We take so many little things for granted.  I wore real clothes for the first time in the last two days.  Somehow making a funeral home visit and a hospital visit in a pair of jogging pants and tennis shoes didn’t seem too appropriate. 

A baby is born in our church and a friend dies unexpectedly at 63 of a heart attack.  The cycles of life.

The surprised look on my friend’s wife’s face when we walked into the funeral home was worth the almost six hour roundtrip drive.  So was the look on the new mom’s face when I walked into her hospital room. 

Life is about relationships—ours with the Lord Jesus first and then with others.  That’s what Jesus said, isn’t it?  He summed up all of life with these two commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart….and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Yep.  Life is about relationships.  It isn’t about what you accumulate or what you attain.  It is about relationships.  Life sure would be better if we lived with that in mind.

Solomon wrote there is a time to be born and a time to die.  From my point of view what really matters is what we do between the two.  My friend, Mike, put his faith into action.  I am sure he heard, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  He spent most of his life helping “the least of these.”

My times are in His hands.  So are yours.  Life is precious.  Lord, help me celebrate life, embrace life, cherish life, but Lord, help me never waste it.  Many a night I lie down and think, “Is what I have done today worth sacrificing a day of my life for?”

I got an email yesterday from a girl who was in my youth group some 30 years ago.  Every pastor ought to be blessed at some point in their ministry to get an email like that one.  What kind of impact do you have on a teenager?  We never really know, do we?  At least until someone tells us.  Tell someone today the impact they have had on your life.

The Lord willing, I plan to be back in the pulpit on Sunday.  It is my “back to church” day.  Lord, help me be a pastor warrior.  It is all about You.  May your grace be sufficient.