunday morning, I was the only one doing those things. Needless to say, I think I have grown up so much in this week. I'm not really sure that I could pinpoint one thing that I have learned, but I am positive of one thing; I think I could make it. See, the biggest thing that I lack is confidence in being able to do things of excellence. I am always second guessing myself and trying to make excuses as to why I'm not good enough for something or someone. (This is not a pity party, just a recognition of growth in this week.) Whether it is the position that I have been graciously afforded at this church, or the place that I find myself intellectually, I have always found reasons why I'm not good enough.

Coming into this week, I had always had someone to defer to when it came to making decisions and working through tough situations. Whether it was Chris Lehane last year in Junior High, or Mark Lantz when I was at BC Athletics, or Derry since being here at NMC in the Senior High; someone else was always the responsible party. All that said, I am still not the desk where the buck stops, nor have I even moved into a broader range of responsibility when it comes to calls in our ministry, but I have felt the weight of being the only one here and having to make judgment calls on how we do things WITHOUT the counsel of a seasoned pastor across the hall.

Personal Revelation
This week has also been a huge moment of growth spiritually. I have had my definition of Grace defined, redefined and redefined again through my study of Grace and paying attention to Grace in my life. It is funny, I have preached in the past two weeks on the need for us to stop backing out of Hell and start running toward Heaven, but I'm not sure that this notion has transcended into my own life. Well, I think that I am going to be putting my foot down.



A Beautiful Collision
This all comes at a very opportune moment for me and my walk with Christ. In recognizing my insecurities and my doubts and second-guesses of myself and my abilities, I choose Grace. In understanding what it takes to be able to strain toward the prize which is promised for me in Heaven, I choose Grace. In continuing to learn what it means to holistically follow after Christ and to be more like Him in everything that I do, I choose Grace.

I choose Grace because it is freely offered to me.
I choose Grace because it erases my past and turns me toward Today.
I choose Grace because it is the only way that I will be able to be with Jesus.
I choose Grace because without it, I am nothing and capable of anything that pleases the Father.
I choose Grace because He chose me; on the cross; without hesitation; with determination and conquered Death so that my sin would be condemned, even before I was born.
I choose Grace because it is the single, most important piece of my effort to run the race that is set before me.

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 2:12-14

A Year in Review

I can easily say, this has been the most exciting year of my life. But I think that this year has represented the hills and valleys that I have gone through to get to this point. Even as I begin to write this, I am faced with the realization that there is absolutely no way to cover the things that I am so grateful for that entered my life and gave my life a distinct flavor that I will never forget, nor should I want to. So, I am going to try and break some of these things down to some categories so that we can all keep our sanity.

1. People. I am pretty sure that I can't even put into words how much I have been blessed by the people that God has put into my life. Whether it be professors, mentors, family or friends, I have been so richly blessed by people. 

Professors like Scott Johnson who challenged me to think outside my little perfect world or Chad Meister who taught me to think critically and to consider the opponent's schemes so that I could understand my own beliefs better. Professors like Tim Erdel to gave me confidence that I was able to do things well even though my past told me otherwise or Ted Bryant, who I didn't even have a class with, that inspired me with his walk with Christ and willingness to share it with others so that they may know Him more. Professors like Dave Schmidt who made it a point to make sure that I graduated sooner than later.


Mentors like TL, Captain Bley, Tank Lehane, or The Talented Mr. Prenkert who have invested so much into my life whether from afar or from doing ministry together, they have changed my life and given me some great perspective on life and ministry. I can't wait to see how God continues to use these guys to help mold me in the coming months and years (?).

Family that has given me some healthy challenges and much needed refreshment. I have been given a task and my family is still a major part of that task. I am so blessed to have the family that I do and the ways that they choose to show me love. God truly had a plan.

My friends are such a huge part of my life in the past year that it is impossible to list the many things that warm my heart each time I think of all that they mean. The fact is that in the previous four years or so, God has blessed me with friends who love me and push me. They allow themselves to be used by God. They inspire me to be better. They stay up late. They try to make me stay up late. We did crazy stuff together. We traveled. We cheered. We cried. We celebrated. We made the most of what we had. We talked. A lot. We debated. We yelled at each other. We pondered our futures together. And apart. We had heart to hearts that we probably should have saved for another time. You forgave me. Many times. You made fun of me. I made fun of you. We won. We lost. I got mad. You laughed. We all laughed. We prayed. We worshipped. We served His people. We continue to try and serve His people. We sang. We shouldn't have sang. We went places together I never thought we would go. We went to places we always go. We ate. Too much. I'll be right back. It's ok. We said goodbye. We will say goodbye again. And again. And again. And again. I hope.

Thanks to all the people in my life that have made this year worthwhile. God has used you to make me more of the man that He has intended me to be.


2. His Presence. I have been amazed at how much I have been in touch with the Holy Spirit this year. There are two options to explain this one. I have so much more closer to Christ that I can no longer ignore His voice, OR He is speaking more than before. The problem with option number 2 is that He is always speaking and moving me. SO, I guess I can say that I have been closer to Jesus more this year than any other year. I think that this is simply me recognizing how He speaks to me and how I hear Him. Hearing God's voice has been something of a learning process for me and for what He truly wants from me.

I am so thankful for His presence in my life. I would be in a much different place if He didn't show up in mighty ways on April 4, 2007.  Thanks to all of those that He has spoken through. Thanks to all of those that have pushed me to continue to search for His voice. He is so Good.


These are just some reflections on a late night. I am richly blessed by Him, His people and the experiences that He has had me go through in the past year. I just need to stop and reflect on those blessings more than once a year. 


What about you? How has He blessed you this year?