Waves

We are only 5 days into the New Year, and already I have had a whole slew of experiences, both great and terrible. I guess that just goes to show that it really doesn't matter what year we are in, life truly is full of joy and sorrow, but through all of it there is a constant that we can grab onto and ride through the roller coaster of waves that make up life.

This past weekend I preached at our church. This was amazing and terrifying at the same time! Now, I have been leading out with Bible Studies for many many years, and I have been a licensed as a minister and been leading a youth group for 2 years, but there is a difference between that and standing up in front of the church in the role of pastor. It was amazing and exciting because it was an opportunity to allow God to speak through me. It was terrifying because I had a whole church looking at me and trusting me to teach them and faithfully relay God's word. That's a huge responsibility! Saturday night I was quite nervous, but it ended up going great, and Sunday morning went even better. It was quite amazing! I will probably post the general outline of what I talked about soon. The ironic part of the whole thing was that I, the Youth Guy, was preaching because the Pastor was out of town on a youth ski trip. :)

So that was great! Then we had a bit of a sad day as we watched the Broncos get kicked out of the playoffs, followed closely by the Steelers, and then we watched the Bengals get killed, but they are already in the playoffs so Manda was ok with them losing.

Monday turned out to be an utterly dissapointing day. I was very excited to have youth that night and start a new year with new ideas and opportunities and chances to grow as a group and for each of us to grow individually with God. However, for the 1st time in 2 years, not a single person showed up. It was very dissapointing and frustrating, and to make things worse, I learned that a large reason for this is that my family is basically going through a shattering at the moment, which I won't go into, but which is wreaking havoc on everyone involved. 

I woke up this morning amazed at how much can happen in 3 days and how different every day can be, but I also realized, even more than I have before, that life really does not and will not make sense. We can have incredible, amazing experiences that are butted up against terrible devestating ones, but we cannot allow these things to determine how we live and feel. We must rely on God, every single day, every single second. If we are with Him we can trust that we have a secure path through the fog that surrounds us, but the farther away we get the more lost, confused, and cold we become. He is our guide and lifesaver in the ocean of life, and that is an incredible hope and security!