Longing for the past

Today I have been remembering another time in my life, when my girls were little and we lived in the lowcountry of SC, in a place called Beaufort...last night a movie was on TV called "The Water is Wide" and it took place in an area close to Beaufort. When I lived there, there was an old lady who used to say "Once you get the sand of Beaufort between your toes, you'll come back"...It has been 13 years since we left there....Laura Grace was a baby and Alana was getting ready to start kindergarten...WHERE has the time gone? Now they are young ladies and we have a 6 year old! There is so much about timing in life that I don't understand, and probably never will. I am thankful for the journey we have been on so far, and thankful for where I am now, but there are days when I wish I could jump in a time machine and go back and just relive some of the great moments in my life in the places where we have lived, and this was one of those days. This weekend one of my former youth from Beaufort asked me to do her wedding in October...even though we move, we still can stay connected with others. Even when our relationships change we can still be available and be there for people who have touched our lives and vice versa. I think some of what I am feeling has to do with going through THE SENIOR YEAR....where is that little girl that used to jump in my lap and brought joy to everyone who met her...she still around, doing the same thing (except NOT jumping in my lap, her little sister Jillian STILL does that, thank goodness)...I think she still bring joy to those she meets...when Alana was a little girl in Beaufort and we would introduce her to people they would almost always say "What a beautiful name"...it is that, and it means "bright, beautiful, and fair" in case you ever wondered...that's why we named her what we did.....oh, the Beaufort days, the bugs, the sun, running to the beach for the afternoon, my first trip to Waterbury, CT, great kids, fun times...I have to remember something that a man here in Lexington says..."The best is yet to come."...I'm not real sure about that now, because I've some great times in the past...but we can't live there, we have to move on, and live with the memories. As I used to tell the kids in Beaufort all the time "you can never go back"...and that's true, you never can.

10 years ago today

On this day in 1996 my life was changed by the death of a young 16 year old named TJ Spurling...he was killed by a patrol car who hit him and a friend. The patrolman was taking a book of tickets to another patrolman who needed some...I will never forget his mom asking me to sing "Keep Believing" at his funeral, and it was also his mom who had asked me a few months earlier "John, when do young people fall in love with Jesus?" Those are things that stick with you. TJ's life and death remind me that every day is important, and every young person that walks through the doors of our church is important, a unique creation of God's. TJ was not someone that was there every time the door was open (we worked at FBC Florence, SC at this time), but I knew that he knew the Lord, and have no doubt about where he is now. Last night I shared this story with about 80 young people, as I have done every year since his death. I promised his mom that his ministry would live long after him, and I believe that it has. If you are reading this, remember that your life is important and that God wants to use your life.
Tomorrow is my mom's birthday. She is not feeling too good these days, so please pray for her. She will be 78 years old. This is a week of life and death and important memories for me, as I wrote before. I wish more people would read this so that they would know my heart. We say we care about each other, but how much of ourselves do we really share with others? I know that there are things I keep to myself, and I miss those who have been in my life before who I was able to share openly with, but I also know that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Jesus, thank you for always being there for us no matter what, for listening, for guiding, for placing people in our lives when we need them. I pray that you will somehow use these words to help people know that you have created them for a purpose, that you want to use their lives and that you want them to know your heart.
How do we know the heart of God? Maybe one of those ways is to really get to know each other better. We are not promised tomorrow....what have you done today, who have you listened to today? Make each day count....get to know other people, really know them. I need to work on that myself...
Keep Believing!
John

