What are the odds?

“Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing from something.”  Wilson Mizner

  Sadly, if you’re ever looking for a sure thing, you don’t have to look much further than what politicians will do to get elected. That was true a number of years ago as our elected officials sold us a bill of goods on the tremendous savings on property taxes if we had a State Lottery. The grand total of that tremendous savings is about $100 a year. And that’s just for those who own property. Those with a serious gambling problem experienced average gambling losses of nearly $100,000 each during their career as gamblers. At the time they finally sought help, the serious problem gamblers had debts averaging $38,644. More than one-fifth had turned to bankruptcy court to ward off their creditors.

  The political Sirens cry today is “jobs, jobs, jobs.” Please mark it down. Politicians, for the most part, are pragmatic and utilitarian. They also are very, very short sighted and can rarely see beyond the next election cycle.

  That’s the only explanation for the support for a casino in Kenosha. It’s all about jobs, but no one wants to ask the tough question, the one right after – “Will this help me get re-elected?” – What’s the cost?

  In an article on gambling a few years ago, Christian political analyst and commentator, Chuck Colson asked some pointed questions: “Should we support elected officials who deliberately set about to increase crime, divorce, suicide, child abuse, bankruptcy, and domestic violence? What would say if I told you that our own leaders are doing just that when they encourage gambling?”

  Chuck Colson was right. Gambling destroys our families, our communities and our country. Gambling ruins lives and wrecks families. There is a mountain of evidence which demonstrates a direct link between gambling and divorce, child abuse, domestic violence, bankruptcy, crime, and suicide.

  And we all know this nearly intuitively. Be honest. Would you want to live in either Atlantic City or Las Vegas? There’s a reason most us would rather live nearly anywhere else. It’s all of the societal evils associated with gambling that infect a community.

  Yet, gambling has been spreading like an epidemic across our country, with hardly a voice raised in opposition. And it’s no wonder. Gambling interests pump millions of dollars into the campaigns of Democrats and Republicans alike. Everyone knows that campaign money buys influence. What’s very troubling is that gambling interests go to such great lengths to hide from the public much of their buying effort. The fact is that gambling money can get you elected…or defeated, if you oppose it.

  Sadly, even some churches will use gambling to raise money. It reminds me of the story of a young man, canvassing the community, selling chances on $25.00 to be given away by local church of which the boy was a member. After carefully learning from the youngster the facts, one of his contacts asked, “Isn't that gambling?” The reply was, "Well, not if I do it for the church.” It’s a tragedy that some religious organizations resort to methods of gambling in order to raise money for their operations. This story illustrates that not only secular groups, but religious groups as well are involved in the spread of gambling. It’s the age old argument of “the end justifies the means.”  

  While the Bible never specifically addresses the subject of gambling, it provides us with a number of principles that can guide us on this issue. The Bible does not say, “You shall not gamble,” or “gambling is wrong,” but it does teach us that while we might be free to do many things, all things are not profitable and we should never be brought under the control or power of anything other than the reign of Christ in our lives (1 Cor. 10:23; 6:12).

  Gambling easily becomes addictive. It becomes a means of getting rich quick or of seeking fortune apart from constructive labor or work that is truly beneficial to society. God has given us each abilities and with training we can become productive members of society and of the body of Christ. Gambling seeks to bypass this process.

  Gambling is a form of state-sponsored greed. Romans 13 teaches that government is to be a minister of good and for God. Government should provide order in society and promote public virtue. Legalized gambling undercuts government’s role and subverts the moral fabric of society through greed and selfishness promoted by a state-sponsored vice.

  Gambling breeds covetousness. The 10^th Commandment commands us not to covet. Coveting, greed, and selfishness are the base emotions that entice us to gamble. Legalized gambling becomes an institutionalized form of greed.

  Gambling destroys the work ethic. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” The Twentieth Century Fund research group observed, “Gambling’s get-rich-quick appeal appears to mock capitalism’s core values: disciplined work habits, thrift, prudence, adherence to routine, and the relationship between effort and reward.” These core values of the work ethic are all part of the free enterprise system and are part of the Christian life. But gambling corrupts these values and replaces them with greed and selfishness. Rather than depending on hard work, gamblers depend instead upon luck and chance.

