Pat and I laugh about our first home decorating. We tease each other that while our peers were doing their homes in Early American, we were doing ours in Early Attic. Our stuff was found at curb sides, saved from decomposition in landfills. (Green people ought to love us!) A few pieces have survived three children and eight grandchildren. They remind us of a happy era and wonderful people.
“New” is special. I have been making a mental list of “new” experiences. A freshly washed the car feels new. New tires make the ride safer, but pleasingly new for a few miles. An old room with a fresh coat of paint has a new attraction. And, have you shared a small, but distinct pleasure of being the first to squeeze a new tube of toothpaste? I enjoy opening a new ream of paper, writing with a new disposable pen, or opening the morning newspaper are small pleasures for me.
And, then there are a few really BIG “news,” firsts that represent life-altering change. As I write this item, I am aware that it is unlikely that I will ever be a pastor again in the same manner that I have been for most of the past 45 years. I will write as frequently as possible with a pastor’s viewpoint and desire in my heart. But, this forum is new in a significant way.
Above my boyhood pastor’s head, on the rear wall of the sanctuary, was a banner which read, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17. At my bedside at age 5 or 6, in the middle of the night my father and mother prayed with me and the “new” began. And, it is still happening in me. The “old” is more “passed away” than it was when I began, and everything remains new.
Our plans are to travel to Phoenix for the General Council of the Assemblies of God this week. If we do not post something new before Monday, August 8th, it is because we are absorbing “new” and spending time with old-time friends. That never gets old!
Enjoy something new today! We expect to continue exploring and discovering too!
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