Life... comes fast! (especially for my First Church family)

Mid-July marked one year of serving with you at First Church and living here in Bakersfield, CA. As I think back on the year, two pictures come to mind. The first is the picture that was featured in last August’s issue of the Spirit, which was of our two daughters, Christina, and me right after my sister’s wedding. We were dressed in our best – and were probably the perfect picture of a put-together family.

The second picture I thought of was the picture we took last month for the church photo directory. You’ll have to wait to see that one. We’re dressed a little more casually – our “new best” – and there are other changes and events that the new picture represents:

...We came as a family of four, now we’re a family of five.
...Christina has been in the hospital more this year than she have been in the past seven years.
You, our new church family, showered us with welcome gifts, baby gifts and meals, cards, and other wonderful expressions of caring during Dumisani’s birth and Christina’s subsequent hospitalization.
...We’re not as put-together as we would like to be, but thank God, we’re still together, happy, and growing in grace and love. And we wouldn’t trade our new addition for all the fastidiousness in the world!

As I embark on a new ministry year with you, I’m reminded that life will continue to come at us fast. I pray that God will help us continue to grow into the kind of church He wants us to be. You already demonstrate tremendous love and caring, and continuing in that, let’s also grow in fervency of prayer and boldness of witness, to the glory of the Lord.