Sustaining, Celebrating, and Starting Life

How cool would this title be if "celebrating" started with an "S"?

Remember that I'm a Pastor, and along with my ordination certificate came an obsession with alliteration.

Alliteration aside, this has been my week.

After searching the corners of my mind for a topic to address this week, I looked at my calendar to see if anything sparked an idea.  After all, part of the whole blogging experience is sharing one's life, right?

And here is what I found.  My week could be summed up by the words "sustaining, celebrating, and starting life."

Sustaining Life- this past Tuesday was our 19th wedding anniversary.  Our life may not be perfect, and maybe it's not the life YOU want, but it suits us pretty well.  And you have to admit that these days for a marriage to last 19 years it takes some pretty serious sustainability (keep an eye out for a future post on inventing words).

Nineteen years brings a lot of change, and it takes commitment to keep it going.  I gladly say that in many ways the word "commitment" seems inappropriate, as it makes it seem like I had to white-knuckle my way through, and that is far from the case.  I honestly love my wife and enjoy being around her much more than anyone else I know.  But to sustain a marriage does take commitment.  You have to remember that "til death do you part" means sticking it out through job changes (and more job changes), moves, wallpaper removal, torn up lawns, flooded basements, house additions, house sales, house purchases, wisdom teeth removals, ER visits, funerals, weddings, dog messes, dog deaths, etc., etc., etc.  What is the secret?  I'm not entirely sure, but check back with me at the end of this post.

Celebrating Life- Wednesday night/Thursday morning our church family said a final goodbye to a long-time member, servant, and brother. Deacon Ira Queener met His Lord, and I attended his visitation Wednesday night and his funeral Thursday morning.  I never had the opportunity to know Ira, as he was in failing health and resided in a nursing home when we moved down here, but there are few people in this world of which you never hear a bad word.  By all accounts, Ira was a faithful servant of Christ for many years, served anyone in need, and fully lived the life he was given.  So although his death is a somber event, in many ways his funeral was a celebration of his life.  Perhaps not in the balloon and iced cream sense of the word "celebrate", but certainly in the sense of the "we are all so glad to have known him" sense of "celebrate."

Starting Life- finally, last night we attended a fund raising dinner for Mosaic Pregnancy and Health Centers, a local facility that provides counseling and healthcare to women facing unwanted pregnancy, with the two-fold aim of sharing the gospel with them and swaying them to allow their baby to live.  The event was a very classy affair, with Pam Tebow (mother of QB Tim Tebow) acting as the keynote speaker.  Whether from Mrs. Tebow or any of the other speakers, we heard amazing stories of babies who were allowed to live, women who were helped and needs that had been miraculously provided.  I for one came away with an unbelievable awe of how powerful organizations like this can be.

So what's the common thread that has run through the tapestry of my week?  Jesus Christ.  With Christ in our marriage, we both have not just the will but the desire to love one another, not only in the good times but maybe even more so in the bad. With Christ in Ira's life, he had not only the will but the desire to serve others and make a lasting impact on those around him.  And with Christ at the center of Mosaic's ministry, they have not just the will, nor just the desire, but also the ability to reach out and help those young mothers who have been fed a line of evil nonsense that tells them their only option is abortion.

When I looked at my calendar on Monday, all I could think was "good God."  Looking back, all I can think is "what a GREAT God!"