I love my imperfect church

I'm taking a course at seminary this semester called "Seminar in Congregational Studies: Learning to love the local church, warts and all."  Every church has warts.  There is no such thing as a perfect church.  At least, I have never been to one.  The same applies to marriage.  There are no perfect husbands, and no perfect wives, yet we still fall in love, and still commit ourselves to our spouses.

I love my church.  It is not perfect.  I love my wife.  She is not perfect.  What a beautiful picture of grace.  God loves us, and we are not perfect!  I'm thankful for these powerful pictures in my life that remind me how God loves us.  At our Thanksgiving service this past week, I was reminded again why I love my church.  We shared a friendly football game, ate donuts, and enjoyed spending time together.  There was anticipation and energy before the service started.  People came ready to meet God in worship.  We were encouraged and challenged by God's word.  We shared stories of gratitude because of God's goodness in our lives.  We shed tears.  We laughed.  We celebrated.  It's easy to love a church like this.

But it's not that easy.  People let us down.  There are disagreements.  We get hurt, and most likely we are involved in hurting others too.  But let's not forget that we love each other.  And that means grace and forgiveness must define our relationships.  Jesus loves us even though we are not perfect.  And that is why I love my church, her warts and all.

Chaotic Week

I woke up Monday morning and said to my wife, "this is going to be a crazy week...I'll see you on Friday."  Here's why:

Monday: Class all morning, work all afternoon, homework all evening
Tuesday: Work all day, class in the afternoon, more work all night
Wednesday: Class all morning, Work all afternoon, rehearsal all evening
Thursday: Attending a conference in Chicago all day, leaving early, getting back late.
Friday: Class all morning, work all afternoon.  FRIDAY EVENING is FREE!!!

No doubt, weeks like this are tough, but thankfully they don't happen every week.  Although, most of this stuff is great, and I'm looking forward to it, it is tough to not feel guilty for neglecting my wife and son.  (That's because I am).  Here's to looking forward to next week: no school, Thanksgiving dinner, extra sleep, and extra time with family.  To my generous and supportive wife, and to my amazing son, I love you both dearly, and I am so thankful you give me grace when I'm not around as much.  I miss you and I'm looking forward to spending time with you this weekend and next weekend!
How about you? How do you survive long weeks and chaotic schedules?

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Some may say Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and while Christmas is wonderful, I'll take Autumn, thank you very much!  Take a look: