Here we are at the end of another year, on the cusp of a new one. I’ve spent most of the day writing in new notebooks. Perhaps that is jumping the gun a little bit, but one of them is preparing for Sunday’s sermon
As I write this, though, I am weary. It has been a hard year. Tax issues, ministry struggles, the ever-present anxiety that comes with the immigrant life…
But I have known God more through all of this than I otherwise would have. I have known his presence and his guiding hand leading me ever onward, ever forward in a march1. I have seen how he has not let me give up.
My children became my brothers and sisters in Christ. We finished out the year with another young person at church asking to go through our baptism class (because she had also come to believe this year). We have people interested in church membership.
Looking ahead and thinking about a theme for 2025, I have landed on intention. It is not that this year was one without intention, it is more that there is so much happening in 2025 that it will be easier than normal to forget to keep things in perspective.
A visa application, the end of my formal training, sourcing funding to continue in my current role, keeping an eye on the horizon should that funding not come…
In the midst of projects like those, I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that I still have a flock to lead, feed, and tend. We still have a mission to fulfil in our town. There are 40,000 people and almost none of them know the gospel.
In the front of my bullet journal is a list of three intentions:
- Do what helps the church fulfil the Great Commission.
- Help the church to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ2.
- Write, write, write.
Every decision that is made over the next year has to help me make progress in one of these three areas. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t get done. I don’t imagine it will be easy, but it will at least give me a matrix to help with making decisions.