Springtime Good-Byes

Hello my peeps. Sorry it has been such a long time, but I've been overwhelmed with the comings and goings of life.

I generally love the things that you get to say good-bye to when spring comes: winter coats, socks, scraping ice off of the car, etc. It's so easy to say adios gray skies, hello sunshine! This spring, however, has brought many different good-byes.

First, we said good-bye to S-in-law's dad. He had been battling cancer for such a long time. I'm sure he was exhausted. While his death may have been a physical blessing, I'm not sure it was a spiritual one. There were many prayers said for him, and Ben and his friend Ed reached out to share God's promises with Bill, but I don't know if he ever accepted Jesus as his personal saviour.

I also said good-bye to my volunteer position at church. For three years I've produced the contemporary worship services at my church. Xalt started as an overflow service for the Easter crowds. It was just me, the pastor and a few band members. Today Xalt has grown into three separate services that make-up 1/3 of the worshipping body of the church. Every Sunday required many hours of planning (from choosing and editing videos to overseeing song selections to making sure the slide techs ran spell check), overseeing around 45 volunteers, and providing the pastoral staff with post-service color commentary. It was a wild ride where I learned a heck of a lot about myself and made fantastic friends. It was also tiring. While I don't regret that this part of my walk is over, I am a little apprehensive about the future. I can't remember the last time that I went to a Sunday Morning service where I wasn't involved in some way. It's going to be weird next Sunday morning.

Finally, I'm saying good-bye to my solitude...at least temporarily. I have a friend who is going through some horrible things because he made some really bad decisions all because he doesn't know God. Consequently, he's going to be staying at my house for a couple of weeks until he gets his wits about him. If you think about it, say a prayer for him -- Ryan. And say a prayer for me too...we all know I have about three days of being nice in close proximity until I erupt with everything tough-love Chuck ever taught me.

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!