Time To Move On

Php 3:13-14 NIV Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We had, what I believe to be, a pivotal moment in our church this weekend. We celebrated two major mile stones, one pointing to the past and the other pointing to the future. First we celebrated our 80th anniversary as a church. We recalled the many things the founding of the church and those who were a part of that. We also reviewed the building of our current facility over 20 years ago and the trials and triumphs associated with that. It was fun to look at the old pictures, hear the stories from those who were there, back in the day. It was good to see how God had led those who have been involved over the years. But, we can't live in the past.

The second big event of the weekend was the symbolic burning of our mortgage. We were blessed by a substantial, unexpected, sum of money and it was used to pay most of our mortgage and we were able to gather the remaining balance in just a couple of months. The arrival of this money was absolutely a God thing! With the payoff of the mortgage comes freedom, with freedom comes choice, and with choice comes responsibility. We were faced with the knowledge that God had given us freedom and it is our responsibility to exercise that freedom for the Glory of God and the mission He has outlined for us. In short, we have no more excuses for not moving forward for the Kingdom of God!

What is true for the church is also true for the believer. Whatever we feel about our past, whether it be pride, shame, regret, or a combination of these three, we need to lay our feelings aside, take up our cross, and move forward. It is when we are constantly looking to the past that we often stumble because we do not see our path clearly as our focus is rearward. If we are moving forward to meet the challenges head on then we are more confident of our footing. According to the scriptures, when we accept Christ as our savior we are a new creation, the things in our past no longer have a hold on us, the future can place no restraint on us, so, deal with the pain or pride of the past and then move forward!

But then, what do I know, I'm just a rodeo clown!

A Fresh Start

Did You Miss Me?

After I started this blog back in September of 2008 I quickly found out that I really didn't have the time to keep it up. I have recently entered into semi-retirement. One of the things that I want to do with my newly acquired spare time is write. I am in the process of refining my skills and have decided to use this blog as my outlet for the time being. Hopefully you will notice improvement in my style and content as time goes by. For the time being my goal for this blog is to simply have fun writing!

What Day Is It?

Thus far, this semi-retirement thing has been just a little confusing. I am working at the church two full days each week and Sundays, of course. For the first couple of weeks my sense of timing was completely thrown off kilter. I showed up one week early for two different meetings, and then spaced off several other events. It is like my ability to read and follow the calendar was disrupted. Because my wife had retired a short while ago, the week days off all seemed like Saturdays! It took me a couple of weeks to get past this challenge.

Now What?

The next thing I had to do was figure out how I would spend my time. I wanted to avoid both becoming too busy and just doing nothing. One of the main reasons I am taking early semi-retirement is to be able to spend more time with my wife and to be able to have the time to do some of the things I wanted to do, but couldn't because of time restraints. It's funny how you can dream about all those wonderful plans for retirement and yet, when you actually get there, things don't seem to be as easy as they looked as you were dreaming.

Does Writer's Block Hurt Much?

I have managed to begin working on writing. I have done some research online into resources I might be able to use to get started and have begun to do some of the writing exercises suggested by the various writing websites I have chosen to work with. Thanks to my wonderful wife, I have a dedicated writing space that allows me the seclusion I need to think and yet gives me a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside. I have also started to keep notes of various things I notice around me to be used as ideas for writing projects. I have brushed up on my typing skills and my grammar. I have chosen to write short stories to start, with an eye for possibly stringing some of them together into a larger project at some point. At this moment, the most difficult thing for me seems to be getting my 62 year old brain to function in the creative mode after having to operate in the logical mode for so many years. With time and patience this should resolve itself eventually.

See You Later?

For now I am both excited and just a little nervous about actually getting started! So, as we make this journey together, please be patient with me, after all, what do I know, I'm just a rodeo clown!