Lent: AN INCREDIBLE WOMAN
The Women of the Word is a great group of ladies. They have really turned into a solid group that meets each week. There is a great range of ages and I think that is special. We just learned about Elizabeth in the Bible and Cherie taught the class. She did a great job.
Elizabeth was special. Married to a priest named Zechariah (what a name!). She was old and couldn’t have kids. She was the mother of John the Baptist and you remember the story of how her baby leapt in her womb when she met Mary who was carrying Jesus. But then we don’t hear anything else about Elizabeth. I find that rather sad. I mean it actually really bothers me.
However, if I move past that I see something incredible at work. This is what I see first…
Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. Luke 1:6
We see that Elizabeth was a woman of God. Many people grab the attention and focus of our Lord, but none like a person who wishes to walk the walk. Elizabeth did this. She knew her God. She loved her God. She would do anything for her God. I like that. I like to see people who are in love with something unseen and will dedicate their life to it. We need to do that more.
Next, the story tells us that the angel Gabriel comes to Zechariah to tell them that they will have a child. Zechariah doubts this, as he should, because he knows that Elizabeth can’t have kids.
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Luke 1:18
But God is good and Elizabeth gets pregnant and says something amazing.
“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” Luke 1:25
I love that Elizabeth could focus on the bigger picture. A great point was made by one of the women that she would have been a little upset that she had to go through all of this at this age. Would you feel blessed? I thought about that and I can understand both Elizabeth’s elation, but also her feeling a bit scared and out of sorts. Yet, the neat thing is that Elizabeth sees beyond HER circumstances to a much bigger purpose. She is part of the plan now. She is part of the covenant and a part of something much bigger. I find that remarkable.
How often do we see what God is doing in our lives and have the understanding of a much bigger purpose? We hate it when we can’t see the results of our labor right then and there. We get frustrated when God’s work is not born in our lives in an instant. Elizabeth might never see her child grow to manhood and do the great things that he will do, but Elizabeth doesn’t care. She is satisfied with her part. She is satisfied with the seed being planted and maybe not seeing it grow. I can remember many times in my life when I might have planted a seed in the hearts of others and it doesn’t grow for years. Or how about when we love someone we might never see again. We never know what that good deed might have done to their life. We must be aware of God’s bigger plan in our lives and that we are being used in a wonderful way no matter how big or small.
One more thing about Elizabeth…she was a great friend. Scripture says this-
In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” Luke 1:42-4
Mary must have been scared. She must have been feeling tremendous pressure from everyone, but Elizabeth remained strong. Not only did she love Mary during this, she supports her with the truth the Lord brought. She declares this is a God thing and that it is true. What a real friend. So often, we have people close to us declaring what they think is right. Scary! I want people around me to remind me what God thinks is right! That is a real friend.
I am still sad by the way. Elizabeth just fades into history. I bet she lived the rest of her life doing the same thing she always did…loving her Lord. More importantly, the part she played in God’s bigger plan has lasted a lifetime! I hope we can do the same. I hope we will stay focused on God’s bigger plan and be satisfied with our part in it. Now go and make it real!
Love and passion,
Rev. Jim
Lent: FRIEND OR FOE
I know this for certain. Top CEO’s will tell you it. Books have been written about it. Companies are founded on it. Wait for it…here it comes…SHOW ME YOUR FRIENDS AND I WILL SHOW YOU YOUR FUTURE! Read that again. Read it one more time. Think about that for a minute. Now you know it is true. Deep down inside you know it is.
Have you ever had a friend that you thought was your friend and then you found out that they were really your foe? You trusted them and confided in them and they betrayed your trust. We have all had that happen. Some of us, however, have just been stuck in these relationships for so long that we have settled when there are so many people that God has created just waiting to bump into us.
New relationships are just around the corner if we have the courage to get out there and shake some hands and open our heart.
It is in inevitable that the people which we associate will effect us and change us. “Birds of a feather flock together” as the old saying goes. Happy people will generally hang out with happy people. Do you ever really want to hang out with mean and negative people? You will for a while and then, if that is not your nature, you will avoid them like the plague!
If you own a business do you want to hang out with successful people, positive people? If you want to get fit are your best friends people that eat potato chips on the couch? If you are depressed do you go hang out with people that are negative and mean? NO! NO! NO! If you did then you wouldn’t be able to change
So let me challenge you to RAISE YOUR STANDARDS! I will be doing a sermon series on this in the spring and I just had to write about it now. If you are about raising your standards then the first thing you need to do is look at the people you call friends. Are your friends the type that lift you up always or tear you down? Are they the type of friends that will tell you the truth about yourself or always enable you? Are they the type that challenges you in a loving way to be better than you are? Are they the type that say one thing and do another? Are they the type that seem to be in everyone’s business but their own? Show me your friends and I will show you your future. Powerful is it not!
I guarantee this has happened to you or at least I hope it has: You have felt at one time the heartache of knowing you have OUTGROWN your current friends. You feel that they don’t challenge you anymore to grow. You might feel that they are actually pulling you back. You might, in your gut, understand that you have to move on and meet some new folk. You might have to RAISE YOUR STANDARD.
Raising our standards means we are always seeking new ways to grow. We are always finding new ways to be OUTSTANDING at what we do. So today you might have to make some decisions about the most important part about raising your standards…your friends. Now some of you have a great group of friends, I am sure. However, some don’t and need to branch out of old circles. As we begin to branch out this does not mean that we are ugly to people, but it just means we gain the strength to distance ourselves from people that are holding us back. As a result, we will grow and it might mean that they grow too!
Now you are thinking…I CAN CARRY MY OLD FRIENDS WITH ME! Nope…doesn’t work and you know it. They become heavy. They become too cumbersome. You were not made by God to carry that kind of burden. Only God is able to do that. Don’t let Satan convince you that you are to stay in dysfunctional, old relationships that continue to use all your energy, just because you feel guilty for distancing yourself. Move on! Move ON! MOVE ON! You only have one life to be excellent and there are many that will never want that. Don’t let them hold you back!
Jesus said this about the Pharisees…DON’T FOLLOW THEM! He told the people that they would have to let go of that old relationship that has burdened them for so long. He said they would only lead you astray. He said that they don’t have your best interest at heart. LET THEM GO!
I hope we all have the courage to do this today. RAISE YOUR STANDARDS and start your new life…I promise, if you do, it will be glorious.
In Christ,
Rev. Jim
Lent: RADICAL CHANGE
Man what a week! I had a great week away with Lisa and I was able to decompress as we lead up to Easter. I also noticed that we had a TIME CHANGE and I honestly forgot all about it and then I thought that maybe you guys did too! I hope not, because if you did then you walked into church to discover you missed it by an hour! You might have done that…don’t worry many others did it too.
Changes can sneak up on us when we are not ready for them. Whether it is the time, our economy, our bodies, our minds or anything change just happens. You know what I am talking about.
How do you deal with change? Some of us resist it. Some of us fight it. Now if you fought the aging of your bodies everyday wouldn’t that be exhausting? Wouldn’t it be futile? Change is always happening the question is, “Are you moving with it or fighting it?”
Some get into that place. You know the one. It sounds like this- “I am just not changing. You can change, but not me. I like things the way they are!” Let me let you in on two secrets.
1) CHANGE IS RADICAL! Yep, you got it. When you change the way Jesus wants you to change, you really change. The irony about change for people is that they want a new life, want new birth, want a new direction, want a new outlook, but they don’t want TO CHANGE THEMSELVES in order to get there. For Jesus change is radical. For Jesus change is dying to the old and being born into the new. For Jesus change is an absolute 180 degree shift in the way you were living to the way you are now going! Get the picture?
2) CHANGE MEANS GROWTH! If you want to change it means you want to grow. If we are not growing then we are what? You got it…we are dying. If we stop growing as Christians, maturing, stretching, expanding then we begin to die. What happens to a muscle when we don’t use it…ATROPHY! That means it becomes unusable. That means it stops working. That means it shrinks and weakens. When we don’t want this change Christ has for our life, we just merely shrivel up. Our spirit goes into atrophy.
