Back on Track

Well, it's no secret, my family and I have moved.  This past spring my district superintendent called and told me that the cabinet had been discussing my gifts and graces for ministry and that they believed that it was time for us to pack up and head West.  After discussing it with Myranda and the girls and praying about it, we agreed to the appointment.

I have to admit that I do enjoy moving.  I like meeting new people, seeing new places, and experiencing God in new and exciting ways.  However, I hate the process!  The packing, the purging, and the scheduling is always a nightmare.  In the midst of gearing up for the move it dawned on me that two areas of my life were going to take a direct hit.  Both of these things I have learned not only to enjoy but to cherish as a part of my daily schedule.  They are my prayer time and my exercise time.

About a month before the move, I began to pray that God would give me a double portion of his Spirit.  I know myself well enough to realize that in the process of transitioning from one place to another that my prayer life would take a major hit.  So I began to build up "Spiritual Fat."  I prayed longer, I asked God's grace to see me through, and I asked for him to meet me on the other side of the move.

But my exercise was another story.  I really have learned to love my treadmill.  Over the past few months it has become a fixture for me.  It is no longer a burden.  I love the way it hums.  I enjoy seeing the miles trickle by and the calorie counter increase.  As I watched it loaded onto the truck, I realized that there was no way that I could store up extra miles like I did with my prayer life.

So for almost two weeks I didn't exercise and I didn't have deep prayer time.  After I got settled in and Mykaylee found the key to the treadmill, I finally was able to resume my routine.  As it so happened, my first day on the treadmill was the same day that I restarted my prayer time.  Boy did it feel good!  It felt great to challenge my legs again.  As my heart began to race and my lungs expanded from the increased activity, I could feel my body fit back into its groove.

Paul wrote to his son in the faith Timothy, "Train yourself for a holy life!  While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything.  It has promise for this life now and the life to come."  I think I understand his words better now than I ever have in the past.  Training my body and my spirit for a holy life is a good thing.  Both the physical training and the holy living make me a better person.  They help form me and fashion me the way God intends for me to be.

So today, I thank God for meeting me where I am and for sustaining me during times of transition.  I love the fact that God's grace never quits and will even carry us through until we can get back on our feet.  Most of all, I'm thankful that my training is back on track...both physically and spiritually.

Until next time...





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Lessons and Criticism

Any time that a person has a public profile, criticisms become common place.  I've been told by more than one person that "so and so" is your worst critic.  But that's really not true.  In my understanding of who I am as a child of God, as a parent, as a son, and as a pastor, I have learned that I am my own worst critic.  I have learned to be honest with myself.  After all, how else is a person going to grow?  The only way that I know of to gain wisdom is to make mistakes and learn from them.  If I continue to make the same mistake over and again without learning from it, then that is mere foolishness.

Times of transition are the perfect opportunity for me to look back...to reflect upon who I have been, the mistakes I've made, and hopefully how I have grown.  I learned many years ago that I am not the most brilliant scholar.  I have struggled with math my entire life.  I don't understand the mechanics of most machines.  My communication skills are not always up to par.  Sometimes I come across as being gruff when I'm trying to process what is happening around me.  Because I'm an introvert, I am awkward in many social situations.  I can be hard headed at times.  And if I'm not careful, I can be perceived as being arrogant.

So yes, I am well aware of my shortcomings.  But I'm also aware of God's intervention in my life.  Even though I still have many faults and I need to grow in certain areas, I also know that God has grown me.  Through adversity I have learned the amazing teaching of Jesus about forgiveness.  Seventy times seven, Lord?  Yes indeed!  I thank God I've learned that lesson.  Dying to self is the only real way to live life?  Oh, that is certainly true.  I thank God I've learned that one.  The last will be first?  Thank God for that lesson! Generosity (yes I mean money) as a way of life?  This lesson has given me great joy.  And the most recent lesson I have learned, that I must suffer in the name of Jesus.  That lesson has taught me to expect suffering because it is a gauge, telling me if I am truly being a Christ follower.

Now, I'll admit that I don't always live these lessons out to their fullest degree.  But I can guarantee that I have come a long way over the past three years.  By God's grace, I have matured.  My skills have become sharper.  The Holy Spirit has honed in on some of my weaknesses and made me better than I was.  I am more prepared now than I was in 2011 to be a servant-leader.  I think I do look a little more like Jesus now than I did.

Last year at my ordination, the Bishop asked me and the other ordinands one of the historic questions from our tradition.  "Are you going on to perfection?"  I really like this question.  It doesn't ask if we are perfect...it asks if we are moving in that direction.  And as I look back upon the past few years I see even more clearly than I did last year.  So my answer is again, "Yes Bishop, by God's grace, I am."

Until next time...

Dustin

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