  Gambling destroys families. Gambling is a major cause of family neglect. As people get caught up in a gambling frenzy, they neglect their families. Money spent on lottery tickets or at horse tracks is usually not risk capital, it’s income that should be spent on family needs. The more gambling is legalized, the more that it tempts people to neglect their responsibility to care for their families and then those same families often end up on welfare, supported by the same government that legalized the disease.

  Gambling is bad social policy. It’s bad economic policy. It’s bad governmental policy. It undermines the moral foundations of society and invites corruption in government. As believers, we have a responsibility to be salt and light in our decaying world. That means that we need to hold our elected officials accountable. We need to let them know gambling is bad for our society, and they have a responsibility to do what is best for their constituents, not just what will get them elected.

Straining at gnats; Swallowing camels

“Whatever you condemn, you have done yourself.” Georg Groddeck

  If anyone or any group can cause me to shake my head in disbelief, it seems to be government or some elected official. It’s why I limit my exposure to the media. I find that limited doses of news stories, particularly about government, keeps my blood pressure down.

  I’m sure you heard about it. It left me shaking my head in disbelief. Recently, Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, and real estate mogul, Donald Trump, have been littering the airwaves with their sparring over Trump installing a sign on his building, 20-foot-high letters spelling out his name on the 96-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago, the city’s second-tallest building. Mayor Emanuel called them “architecturally tasteless.”

  What’s particularly noteworthy, in Chicago, like most major cities, you can hardly sneeze without city approval. Mayor Emanuel’s own administration had approved it before the letters were installed. Now, though according to the news reports, the Mayor's office has had a change of heart and is looking at options to get the sign taken down or at least reduced in size. Mayor Emanuel's spokesperson, Kelley Quinn, said of the sign: The Mayor "believes this is an architecturally tasteful building scarred by an architecturally tasteless sign." Ouch!

  Personally, I just don’t get it. It’s a sign on the man’s building that he owns. It’s his name. They even essentially match. It’s not like they’re garish orange or flaming hot pink. They’re grey letters installed on the side of a grey building.

  Somehow it all seems very petty, particularly in the light of Chicago’s other news. Chicago has an escalating murder rate. 108 so far this year, with 421 last year. There have been over 600 shooting victims so far this year. Chicago residents have the highest sales tax rate of any city in the country and carry one of the highest tax rates overall. Meanwhile, Chicago beats out even Los Angeles for the highest unemployment percentage among the top 10 metro areas in population. While Chicago Public Schools are graduating nearly 20,000 seniors each year, nearly 10,000 of the CPS students who enter ninth grade, drop out before he or she graduate. And we all know that these young people just don't disappear. Probe what plagues Chicago — violence, unemployment, poverty, teen pregnancy — and you find those same former students who fell behind and dropped out. In light of all of the major problems in Chicago, six letters, even 20-foot-high letters, seems very petty.

  The dictionary defines “pettiness” as of little or no importance or consequence; of lesser or secondary importance, merit; minor; having or showing narrow ideas, interests. Essentially, pettiness is a lack of perspective. It’s focusing on the minutia, yet missing the monumental. It was the sin of the Pharisees. Jesus rebuked them for their pettiness, telling them that they “strained out gnats and swallowed a camel” (Matthew 23:24).

  And there’s my problem…I just can’t believe how petty that I can be sometimes. While I can see how silly Mayor Emmanuel is, I don’t as quickly see how silly I am, or how petty I can be. How about you?

  Pettiness goes hand in hand with a critical spirit. When I devolve into pettiness, I find that I focus on the one or two things wrong, yet miss all that’s right. I see a slightly skewed outcome, rather than a pure motive and heart’s intent. And I miss, that just like the Pharisees, I, too, am “straining out gnats and swallowing a camel.” Pettiness, for me, too easily succumbs to perfectionism when I know that I am light years, if not galaxies away from being perfect in my own life.