So change might have snuck up on you Sunday, but it is offered to you again today. Not just with the time, but with your ENTIRE LIFE! If you are happy the way you are…I am sorry…I hope you will want something different soon. If you want something more out of life, if you want to change…then I am thrilled…way to go!
But always let Christ guide you. Let Christ lead you. Amazing things will happen. Most of all, I promise it will always be in the right direction.
Love and passion,
Rev. Jim
Lent: DRAW THE LINE
When do you say, “Enough is enough!” When is that breaking point? When do you draw the line? It seems that the moral line in our lives makes a shift the more society moves forward. Or maybe the line is just blurred. What we once found morally unacceptable and is now “okay” and that line just keeps moving and shifting, more and more. Now you know I am not a puritan. In fact, Paul says to us all, “None are righteous, no not one.” But what I am saying is that eventually, sometime in our lives we have to take control of the line. We have to eventually stand on some moral standard and not budge.
Jesus sets that standard for us.
First, LOVE ONE ANOTHER. When we set this standard in our lives things begin to change. Jesus gives us this as His last command. “Love one another as I have loved you.” When we do this, we begin to see that hatred, anger, jealousy, and the rest become a thing of the past. We begin to understand that doing unto others is like doing it unto ourselves. We treat people with the same respect and dignity they deserve. We give to people in ways we never would before. We view people not as objects of desire or opportunity, but as human beings, brothers and sisters.
Second, DON’T JUDGE ONE ANOTHER! If we are able to set the standard of love, then out of it will come the standard NOT TO JUDGE. Jesus knows our sin condition and the struggles of life. If we judge others for their mistakes that is just like the pot calling the kettle black. We become hypocrites, because each of us makes mistakes. Jesus says if we judge each other we then will be judged. Instead, of judging people get on board with them. Help them. Be a team player. Edify. Amazing things will happen when you do this.
Lastly, FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER. When we set the standard of love and not to judge, we begin to forgive. What a standard that is born when we forgive those around us. Jesus did something amazing…He brings forgiveness, but teaches us to forgive as well. Where is that in your heart? How are you making that real in your life? When we forgive we set our selves free, but we also set free those around us. Forgiveness allows us to live our lives to its fullest potential. It makes us live in the present and not in the past.
What a standard set for our lives. What an incredible “line” that should never move…love, don’t judge, forgive.
When will enough be enough for you? When do you want the Lord to set this standard in your life? I will give you a hint…HE ALREADY HAS…all we have to do is follow!
Follow Him today!
Rev. Jim
Lent: WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL?
There is nothing in this life that you can’t accomplish. I hope that sinks in a little. There is nothing that you cannot do if you want it badly enough. Lisa, my wife, is an example of that. There is a spirit in her that continues to look at each day as an opportunity. No matter how badly she has felt physically or the reality of living with cancer, she continues to press forward with courage and strength. She knows that she can accomplish anything if she really wants.
Often we get scared of success. A lot of times we fear the thing we have dreamed of all of our lives.
Several things stop us from realizing our dreams.
1) We get comfortable in our ruts: This might be one of the most dangerous things we encounter in our lives. We are creatures that are highly adaptable. We will make do if it is necessary. We can make the best out of the worst situations. This can be a huge asset. However, when it comes to realizing our dreams it becomes a negative. Instead, of reaching for the stars we settle for the ground. This happens in marriages, work, personal satisfaction and in even in church.
How we battle this starts in our mind and the more we transform our mind to that of Christ we can win. Christ can help you understand that your rut is not your mountaintop. Christ makes us see something in ourselves that is greater and more powerful. Christ pushes us to achieve incredible things and realize our goals and dreams. So get uncomfortable and reach for the stars…they are waiting for you.
2) We let fear convince us we are okay where we are: Jesus says to us all, “Fear not!” This is an incredibly simple statement, but one we must start to own. Fear makes us do strange things. When it comes to our dreams we let it take over. Some of us are afraid of success. Most, however, are afraid of failure. Yet, the irony is that failure is a part of being successful. Before I ever achieved anything in business I had many failures from which I learned. In fact, I was truly more prepared, because of my failures. It made me a better person and a better entrepreneur.
