October is designated as Pastor Appreciation Month and the second Sunday of October is “THE DAY” set aside to honour our pastors. My first thought when this topic came up was “Fun, how can we honour Pastor Ken?” My next thought was “Oh my, we need a special day to let him know he is appreciated!”
Hebrews 13:17 English Standard Version (ESV) says “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Now the wheels are turning. I will do something for Pastor Ken, just like I have been doing something for God every Christmas. You’ll have to be patient with me while I unwrap this for you.
Years ago the church I was attending had a tradition where every Christmas Eve each member would bring their Christmas present to Jesus. I have no particular talents that stand out, are unique or valuable; I just have me as God made me. So the words of a poem came to me. It’s from “In the Bleak Mid Winter” by Christina Rossetti. “What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.”
Every Christmas Eve I purposely stay up by myself after the house is quiet and just soak in the peace and wonder of this special day. I offer then to God whatever is on my heart and I make a commitment to God for a special project that is meant to honour Him. One year I wrote a book entitled “Blessed” for the family. The story of “Blessed" was meant to be a recounting of our experiences on our yacht "Blessed,” which I wanted to share with our children. It was written out of obedience to Deuteronomy 11:18-20. "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.” This book was my Christmas gift to Jesus that year and He used it to reach many more than just my family. Last year my gift to Jesus was a commitment to just do a leap of faith whatever that meant.
Apparently, it meant preparing the lunch program at Valley. For the last 7 months God has provided the money, the food, and the time needed to regularly feed 15-20 people a meal on Sundays. I still remember talking to Pastor Ken who just looked at me with his relaxed smile and said “I’m not quite sure how to present this to the Leadership Team. Let’s just call it an experiment.” Thanks Ken for taking that leap of faith with me.
Now back to Pastor Appreciation. Notice I didn’t say Day or Week. I appreciate Pastor Ken all the time. I wish I knew exactly what he needed or wanted but I don’t. However, I do know he needs and wants our prayers (we heard that in his sermon 😊). As a church, if we could all make that special effort to pray for our Pastor and his family this entire year then I believe his wants and needs will be met. I’ve. noticed very few comments are made to the blogs. I’d love to see this blog filled with the one simple comment to encourage Pastor Ken. Let’s see how many “praying” comments will encourage our Pastor and his family.
Hebrews 13:17 English Standard Version (ESV) says “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Now the wheels are turning. I will do something for Pastor Ken, just like I have been doing something for God every Christmas. You’ll have to be patient with me while I unwrap this for you.
Years ago the church I was attending had a tradition where every Christmas Eve each member would bring their Christmas present to Jesus. I have no particular talents that stand out, are unique or valuable; I just have me as God made me. So the words of a poem came to me. It’s from “In the Bleak Mid Winter” by Christina Rossetti. “What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.”
Every Christmas Eve I purposely stay up by myself after the house is quiet and just soak in the peace and wonder of this special day. I offer then to God whatever is on my heart and I make a commitment to God for a special project that is meant to honour Him. One year I wrote a book entitled “Blessed” for the family. The story of “Blessed" was meant to be a recounting of our experiences on our yacht "Blessed,” which I wanted to share with our children. It was written out of obedience to Deuteronomy 11:18-20. "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.” This book was my Christmas gift to Jesus that year and He used it to reach many more than just my family. Last year my gift to Jesus was a commitment to just do a leap of faith whatever that meant.
Apparently, it meant preparing the lunch program at Valley. For the last 7 months God has provided the money, the food, and the time needed to regularly feed 15-20 people a meal on Sundays. I still remember talking to Pastor Ken who just looked at me with his relaxed smile and said “I’m not quite sure how to present this to the Leadership Team. Let’s just call it an experiment.” Thanks Ken for taking that leap of faith with me.
Now back to Pastor Appreciation. Notice I didn’t say Day or Week. I appreciate Pastor Ken all the time. I wish I knew exactly what he needed or wanted but I don’t. However, I do know he needs and wants our prayers (we heard that in his sermon 😊). As a church, if we could all make that special effort to pray for our Pastor and his family this entire year then I believe his wants and needs will be met. I’ve. noticed very few comments are made to the blogs. I’d love to see this blog filled with the one simple comment to encourage Pastor Ken. Let’s see how many “praying” comments will encourage our Pastor and his family.
RSS Feed