From the Pastor’s Heart

We once again find ourselves stepping over into a New Year. As we stand at the threshold of this New Year time may be on our minds. We find ourselves looking in two directions.

We look back over the past year. As we look over our shoulders at 2010 we try to set the past behind us, forgetting the regrets, the mistakes, the missed opportunities and the failures.

At the same time we also find ourselves looking forward to 2011. To walk through this New Year invites one onto new stages of life. Every January there is a sense of freshness. We tell ourselves, “Things will be different this year!” Of course, once over the threshold, it does not take long to realize that the year gets old rather quickly. Much of what we thought we left behind in the old year is still packed in the baggage we carry into the new one.

The New Year is a wonderful opportunity to embrace a deeper understanding of God’s gift of time—how to receive it, how to value it, how to handle it, how to use it.

Imagine, for example, you have a bank account with a balance of $86,400.00. Nice thought isn’t it! Only that $86,400.00 is only available to you for one day. At the end of that day, it’s “use it or lose it.” What would you do with the money? Draw it out and put it in an account that’s more secure? What if that wasn’t possible?

How would we spend the $86,400.00? We’d want to spend the whole $86,400.00, hopefully wisely.

Well, we all have an account like that. It is called TIME. Every morning we are credited with 86,400 seconds. By the end of the day every one of them is spent. We will never get them back.
Time is precious. We need to spend it wisely, on things that matter, before it is too late. The beginning of a New Year is a good time for a resolution to strive to use our time well.

In his poem, “In Memoriam M.K.H. 1911-1984,” Irish poet Seamus Heany writes of peeling potatoes alongside his mother on a Sunday morning when he was a child. He vividly recalls the gleaming bucket of water, the little pleasant splashes as the potatoes dropped, her head bent toward his, their breathing in unison. Henry never felt closer to his mother than in that moment, peeling potatoes with her on a Sunday morning. It was something he remembered while his mother lay dying.

We never know when we might be making a memory. In the 86,400 seconds we have each day are we intentionally making good memories for our loved ones and those around us? Or are we wasting the seconds away? Are we grumbling and complaining? Or are we thriving and rejoicing?

Each and every one of those 86,400 seconds is a gift from God. And it is always the right time to love our God by loving all of our brothers and sisters. The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”
It is about time for us to take time seriously. God created time and gave a measure of it to each of us to use to His glory. The clock is ticking. So let’s not “kill time” in the year ahead. If there is one resolution that we make this year may we resolve to use our time for the glorification of our benevolent God.

My prayers for a happy, healthy and a time well spent New Year.

Blessings,

Pastor Russel

A HEART FULL OF THANKSGIVING

It is with a grateful heart that I offer these sincere words of appreciation for the Christmas gift from my church family. You are a blessing to Nancy and me in so many ways.
Nancy and I also wish to offer our appreciation for the many expressions of love extended to us over the Advent and Christmas Seasons.
And to all who helped make the Advent and Christmas services so meaningful and memorable I offer my deepest appreciation. God was experienced in mighty ways because of your dedication and service.

With love and appreciation,
Pastor Russel