  The late, Walt Disney, was a perfectionist but his brother Roy was a realist. In Disney Studios early days, when they were racing for a Christmas release of Snow White, Walt Disney reviewed a nearly completed version of the film. He noticed something that really, really bothered him. It seems that when the Prince leaned over to kiss Snow White in her glass coffin, he shimmied. Did you catch that he “shimmied.” Somehow something had gone wrong in the camera work or animation. “I want to make it over,” Walt announced to his brother, Roy. “How much will it cost?” Roy asked. Walt replied that it would require several thousand dollars. “Forget it!” said Roy, who had already borrowed all that he could. “Let the Prince shimmy.” And ever afterward, he did.

  Life is never even close to being perfect. Most of the time, you just have to choose to “let it go” and let the Prince shimmy, and enjoy the film.

  All of us would do well to pray along with Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland (1542-1587). Ken Gire cites her in his book, Between Heaven and Earth: Prayers and Reflections That Celebrate an Intimate God:   

Keep us, O God, from all pettiness.

Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.

Let us be done with faultfinding

and leave off all self-seeking.

May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face,

without self-pity and without prejudice.

May we never be hasty in judgment,

and always be generous.

Let us always take time for all things,

and make us grow calm, serene and gentle.

Teach us to put into action our better impulses,

to be straightforward and unafraid.

Grant that we may realize

that it is the little things of life that create differences,

that in the big things of life we are as one.

And, O Lord God, let us not forget to be kind!

  By God’s grace, let’s determine to make the main thing the main thing and learn to overlook the trivial and petty. Not only will it help our own spirits, it will make us a whole lot easier to live with for those around us and a better testimony for our gracious Lord.

Are we there yet?!?

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao Tzu

  I’m not a good traveler. When I was little, I hated it when our whole family would pile into the station wagon and head off for our annual vacation in Florida. I loved the destination but I despised the journey.

  I loved it when we arrived. My love for the sound of waves breaking on the beach, the smell of salt and sand, and the cries of seagulls hasn’t abated a bit in over fifty years. As we drew closer, I’d be peering out the window for that first glimpse of the ocean.

  I loved fishing in the surf, digging for sand crabs, bodysurfing the waves and building sandcastles. There’s nothing better than walking a warm, sandy beach late at night. You’d see the blinking lights of shrimp boats far off in the ocean. We’d scoop up crabs for a crab dinner who’d came floating in with high tide. We’d shine our flashlights out as far as we could see and the light would dissipate into the pitch black of the ocean.

  It really wasn’t that far of a trip, basically a day trip. We could leave Atlanta and be at our hotel in Ormond Beach in about seven hours. But for some reason, the trip just seemed to take forever. Probably, not more than thirty minutes into the drive. I’d be piping up from the very back of the station wagon, whining, “Are we there yet? When are we going to get there? How much farther?” and of course, “I have to go to the bathroom.” I loved the final destination but I hated the trip. Those seats seem to get so sticky so quickly and you felt so cramped. You could only look at comic books for so long. Remember, this was back in the Dark Ages of AM radio with few channel selections. CD’s, even cassette tapes, were unheard of. There were no monitors of laptops. I’m sure that the lack of distractions gave birth to the Alphabet Game, the Sign Game and I spy. Many a horrible yet unforgettable tune was birthed on those seemingly endless treks. My children will tell you that I tortured them on our own long family trips with ancient versions that I learned as a child of “Pine Trees” and “The Ants go marching one by one,” to name a few.

  The Bible talks a lot about being on a journey. It’s a constant them of Hebrews 11. Probably, the most noteworthy verse of travelling, and really wandering, is verse 38, “of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Though leaving their homes, apparently because of persecution and their faithfulness to God, they wandered about with no final destination on this earth. It certainly was not a vacation, yet they also did not have a home they were ultimately headed towards.

