I heard on the radio this morning that people had a shredding party to end 2009 and this decade. Since I am headed out of town for a few days, I thought I would go ahead and list some of the things I am thankful for in 2009. It’s been an interesting year, but I still have plenty to be thankful for:
1. My amazing wife Nicki. I, along with the rest of the world, am thankful that she is definitely not me. God knew what he was doing when he put us together. We couldn’t be any more different from each other, but that is not a bad thing. We help balance each other out. Nicki is full of mercy…I try to be, but its not my strength. I’m the type that calls it like it is, and I’m okay with that. Nicki has been a huge help to me in our new endeavors this past year. She is a great mother to our children, I couldn’t ask for a better woman to live my life with.
2. My amazing children: Gavin, Tristan and Hailey…yes they are still more amazing than your children 🙂 Each have their own personalities and characteristics. I love the way they make me smile. They are definitely a gift from God!
3. New Passion Church – Wow! I cannot believe it actually happened. There were days I just didn’t believe it was going to launch. There were so many thoughts and ideas that I had about launching this church that when they didn’t happen, I thought I had made a mistake. On September 13, we launched with 109 people and averaged 91 in our first month. We’ve now settled in the upper 60’s to low 70’s every week including our volunteers, children, and adults. We’ve already lost families to deployment, some of which jumped in and assisted from day one…I hated to see them go; and we’ve lost others because we didn’t fit their idea of church, it’s funny, I’m definitely at peace about that. We purposely started with our series “Rediscover Church” because we know we will not be for everyone. I am blown away by these numbers because we started with Nicki, our three kids, and myself, so yes, I am amazed at what God has done so far! I can look back over the first three months and see answered prayers and life change, and I know New Passion is definitely a movement of God and its definitely been worth it. I am thankful for the amazing team that God has assembled, they have huge hearts, have sacrificed greatly, and love Jesus with a Passion. They were definitely gifted to be church planters. I am thankful to everyone who has selflessly invested financial and material resources to help New Passion be successful in living out its vision to “lead people to a passionate relationship with Jesus.” I can’t wait to see how God uses us in 2010.
4. True Friends – “Best” friends is an overrated and overused term. “True” friends are what matter in life. I’ve come to realize in 2009 that “people’s actions are rarely as big as how they promote themselves…” A true friend is someone who you can rely on and who is honest. I think those two characteristics and qualities go a long way.
5. Jesus
Of course there is plenty more I could list, but this should be sufficient. I hope you all have an awesome send off to 2009 and a Happy New Year!!!
