Categories
Career Community family

The Problem With Moving On

When we feel led to move onto a new adventure, it can feel exciting. The adrenaline flows as we negotiate all the tasks and plans. But there are complications. The problem with moving on is that there are always the great relationships we leave behind.

retro cab toy placed on concrete fence
Photo by Maddy Freddie on Pexels.com

My wife and I have moved on to a new adventue. Ministry is taking us to someplace new. While we will be joining some family at our destination, we will be leaving a majority of them a bit in Indiana and Ohio.

In addition, we got reaquainted with old friends when we came back, and made new ones. Our lives were richer for it.

So another problem with moving on is the trunkload of mixed emotions. We know we are heading in the right direction. Yet, we can’t help glancing one more time in the rearview mirror as we set out on a new trek.

There will be challenges and uncertainty in our new assignment. Then again, we fool ourselves into believing if we stay put, there is certainty. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that there is much more that is out of our control than any of us would like to admit.


We are under no allusions that the next place will be perfect. We will face new challenges along with familiar ones. After all, we take our old selves to the new place.

There are problems with going and problems with staying. But if I could, Iā€™d take all my friends and loved ones along with us.

Categories
Parenting Cartoons

Love Each Other or Perish

Cartoon of parents and a son in a vehicle. The son says, "Love, love, love! That's all you ever talk about. Do you think the rest of the world operates this way?"

Today, there is so much conflict in the world. We see it with individuals, families, political groups, and nations. We seem to have forgotten a key value for survival: love each other, or perish!

For a class, I’ve been reading Tuesdays with Morrie. in the book, Mitch Albom quotes his dying professor:

ā€œIf you don’t have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don’t have much at all. Love is so supremely important. As our great poet Auden said, ā€˜Love each other or perish.ā€™ā€

Morrie Schwartz in Tuesdays with Morrie
Categories
children's ministry cartoons K! Magazine love Magazine

Loving your Neighbors the right way

Alas, if you get slapped with a restraining order, you probably aren’t loving your neighbors the right way! What does it look like to help those around us when society has become very suspicious of anyone offering help?

Cartoon of a boy and a teacher. The boy says, "Every time I try to love my neighbor, I get hit with a restraining order!"
Categories
Christianity love

Real Love Never Fails

Today is Valentine’s Day. It is a time when we celebrate love. Most likely, we think of romantic love. And I certainly am a fan of romance. However, romance can be fickle and temporary. Real love that never fails. What kind of love is that?

ā€œLove is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.ā€

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

A few years back, I wrote a post on five reasons kids need Valentine’s Day. In it, I wrote that kids need to see love in action. That is even more true in the last couple of years. Love had been hard to find in a pandemic. The kind of love the Apostle Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13 is hard to come by, but so desperately desired in this modern world.

Cartoon of a boy holding a valentine and a jaded girl

A World of Love

Just think what kind of world it would be if we rediscovered unconditional love. We would turn away from the selfishness that is killing us inside and begin to look at others as friends instead of enemies.

It would begin to melt fear because perfect love casts it out. I like one version of 1 John 4:18. “It says fear has torment.” How many of us are tormented in today’s world by fear? Could it be that the answer is to be made perfect in love?

The Courage of Love

It is a far cry from what the world prescribes for fear. Most advice we hear is to act angry and to be courageous. However, it is just as possible for love to bring courage instead of anger. We don’t have to act like jerks to eliminate fear. Courage brought on by love brings far less collateral damage than anger and aggression.

This day is named after a man who showed love to others even unto martyrdom. At the time of his death, most would have thought his sacrifice was meaningless. After all, just another Christian was executed. Yet, his courage that was brought on by love is a message for us today.

There is power in it because real love never fails.

Categories
children's ministry Christianity love

Loving Your Neighbor

This morning, I am going to be teaching kids what it means to love your neighbor. As I’m thinking about this, I naturally tend to think about Mr. Rogers. He had a nice way of making difficult concepts simple. Here is one of his quotes.

ā€œWhen we look for what’s best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we’re doing what God does, so in appreciating our neighbor, we’re participating in something truly sacred.ā€

Fred Rogers

We teach our kids to immediately be suspicious of others. We tell our kids to be aware of “stranger danger.” And it is good to help our kids have awareness of potential hazards. Unfortunately, there are evil people out there.

But there are also good people out there. There are ways to nurture giving in our children. And really, loving our neighbor is all about being generous. We can love because we are thankful for what we have and can give to those around us who are in need.

But what if our neighbors have no material needs? We all need to be recognized and affirmed. It may look different for each person. Some may want to be left alone. If so, what are ways we can show love by being considerate and generous?

In a world that teaches us to be scared of our neighbors, I am thinking today about how to treat my neighbor like I would want to be treated. How do we become good neighbors?