  What’s amazing is that they did it with both joy and grace. Though in horrible circumstances, they seem to be free from the constant whining of “How much longer?” The only explanation is for their wonderful attitude is that their faith, they truly trusted God.

  What a contrast we find in the book of Numbers. It’s noteworthy that they are not called “Jews” or “Israel,” but the “children of Israel.” And they certainly live up to that allusion to childish behavior.

  Freshly released from four centuries of slavery in Egypt, just three days into the journey, the Bible tells us that they began to murmur and complain. Can’t you just hear them, whining to Moses and Aaron, over and over again, incessantly for forty years: Are we there yet? When are we gonna get there? Why is this taking so long? 

  Poor Moses. Don’t you wonder how many times he thought that leading sheep for forty years had been easier? Ultimately, Moses had no control over the situation. He couldn’t wave some magic wand and make the trip shorter. God was setting the pace. God was in the driver’s seat, not Moses.

  Like little children, though, they lacked patience and self-control. They whined and complained, despising the long wait and boredom of plodding along at what they felt was a snail’s pace.

  I’m a much better traveler than I was. I’ve learned that the journey is as important as the destination. I’ve gotten where even driving all the way through Illinois and Indiana, (seemingly, the most boring states to drive through), doesn’t bother me that much anymore. I’ve learned to pace myself and sightsee. There are some interesting and important sites along the way. I’ll listen to my favorite music or a book. I’ll read or just rest.

  In the Christian life, the journey is nearly as vital as the final destination. It’s on the journey that we learn to trust our Heavenly Father. It’s on the journey that we learn to wait and grow in patience. It’s on the journey that we learn to persevere and be steadfast, when we are tempted to bail. It’s on the journey that we learn that God is on our side even when are attacked, just as the Children of Israel were. It’s on the journey that we learn that prayer changes the outcome, not whining or pitching a temper tantrum.

  Someday our Heavenly Father will bring us Home. The very thought of heaven should fill out hearts with joy and inspire us onward in the journey with strength and true patience.

  Are we there yet? No, not yet, not quite, yet every day brings a little closer. When are we going to get there? Always in His time, at the best time. Perhaps even sooner than we would expect.

  I have to think that like any loving parent, our loving God must want us Home even more than we want to be Home. Yet, there is work to do, lost people to reach, and a Savior to follow down the winding road of days and years. When we finally turn into heaven’s driveway and see King Jesus waiting at the open door, the long drive won’t seem so long at all.

  By God’s grace, let’s choose to trust Him and not be like spoiled children. Let’s be like Abraham and the heroes and heroines in Hebrews 11, not like those whiners in the desert who brought distress to their leaders, and grief and anger to their God. We enjoy the journey “by faith,” when we trust Him. If the journey is frustrating you, that’s a good indication that you need to grow in faith.

"Conscious Uncoupling"? It's still the painful death of a marriage

“The real cause of failure, ultimately, in marriage is always self, and the various manifestations of self.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

  A couple of months back, Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Chris Martin, announced that after ten years of marriage they were separating. But rather than a divorce, it was a “Conscious Uncoupling.” Personally, I’ve never seen a painless divorce, yet I want to be sensitive to the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are, in fact, real people who are in distress and working hard to be loving parents. There are also recent signs that they may be resolving their marital difficulties. And whether you're a millionaire actress married to a rock star, or the neighbor down the block, none of us can begin to know what’s going on inside someone else’s marriage. So this isn’t about trash talking “gp,” as she refers to herself on her website. It’s about exploring what her now infamous “conscious uncoupling” message gets wrong about marriage.

  In her defense, Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t invent the term “conscious uncoupling.” Therapist, Katherine Woodward Thomas first came up with it. It’s not meant to be a synonym for “divorce.” Instead it’s supposed to be a process by which divorcing couples can attempt to be as peaceful and gentle with one another as possible in an impossibly tricky time. 