Fear in the end only convinces us to stay right where we are instead of moving out into deeper water.
Oh, by the way, there are some people that you know that will also try to keep you in your rut and make fear grow in your life. You know who they are. I have them in my life too. They will always point out the problem, try to squash the dream or say you can’t do it. Then when you do achieve something great, they will always, and I mean always, try to find fault with it. Do you know how to handle these people? Smile and walk away. You don’t need them…I PROMISE! Surround yourself with positive people, people who want to reach for the stars too. When you do watch what happens!
Lent needs to be, for us all, a journey of dreaming big and reaching high. Whether that is in your career or to a personal dream or achievement you wish to achieve. Lent tells us to DO IT!
So do not wait. Get out into deeper water. Cast your fear aside. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Start today.
Peace be with you!
Rev. Jim
Lent: JUST FOR YOU!
The faster I go the less I get done. Have you noticed that in your life? I was in such a hurry the other day. I woke up at 5:00 a.m., prepared some breakfast, got out to the car, got halfway to the church, forgot the breakfast, turned around, got back home, got the breakfast, got into the car, spilled the breakfast all over my tie, went back into the house, changed ties, got back into the car, got to the church, dropped Iphone on floor (ouch!), said something not repeatable, went to make coffee, couldn’t find coffee, finally found coffee, spilled grinds all over floor, cleaned it up, made the coffee, went to office, turned on computer, went back to get coffee, found hot coffee all over countertop and floor, realized I turned on coffee maker without putting the pot in it! WOW!
Going faster doesn’t mean you are going to get more done. The word “multitask” is a word that Satan invented for all human beings. We are convinced we can all do multiple things at once, when in fact we can only concentrate on one or two at best. When we spread our attention over a gambit of tasks and then try to accomplish them like an Olympic runner, NOTHING GETS DONE, or at least not well.
Lent provides us some time to slow down. In our vain attempt to multitask all we have to do, we leave out the most important thing of all…Christ. Lent provides us time to focus on what matters most…Christ, and knowing Christ changes our behavior. You should be a little sweeter, a little nicer, a little more tolerant, a little more patient, a little more filled with joy, a little more grateful, thankful, loving, giving and all the rest. When we slow down we focus on the ONE thing that is most important…our relationship with Christ and when we do that we change.
So today, try not to shove too much into it. You are not trying to get your picture on the front of a Wheaties Box. Instead, God created you to focus on living your life. He created you to enjoy your life and by enjoying your life to the fullest you must take time to know Him!
I hope today is filled with the things that you have been whizzing by all these many years. I hope you have less and less days of anxiety and stress and feeling like you don’t have enough time to get things done. I hope that you will begin to tie up those loose ends that always nag at us. Because it is almost Easter, a time to COME ALIVE, a time to really start living.
Make it a point to slow down enough and join us Sunday and all the services we have planned that will bring you face to face with God. Haven’t we left Him out of our lives long enough?
Enjoy today…God created it just for you!
Love you all,
Rev. Jim
Lent: Finer than frog hair!
A serious wake up call comes to us all. We enter the Home Stretch, so to speak, for Easter is approaching at a pedal-to-the-metal speed. I recall the words of a dear person in the church. He would greet me every Sunday. I would say, “How are you today my friend?” He would reply, “Finer than frog hair cut four ways!” I hope this last leg towards Easter finds you in that same mood…finer than frog hair!
Despite the things that bring us down and the things that hurt our heart. Regardless of how many doors get closed Jesus says to us all as we approach Easter…IT WILL BE JUST FINE! It is okay. You are blessed. Be thankful. Take heart for your valleys will not last forever. Lift your spirit for life will not always be this hard.
I can’t help but look towards a Holy Week that is right around the corner. I think of the pain and suffering that our Lord endured for our sins. I try to comprehend the love He had for us and the love He still has for all. I fall short trying to understand it. We miss the mark often, because we get wrapped up in all our “stuff.” We see our needs and only our needs and that distracts us from a bigger world that is in pain. Yet, when I am able to step outside of my valleys and step into someone else’s to help and encourage I start to know what Christ felt. I begin to feel a love much bigger than myself. I forget about my pain and I see only others in pain and want to help. Then I am able to take heart in my own situations and realize I have it pretty good no matter what. I have a life for which I should be thankful.
