Pastoral Ponderings—Knee-boarding

Pastoral Ponderings—Knee-boarding

Even for continuing education events, you’ve got to have a little fun! So, one morning last week before the continuing ed part got started, Karol and I had the opportunity to do some knee-boarding at the top of the Chesapeake Bay where our training was. Though it took a little while to recover from both inhaling part of the bay and straining muscles I don’t use so much, it was a lot of fun. It was a good thing we didn’t have a better camera with us, else Karol would likely have had action shots of me taking a face dive off the board that she would be only too eager to show off!

If you’ve ever (successfully) gotten up on the water being pulled behind a boat, you know it’s something of a balancing act—keeping a balance between the energy of the pull, the pressures of keeping the board under you, and keeping the nose up. Have you ever found out what happens when you don’t keep the nose up when you’re being dragged behind a boat? It’s not pretty.

You’ve probably noticed that life, too, and each of our spiritual journeys, are full of competing pressures. What pulls you through? You’ve probably found out the hard way, too, what happens when you’re being dragged through life’s pressures and aren’t able to keep your head up—not pretty!

Not only is God eager to keep pulling us into His embrace, the Bible is full of clues and insights into how we can keep our nose up through all of life’s pressures—AND how to get back up when we get dragged into an ugly face plant that threatens to drown us! “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” we pray every week, a reminder straight from the Bible that God is in the business of new beginnings! What “keep you head up” passages come to mind for you? I’ve got too many coming to mind!

Staying connected to the One who keeps on pulling us through—Pastor Jim

Pastoral Pondering—Leave Your Mark

We recently did a quickie overnight ski trip to Peak-n-Peak just across the NY state line (I highly recommend the place!). Our room had a loft in it, and the morning before we left, I noticed that some mischievous little rascal had left their mark in a harmless, fun way. The kiddo had left a little action figure barely visible, keeping watch over the room and the snow on the loft support. Not obnoxious like graffiti or carved initials, just leaving a littl friend that I hope to see again on our next visit!

Whether we intend to or not, we all leave our marks (are we building a theme with last week’s note?)—will we leave them in fun ways, ways that make a positive impact? I just recently sent off a text, too, to an old friend I hadn’t connected with in years—he much more so, and his daughter ever so briefly as well, had left their little superhero marks on my soul in our past interactions. Their coming to mind out of nowhere led me to reach out again—is it a random firing of neurons in my brain that brought a smile and beautiful memories, or perhaps a nudge from the Holy Spirit? Nothing lost either way with sending off a quick note.

Little bits at a time of these kinds of positive marks can often build up into something beautiful. I love seeing the ice stacks when I’m skiing, where, a little bit at a time, the snow makers build up beautiful sculptures of ice along the trails to bring even more joy and beauty to the experience. Of course, the snow itself on which we ski is the same—little bits at a time that God sends to build up into paths of beauty and joy.

So often in life and in our spiritual journeys, it’s not the big things, but the little things building up like this, that create the beauty, that bring the joy, that touches souls. What small investments are you making in the lives of those whose paths you cross?

Keep making beauty, bringing truth, goodness and joy—Pastor Jim