  Our culture is infamous for taking what is horrible and seeking to somehow sanitize and soften brutal realities. For example, it’s not the violent death of innocent victims; they’re collateral damage. It’s not an addiction, it’s a disease. It’s not murder, it’s abortion. And “conscious uncoupling” sounds so clinical, so clean cut, like somehow Gwyneth Paltrow is above all of the brutal bloodiness of splitting up. In other words, if you wear $20 Wal-mart tennis shoes, you get "divorced," but gp can slip on $500 sneakers and is "uncoupled."

  Personally, I’ve never been able to wrap my brain around “no fault divorce.” It communicates something like someone walking down a sidewalk, making a misstep, that results in a fall and a broken limb. Divorce is always intentional. It’s messy, painful and often brutal. It’s the death of a marriage that must be grieved, not only by the couple who once entered into marriage together, but also by all who love them: their children, friends, their extended families, communities and churches. Divorcees use words like shattered, broken, or devastated to describe what they feel in the wake of a separation. Divorce is often a savage act.

  Yet, a healthy marriage is messy, too. Not only is divorce very difficult, at times, so is a healthy marriage. Marriage takes lots and lots of hard work. Weddings are a cakewalk; a healthy marriage is one of the most difficult responsibilities you’ll ever volunteer for. Even childrearing is easier, in that it only lasts eighteen years. Marriage is for life. God never intended marriage to have an expiration date.

  Continually, I counsel young couples to invest more time (and money) into their marriage, rather than their wedding. Most of us love weddings. Brides dressed in white; Grooms in nice suits. A wedding is like a wonderful vacation. Eventually though, you must come home and go back to work, to the routine…mundane. You can choose to dread going to work, grit your teeth every day, or you can choose to enjoy the job God has given you, work hard as to Him and thank Him even for the irritants because you know that He’s using even those in your life for His glory and your good. Enjoyment and fulfillment in marriage always begins within our own attitude. It’s a personal choice each of us must make.

  Take for example another celebrity marriage. Perhaps you remember all of the attention Ben Affleck's Oscar speech received in 2013 when he took home the golden statue for Best Picture for his film Argo. The father of three, addressing his wife, Jennifer Garner, said, “I want to thank you for working on our marriage for ten Christmases. It's good, it is work, but it's the best kind of work, and there's no one I'd rather work with.” Yet, people were up in arms. How could a Hollywood icon acknowledge that he and his movie star wife have to work at their marriage? How dare he? Yet, to thinking people, to those realistic about marriage, it was a breath of authenticity that the Affleck-Garners were making a real go of it. We were glad for them – and for their children! May their tribe increase!

  Recently, I was talking to a couple who will have been married forty years this year. After I congratulated them, I asked how they were going to celebrate. They weren’t sure they would. They have an adult child currently going through a horrible divorce, and they didn’t want to increase their child’s pain with their celebration. I urged them to celebrate, not just for their adult child, but also for the many other young couples out there. I encouraged them to communicate by their celebration that marriage is a lifetime vow of commitment, and that if your marriage doesn’t quite fit or you’re not happy, you can’t just return it to exchange it for another one.  

  On our wedding days, we blithely promise to love our spouses "for better or worse, in sickness and in health…” It's easy to speak these words when your biggest concern is that you received three crock pots as wedding gifts. As the years wear on, real life and its challenges hit, all marriages weather what we politely call “dry spells” or “rough patches.” Jane and I have referred to it as “our tide being out or in.”

  If your marriage has chronic issues – DO SOMETHING! If you had a chronic cough for more than a few days, you’d see a doctor. I’m constantly amazed at the foolishness of those who have chronic marital issues in that they won’t go see someone or take proactive steps. Their naïve denial often results in a terminal relational cancer destroying their marriage.

  At the very least, without finger-pointing, pray together about the condition of your marriage. Discipline yourself to read Christian books together about marriage. Two that I’d suggest are: When Sinners Say "I Do" by Dave Harvey or Sacred Marriage by Gary L. Thomas. If your marriage doesn’t begin to improve, seek help. There are godly couples in our church who will gladly come alongside of you. For more serious situations, seek out a Christian counselor. Please don’t rationalize, “we can’t afford that” – you can’t afford not to. Not to mention for the relational cheapskates, the average divorce costs between $5,000 and $10,000. Marriage counseling is very inexpensive in comparison.

