Wednesday, February 28, 2007

some change

As a bunch of you know, I have moved to a new town, a new church, a new situation. I spent three great years in Vernon, Texas as the youth minister for the Wilbarger Street Church of Christ. This little church in west Texas gave me more opportunitiy than I could have ever asked for with ministry. They let a guy who had no experience and no credentials a chance to work with their kids and families. I will always be grateful to this church for loving me and allowing me to love their kiddos.

I miss them a lot. More than I would have ever thought. Change is something that is anticipated with excitement, but tough to navigate. I am really enjoying my time here in Granbury, but it seems to come with some longing for something familiar. While I know that Granbury will be familiar someday, I still long for something truly familiar and safe.

What is ironic is that Vernon isn't familiar and safe by any means. Only the memory is. I guess I will have a safe and familiar place when I am home with God. He never said it would be safe or easy here. So we do our best to find a place, a home to settle here on this earth, but we should never feel satisified or truly cozy until we find our rest in God.

Will that rest come here on earth? I am not sure. Do we only drudge through life just to eek our way into heaven? Again, not really sure. I do know that my heart longs for home. Maybe that longing is wired into our systems by God to keep our focus on him and our hearts turned towards eternity, not here. Jesus never really felt at home here on earth either. He always talked about God and going back to make a place for us in heavan. Paul had an internal struggle with whether or not to stay on earth or to go home to heaven. He wanted to stay here to change lives for Christ, but he wanted to go home as well. What a paradox!

The point is that we are eternal people living in a temporary world. As a young guy, I struggle to see the marathon of life while I am busy sprinting. My soul was made for things that will last, not temporary things like where I live or things I do.

What do you guys think? These are my thoughts but I want yours as well.

Look for some more changes to the blog in the coming weeks.

Chris