Where did 2022 go? + Going back to school
Dear church,
I started to write this ‘Dear church’ when I realized it is already August and we are staring down at the last four months of the calendar. Where did 2022 go?
Now, I’ve long been aware of a phenomenon where the older we get, the quicker time seems to pass by. It’s interesting to think about. For instance, at 5-year-old, a year of life represents 20% of their life. That represents a huge chunk of their life! For a 10-year-old, a year of life represents 10% of their life. Still a sizable chunk of time, but not the 20% it was for the 5-year-old. For me, a 42-year-old? Well, a year of my life represents a mere 2.3%. So, when I look back on a given year, it represents a small chunk of life as I get older.
An argument based on the mechanics of neural signal processing is made by professor and author Adrian Bejan (Duke University) in a study that was released in March 2019. In his theory, aging causes time to 'speed up' because as we get older, our ability to interpret visual information slows down.
As time ‘speeds up’ for all of us, let me encourage you to be present for today. By all means we should look forward, plan ahead, and be thoughtful about the years ahead. In our thoughtfulness, however, let us refuse the temptation to disregard the present.
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” ~ Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV
To redeem something is to purchase it back and take ownership of it. God gives us all time as a gift, and we are granted different amounts of time. How much time each of us has on earth to make decisions that will affect eternity is something only God knows (Psalm 139:16). God wants us to live with a constant awareness of the ticking clock and make the most of the time we have when He says we should be "redeeming the time." In fact, the term "making the most of every chance" is used in the NIV's translation of Ephesians 5:16 in place of "redeeming the time."
As I think about our church and try to make the most of every opportunity, I recently spoke to our elders about pursuing additional education as it relates to pastoral counseling. Pastoral counseling is where someone combines both counseling and theological training to offer people hope. Much of my one-on-one time with our church family includes discussions about marriage, family, divorce, depression, communication, relational conflict, abuse, grief, loss, forgiveness, parenting, etc. To that end, I'm pleased to announce that I'll be getting more education in the area of pastoral counseling with a specific emphasis on families, marriage, and relationships. It's my desire to gain the training and foundation necessary to help families, parents, and marriages within our church family develop healthy and strong relationships. I’ve spent the last few months doing a lot of prerequisite reading to prepare myself for my courses and in the last few weeks, I started my first course offered by the American Association of Christian Counselors. I’d appreciate your prayers for me as I go back to school!
Speaking of going back to school – we are so excited about an upcoming special Sunday on our church’s calendar, Back-to-School Sunday on August 28, 2022! This VERY Special Sunday includes Back-to-School Prayer Guides that will be given to every family, we'll have special Back-to-School Gifts for every school-aged child in attendance, and a special time of prayer over our children & teachers during our service. PLUS—for the entire month of August we will be collecting Pizza & Coffee Gift Cards from our church family and then gifting those to Douglas County foster parents as a special treat for the Back-to-School season. To donate gift cards for this event drop them off Monday-Wednesday, 8:30 AM – 3 PM at our church office or bring them to church on any Sunday in August and drop them off in one of our collection boxes. If you need to make other arrangements simply call (541) 672-4566.
It’s the joy of my life to serve you.
I love you church,
Pastor Daniel
(In upcoming issues of ‘Dear church’ we’ll talk about three exciting guest speakers that will come to FCC in the coming months and my favorite part of family reunions)
