Limping to the Starting Line

Written by Pastor Russell Lackey

Last month I wrote about how we were sprinting to the starting line to get fully moved in for our dedication at the end of September. I also noted that God takes time to love us and that in the midst of all of our running we need to slow down to walk with the Lord who walks with us. Then I ended the letter with the phrase: “trying to slow down.” Little did I know, that two weeks later I would be in the hospital and forced to slow down.

When things happen to us, we begin to see things differently. In his book, Touching the Rock, John Hull writes about losing his sight in his early fifties. One of the things that he concluded was that being blind was just another way of being in the world. Hull states, “Sighted people assume that looking out on the world is the only way of being human.” Hull goes on to say, “There is no single way of being human. To be human is a wide range of possibilities, all of which teach us something about how to love. It is only when we learn to value and appreciate the diversity of the human condition that we begin to understand the beauty of participating in the community that is Jesus’ body.”

God has slowed us down because he is teaching us to see things differently. There is still a lot of work to do, but this work will get done in different ways. Maybe there is someone reading this article who has a gift to share that can help move things forward. Maybe there is something we are currently doing that needs to be stopped. Maybe there is a new person God is about to bring into the church with an idea that helps us move forward.

What I do know for certain is that God is walking with us, loving us, and encouraging us along the way.

With love,

Pastor Russ