Loving outside ourselves, in this way, is what Easter is all about. Serving, helping and giving to others makes us proclaim, “I am finer than frog hair!” It makes us want to help others proclaim the same thing.
You might be suffering right now, but remember your Lord is with you. You might be feeling pain, but if you step outside of it and look in, it might not be that bad. You might even realize that if you just started to love others in their valleys your valley just might vanish. But wherever you are remember life is worth living.
I hope you will come alive this Easter and recall the love that Christ has for you. I hope you will always hold in your heart how wonderful of life you have and how much more wonderful it is in when we are thankful and rejoice in everything.
Today I am finer than frog hair…how bout you!
Love you all,
Rev. Jim
Lent: Valleys
We all struggle with hurdles. In fact, most of what I do is help people with their hurdles. I spend time listening in the office or over the phone. It might be in a hospital room or at a funeral home. It could be anywhere. It seems to find me. I am glad it does. It is what I love to do. I love trying to inspire people to see that the valley is not so deep. So let me ask you how deep is the valley that you are in today? How long have you been in it?
I ask this, because I know what valleys feel like. I have been in many life and death valleys myself. I know what real pain feels like, both physical and mental. I also know what it takes to get out of them.
First, Christ can heal anything! I hope you realize this. Christ can bring life into a depressed heart. Christ can restore a dying marriage. Christ can rejuvenate broken spirits. Christ can destroy hate, resentment, anger, jealousy and years of pain and replace it with faith, hope, love and forgiveness.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus… Ephesians 2:4
To get out of that valley we need Christ…I promise.
The second thing about valleys is that they will not destroy you although they feel like they might. I love this line and I don’t know who said it…YOU DIDN’T MAKE ME, SO YOU CAN’T BREAK ME! Valleys can’t break us or destroy us, because they are only external things.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
God knows us inside and out. He knows you down to your first molecule and it is only God that can alter, rearrange or change you. It is only God that can destroy us and we have a God that loves. We have a God that has gone to great lengths to bring us life, not death. We have a God that so loves us that we walk as His children with confidence and boldness. He will uphold us with His righteous hand. “This valley didn’t make me, so you can’t break me!” Scream that out next time Satan gets a hold of your life. Yell that out for the world to hear. Valleys are not alive. They have no power over our lives.
The third thing is that sometimes we make our valleys deeper than they should be. We tend to want to make valleys out of ruts or mountains out of molehills. We tend to do this with the little things in life. Don’t make valleys worse than they really are. Don’t build them up in your mind to be nuclear catastrophes. If you do that is exactly what they will become.
Now for some of us we deal with the really big valleys. Death, tragedy and the loss of loved ones are on that list. In fact, they might be the most devastating things we will go through as human beings. Please do not lose heart. Please hear your Lord speaking to you that life is eternal. Please know that God loves you and is surrounding you this very moment with His angels.
“I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest” John 10:10
Not even death can separate us from a loving Lord who died so that we might live. Hold fast and remember the promise of our Christ,
“This day you will be with me in Paradise!”
Valleys can, in the end, only make us stronger and bring us closer to our God. Don’t be scared of them. Lean on your Lord. Know that He can bring you out of them. Know that they cannot destroy you. Most of all, know that God has the last say even in death. For God has said, “LIFE!” for us all!
May you live not in your valley today, but in LIFE.
Love you all!
Rev. Jim
Lent: Negative People
The person couldn’t help but say it. It was always something: a snide remark or a negative comment. This was just how this person was. They needed to belittle others or point out little flaws that didn’t really matter a whole lot in order to make themselves feel bigger or better. In fact, you just know that whenever you get around this person that it is like walking on eggshells…who knows what they are going to say or if they are going to say something about you! This person is angry, hurt and continues to punish others for it. Who is it? Maybe you…maybe someone you know…maybe your boss…your spouse…a lifelong friend.
