Homies on the Way Home
I had a great time this week just hanging out with my homies, or to put it in pastoral vernacular, I enjoyed our church's annual staff retreat very much. It's amazing to me how quickly people can connect, especially when we have Christ in common and a shared sense of God's call on our lives. I am truly honored and blessed to serve with such a gifted and dedicated team here at Memorial. And, we are having a barrel of fun working together, and that's a huge bonus blessing.
Getting to know a new staff so quickly really shouldn't surprise me. As I reflect on my life and ministry, I know I have found new friends and real homies everywhere the Spirit has taken me. Last month I heard from Clay who was my partner in ministry twenty years ago. Now he lives and serves near Seattle, but he still feels like a homeboy to me. I think of good and godly lay persons who reached out to me in friendship and love and who I know still remember me in their prayers. Bill and Linda, Hilson and Pat, Mike and Carol, Neil and Norma, Ellwood and Fern, and so many others. And, I have worked with wonderful staff and will always feel a deep bond of affection for Bruce and Lorri and Buff and Bob and Brian and Cara and Connie, more than I can name. And my homies are not just close to home, either.
I have a homie named Mickail who pastors a vibrant, little church in a small village in rural Belarus. Another one of my homies is Komatsu, still a teenager when I met him, yet he had started a new church in his hometown near Pretoria, South Africa. I wish I could tell you all about Ruslam and his family who lead Agape Church in a tiny apartment in Kiev, Ukraine. He's my homie, too, even though I only got to spend two weeks with him.
God is so good and gracious, isn't he? He brings us alongside precious partners and friends all along the way, so that we can blend our gifts, share our burdens, celebrate our victories, and encourage each other in every circumstance. Homies on the way home.
Getting to know a new staff so quickly really shouldn't surprise me. As I reflect on my life and ministry, I know I have found new friends and real homies everywhere the Spirit has taken me. Last month I heard from Clay who was my partner in ministry twenty years ago. Now he lives and serves near Seattle, but he still feels like a homeboy to me. I think of good and godly lay persons who reached out to me in friendship and love and who I know still remember me in their prayers. Bill and Linda, Hilson and Pat, Mike and Carol, Neil and Norma, Ellwood and Fern, and so many others. And, I have worked with wonderful staff and will always feel a deep bond of affection for Bruce and Lorri and Buff and Bob and Brian and Cara and Connie, more than I can name. And my homies are not just close to home, either.
I have a homie named Mickail who pastors a vibrant, little church in a small village in rural Belarus. Another one of my homies is Komatsu, still a teenager when I met him, yet he had started a new church in his hometown near Pretoria, South Africa. I wish I could tell you all about Ruslam and his family who lead Agape Church in a tiny apartment in Kiev, Ukraine. He's my homie, too, even though I only got to spend two weeks with him.
God is so good and gracious, isn't he? He brings us alongside precious partners and friends all along the way, so that we can blend our gifts, share our burdens, celebrate our victories, and encourage each other in every circumstance. Homies on the way home.
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