It has been so wonderful to finally join you all here. My first Sunday went relatively well, we had a lovely baked potato bar in honor of Father’s Day and lots of great conversation and introductions for me. I will work hard to remember names but it may take a while. After worship I realized I was more exhausted than normal, maybe it was the new church and new surroundings but I wasn’t sure. And then I was on the phone with my mom (who wanted to know how my first worship service went here!) and she reminded me that I have had a big and busy week. On Monday we packed a truck, on Tuesday we drove the truck down here and on Wednesday we unloaded it. On Thursday we returned the truck and my helpers flew home. On Friday I worked my first real day at church and on Sunday I led worship here and preached for the first time here. What a whirlwind week!
And now I feel a bit like an outsider, trying to figure out the area, trying to settle in at church, trying to take care of closing on a new house. I have been worrying that everything will happen just right and that the transition will be smooth. I have been worrying that I will have the right words to say when I preach. No wonder I have been exhausted! And then, I had to remind myself of one of my favorite passages from scripture. Whenever I get too caught up in worrying about stuff, I remind myself that worrying never helped anything. And I read the following…
Matthew 6:25-34
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
So, I need to remind myself to give my troubles to God. I need to remind myself that things will work out fine if I just have faith. I need to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the moments I have right now. Maybe we all need those kinds of reminders sometimes?
Peace, Pastor Dan