Pastor’s Mike’s Garage February 16th, 2023
February 16, 2023
our annual meeting coming this Sunday at 1:30 pm. We need 25 people to be
there for quorum, so please make an effort to come. We’ll be enjoying
potluck together right after the service Sunday, with the annual meeting to
follow at 1:30, so why not come out and enjoy the day! This is a family
service so the kids will be involved and Joab the Nail Sailsman will be
speaking 🙂
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*Pastor Mike’s Garage, Feb 16/2023*
It is nothing short of scary to me how fast the years go by! I can still
remember laying on my bed as a child and teenager wondering what my life
would look like when the year 2000 came. It seemed like such a long off
pivotal milestone. It was the year I would turn 30, and I spent much time
in the eighties wondering, dreaming and speculating what my life might look
like that far off into the future. There was even some worry and anxiety as
I thought about the future. The irony is, that while I have always felt I
have lived a fortunate, blessed life, it has turned out nothing how I
thought it might. Now to ponder that its been 23 years since, literally a
longer span of time since my worry prior to 2000, is absolutely mind
boggling!
Today marks another milestone in my life, its our ten year anniversary!
Whenever people comment on how fast that went by, I quite often jokingly
say “Well nobody thought it would last this long!” My wonderful, patient
wife rolls her eyes when I say it! I have to wonder if she ever worried as
a young girl about marrying a cornball? The funny thing is as a child I
never spent any time worrying about my future marital status, I just
assumed it would happen. In my later teen years I had some concerns. Then
in my twenties, into my thirties and even fourties, my concerns blossomed
into full bloomed anxiety. So many times during that season in my life
people would make the comment “I just can’t understand why your not married
yet, your such a nice guy.” Often I would reply “Well it doesn’t seem to be
much of a mystery to any of the women I have been interested in over the
years….!” I came to the place where I was sure I was somehow broken, and
the long held dream for my life would never happen Now to look back on
those fears and anxiety over a decade after God brought the absolute
blessing into my life that is my wife, those anxious thoughts seem so
silly. Its funny, I can still remember dreaming about my future wife, and
now looking back, it amazes me how God has brought someone into my life
that is such an amazing life partner. She is such a good match for me that
it is far better now than even how good I dreamed was gonna be all those
years ago it could be!
So one would think that by now I would have learned my lesson and not be so
anxious about the future! NOT! Even though God has proven faithful in my
life, time and time again, I am still prone to worry, fear, and anxiety
about the road ahead, Will I make enough money to retire comfortably and
provide sufficiently for my family? Is a heart attack, stroke or some other
major health event in my future? There is a long family history of
alzheimer’s on my dads side, could this be in the cards for my future? I
have a little bit of a public platform as a pastor and long time community
member, will I finish strong, or end in disgrace?
How about you? What worries you today? What nagging anxious thoughts keep
you up at night? As I thought about all of this a couple verses came to
mind that I thought I would end this PG with. “Therefore I tell you, do not
worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what
you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to
your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the
field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon
in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God
clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown
into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do
not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What
shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your
heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and
his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:24-35NLT When it
comes right down to it, not much of the big things in life are remotely
within our control! Seek first His kingdom and righteousness, leave the
rest up to Him! He’s got this!
Pastor Mike