August

Dear Family in Christ,

As this is being written our young people are preparing to leave on their trip to North
Carolina. What will happen on this trip? Who knows? Some of the youth trips in the past have gone without a hitch. Other trips have had a host of problems along the way. Rooms given away at hotels where they had reservations. Derailing on a train track that meant getting off taking a bus for miles to go around and then getting on another train. People getting sick.

Yet each trip led to new growth and new joy. Each trip gave our young people a chance to grow in faith and maturity. Each trip opened doors to a new understanding of God, of self, and of the world. Our young people are showing us the depth of life in Christ.

We move through the journey of life in faith. Who knows how bumpy or smooth the trip will be. There will be challenges and there will be the deepest joys you can imagine. If we travel the road in faith we can be sure that we will grow. We will grow in faith toward our Lord. We will grow in love for one another. We will grow in thankfulness for life. We will break out of the cocoons that bind us and fly into ever new skies.

All we have to do is have enough faith to take the trip. God has promised to be with us along the way and so we face each path with hope and strength and we know where the journey ends. And so with the psalmist we sing:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long (or forever).

What will happen in the journey of life? Who knows? But we do know where we are going and where the path leads. So let us take the adventure that is given us.

Yours in Christ, Pastor Cris and Pastor Dave