After Gatlinburg

We had a great trip to Winter Conference with Crossroads Ministries...Brent Gambrell was the greatest, go hear him if you ever get a chance. I asked the people on the trip to read this blog, because when we write we can pour out our souls...and sometimes I do that. This weekend my oldest child Alana will be 18 years old and I can hardly believe it...it will be her first birthday away from me since she will be in Nashville TN auditioning for college...I can't believe how fast time goes by...this is also the week that we moved to Lexington 8 years ago...where does 8 years go and why does it happen so fast? And next week the anniversary of something that changed my life as a youth pastor, the death of a young person in my group, will come around again...I'll be sharing more about that Sunday night. If you read this, let me know. Leave me a comment. Thanks for reading my thoughts. God has brought another cool person into my life that will come to work with us this summer, Brett, and I look forward to getting to know him better. I told the group on the bus, God does not bring people into our lives to replace others...He brings them in so we can love them, learn more about who He is in their lives, and so that they can teach us more about who we are...he brings them in so we can share life together, support and comfort each other...."Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn." We are all in this together...Thank you, God, for the people you have brought into my life, even the ones who are no longer physically here...somehow a part of them will always be present with me. AMEN

The night after the grand opening

Yesterday we opened our new building at LBC. I got to speak in the service about my vision for the use of the new space, which was really just a way to talk about the three important things about student ministry for me...life change, choices, and memories. I felt like it was pretty unexciting, but many seemed to appreciate what I said, so that was cool. I just wish I was a great motivational speaker.....like I say to folks, I want to be Clayton King when I grow up. I have another friend in ministry that IS a great speaker, and I used to joke with him that one day I would write the sermons and he would deliver them. He does not need me to write them, that's for sure, and now he has some people that made a difference in my life getting to hear him each week, but enough of that..... Our new space is great...it's also lonely in the morning there. But this afternoon some kids came by and that was good.
Hey if anyone reads this, it would be cool to hear your comments on what friendship is all about. That has been on my mind alot the past couple of months. It's something I need to think about and pray about. There is an old saying that says "You don't know what you've got until it's gone" and that is so true. There is also something I used to say to my youth group in Beaufort all the time "You can never go back"....I've forgotten that saying through the years in my own life, and there are times I really do want to go back in time, but we can't....memory is a blessing and a curse. I used to tell kids that all the time because they would want to go back and relive a great camp or a great mission trip, and I would always say that we can never relive anything, but that God has new a great things to show us...Jeremiah 33:3, the verse that God imprinted on my heart 8 years ago when I was dealing with moving to Lexington...I did call to him and He did show me great and unsearchable things that I did not know, and two of those were my daughter, Jillian, and this new youth space....thanks for reading this rambling, and share with me your thoughts on friendship.
Keep Believing!
John

NEW YEARS DAY 2006

Indescribable...that's how I'll remember 2005. Last night, we had an end of the year service, and as that song was playing I thought "Yep, that's a word to describe one of the fastest years of my life." We said goodbye to some special people last night, Chris and Kelley Butler, and they are off to serve God in a new place this year, and I know they will do a great job. As many said last night, God used them to make a big impact in many young people's lives...and even a few older people, too. This year is the beginning of a new chapter for me, really it's more like a new book, yet to be written. What will the plot be? What will the theme be? I'm really not sure, and I am trusting God that He will make it clear. We also remembered the cross and what it means last night, and I thought about how that theme of the cross always needs to be at the forefront of ministry, the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. I wanted the last thing that Chris and I did together to be centered around the cross, and it was....he took the base of the cross up to the front of the worship center, and I brought the cross down the aisle, and then held on to it as we listened to "The Old Rugged Cross", which was one of my dad's favorite songs. I held on to the cross for what might have seemed like a long time...."I will cherish the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown"...I really thought about that last night. As we move forward to another year, sometimes we want to hang on to those special times, but we have to move ahead...it's human nature to compare and long for the past, but I think it's the nature of Christ to look ahead expectantly for what is to come. After all, because of what HE has done, we have hope for the future, and man, do I need to remember that today. There will never be another year like 2005, and there will never be other summer ministers like Chris and Kelley, and we should not look for that or try to replace them...each person that comes into our lives is unique. If you are reading this from the LBC family, pray with me that God will send us people to work with us, that will help us to grow in ways that we can't even imagine. God is so much bigger than we can even imagine! Lord, expand our vision and thank you for your grace, for special people and memories, and for giving us a hope and a future!
Keep Believing!
John