I used to try to just be as friendly as possible to these people. The reason I was so nice to them is that I used to fear that they would turn on me eventually. I realized over years that no matter how nice I was to people like this that nobody was immune to their anger or criticism. It was just a matter of time before I was the focus of something that they didn’t like. In fact, by just always being nice and placating them, I realized that I was only enabling their bad behavior.
Now I just LOVE them. Love doesn’t suggest that I enable them more, but instead love means that I hold them accountable for behavior that hurts others. It means that I am not afraid to “tell it like it is” even when the truth might sting a little.
Jesus was like that. He “told it like it was!” In fact, the truth that He shared turned people upside down. What if you were the one holding the rock about to stone the young woman? What if you were the leader of the church and heard Jesus’ indictment upon your life? What if you were the rich man and encountered Jesus’ words of life? What if you were one of the disciples and heard the parables of truth, the Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount. I mean these are real truths for our lives. These are “get right to the point” and “knock us on our heels” answers.
People will never change if we remain silent. People that hurt others, say things about people when they are not present, make little jabs at the character of folk and all the rest will continue to do just that if we don’t say something. You know, they might even continue to do it after they are confronted, but at least you pointed it out…you tried to change it.
So don’t be afraid anymore of people like this. Whatever you do, don’t let them make you angry, but instead, let them embolden you to stand up for what is right.
I thank God for these kinds of people and believe me I know who they are. It makes me see the thing I don’t ever want to be, but it makes me realize there is still a lot of preaching left to be done and a lot of love yet to be shared.
So today, make this a part of your Lenten Journey. Let us all stand up and out and let the world know there is a better way to live. Tell it like it is. Don’t be afraid to say it. When you do amazing things will happen. When you do others will take notice. When you do people’s lives will change!
Love you all,
Rev. Jim
Lent: Licked Clean
It was a LATE night! I am privileged to serve on the District Board of Ordination and we started at 4:00 p.m. and went deep into the night. We had a great dinner and I was thinking, “Well this isn’t so bad.” I started to eat, chew, swallow, drink and all the things you do when you enjoy food. Now there was a lot of food and it was not five minutes into the dinner when I noticed my dear friend to my left had finished his ENTIRE MEAL!! I had not even finished my chicken and I looked around and saw everyone still had about half their meal left and this guy was DONE! I mean not just done, but the plate literally was clean. There was no need to even stick the thing in the dishwasher…IT WAS CLEAN! I said, “Goodness man, when was the last time you have eaten. We have some food at the church if you need it!” He said, “Jim, that’s what happens when you have little kids. We eat our food so fast, because we are constantly chasing them around.” I timed him on the desert. Just as fast!
SLOW DOWN my friends! Lent is meant to be savored, digested and enjoyed. Life is all about the race, but when we speed through it we tend to not pay attention to all the little treasures it offers. We miss the flavors, smell and taste that make it worthwhile.
Jesus moved through life just like that…. slowly. In fact, He did that so well that He even noticed when a woman touched His robe to be healed.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Luke 8: 42-46
How incredibly sensitive our Lord is to the things around Him. Keenly in tune to everything going on around Him that He even notices a woman crawling on the ground to touch the hem of His garment.
When we slow down in life we become more aware, we become more sensitive to all that is happening. How fast are you wound up? Is your foot on the pedal and is the pedal on the ground? Is your schedule such that it just seems like you can’t get a breath? If it is then you are going too fast! If it is then you are missing life!
Stop now and enjoy. Feel the things that are pressing up against your heart and mind. The beauty of this world surrounds you. The laughter and humor of life is there, but can you hear it? The cry of those in need moves in and through us, but are we noticing? The simplicity of life goes before us, but do we see it enough to follow? We must stop – we must slow down – we must undo and untangle the mad rush that we are in.
I hope my colleague in ministry will one day stop and enjoy a dinner. I know he will eventually. One day he will be able to taste all the flavors and experience the joy of a well-cooked meal. I hope we will all do the same with life. After all, we only get one to live!
Deep breaths…enjoy…love you all!
Rev. Jim
