26 Days left

I don't know why but the fact that this year is winding down and after tomorrow, Monday the 4th, there will only be 26 days left in this year to make 2006 an unforgettable year has engrossed my mind. Generally speaking, this is the time of year when many people are actually breathing a collective sigh of relief. We're almost ready to "close" the books on 06 and go head first into 07. I'm not sure what 06 has meant for you but for me it has been many things.

To name a few:

• Personal Spiritual Awakening has taken place in my life this year and it all started with a trip to Mexico to do missions work. I came back with a new outlook on "Christianity" and how we are to relate the greatest story ever told to everyone we meet.
• My Church has experienced wonderful growth in our congregation. Not just numerically but in every way. 2006 has definitely stood out as the greatest year in the history of Living Springs. I feel like our Church is really beginning to fire on all cylinders and 2007 will not know what hit it! I can honestly say I have never looked more forward to a brand new year as I do right now.
  
• 2006 has brought about a season of personal healing in my life as well. For the first time, my Dad met my wife and his Grandchildren. We stopped to visit with him this past July. My kids still ask about him. We'll definitely be going back to visit with Dad.
• 2006 has seen the emergence of a side of me that I'm beginning to become very comfortable with. The side of me that is willing to look foolish for God, risk what I would never have considered before, dare to believe what I would have never believed before, and willing to go where I might have never thought to go before. Late in this year I visited one of our local bars and sort of "hung out" with some of the guys there. I look forward to visiting more often in the coming year. Not being a drinker, I would have NEVER gone to the bar or even thought that I should. That is, until God asked me to go.

There are so many things that 2006 has meant to me that I could go on and on.

As I started to say in this post, there are yet 26 days left. What am I going to do with them? Will I sit back and just cruise the rest of the year? I think not! I will engage everyday in search of opportunities to bring honor to God. I will spend the next 26 days hoping to add value to someone who may have had a rather messed up year. My plate is full from now to the end of the year with banquets and dinners and family gatherings but I don't want to become so inward focused that I fail to see the opportunity to help someone else. Make the last 26 days something to remember 2006 by. Let's really go out with a bang for God. Find a problem and help solve it! Find a hurt and help heal it! Find a tear and wipe it away! Find laughter and join in! Find sorrow and mend it. Find hunger and feed it. Find nakedness and clothe it! Find thirst and quench it! Find the unlovely and love them!