  No one can see into another couple's marriage. There’s no point and no grace in judging someone else’s marital commitment or choice to break it. The rich gifts though of doing the hard work that it takes for a healthy marriage are immeasurable. I don’t know about you, as for me, I plan to keep consciously coupling. Will you make that same commitment?

When God does the relocating

“It's easy to not feel misplaced if this tidal wave of appreciation is coming your way.” Christoph Waltz

  Okay, I didn’t see this one coming. Usually, I think that I tend to do fairly well at seeing around corners and what’s potentially coming down the pike. And I have to confess, I don’t always like it when God’s plans don’t matchup with my plans and agenda.

  Those of you who have sat under his teaching are well aware that God has greatly gifted, Robert Leafblad, as a teacher of biblical truth and just teaching in general. It’s one of Robert’s many strengths. Having had the privilege of being the pastor to Rob’s parents, Howard and Gail Leafbald, who were both teachers, this was not a big surprise to me.

  Many years ago, I encouraged Rob to pursue teaching. At the time, though, he just wasn’t interested. Over the course of the last few years though Rob has been pursuing a Master’s degree and doing substitute teaching at Gateway Community College. We all assumed he’d be offered a position to teach locally BUT he wasn’t. God had other plans and the Lord opened a teaching position for Rob in Wausau. (For non-Wisconsin natives, Wausau is not in Poland. That’s Warsaw, though for practical purposes, it’s nearly as far away.) And Rob working in Wausau is bad enough but he doesn’t want to commute the three and a half hours each day – one way. That means that Sarah, our church’s Administrative Assistant, is leaving, too. (I considered suggesting that Rob invest in a small plane and get his pilot’s license yet quickly realized that probably wasn’t going to fly).

  Yet, I’ve been a believer long enough to know that our loss is always another church family’s blessing. We’re going to miss the whole Leafblad family, particularly we’re going to miss having Sarah on staff at Grace. She’s a been a real asset to our team and a blessing to our church for the year and a half that she’s been on staff.

  Someone described a church Administrative Assistant as one who’s “able to photocopy, collate and staple 500 documents in a single bound, takes phone calls while proofreading the bulletin and fixing the copier machine! She swoops in to save any distressed parishioner, all while navigating past the pile of parcels that church members have left in the office doorway! Who is this woman? It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s…SUPER-SECRETARY!” And that describes Sarah Leafblad!

  While I will miss Sarah’s work abilities, what I’ll miss most of all is her godly, gracious spirit. Being a church Administrative Assistant means that you often have to do the job of 2 or 3 people. Every week there are corrections, tweaking and an incessant demand for creativity. Most of us pick up a church bulletin, never considering the many hours it took to put it together, to make sure it’s accurate, that both spelling and grammar are correct, that it’s compelling and people actually will take the time to read it. That same high standard must be applied to every communication that comes out of her office from the worship slides to church correspondence to the web page. At the same time, the phone often will not stop ringing. On top of that there are emails and text messages to respond to, not to mention the church’s Facebook page…and Sarah handled it. She’s consistently gracious and Christlike in the midst of a lot of pressure.

  That’s because Sarah loves the Lord and loves others. If Sarah has any fault, it’s that when she learns of a need, she wants to jump in with both feet with her entire being and help. Yet, sometimes the best choice is to wait. That’s hard for Sarah though. She’s a helper, a fixer and a doer.

  I have to laugh as I look back at how many times I’d give her a project, knowing her plate for the week was already full, and clearly instructing her to put it off until the following week and on next week’s agenda. Invariably, she’d have it done before she finished for the week. In fact, I remember her telling me one time that it was best that her printer at home was on the fritz because it prevented her from completing work there. Sarah is a hard worker and seemingly tireless.

  Anyone who knows Sarah know that God has blessed her with phenomenal creativity. We’re not a huge church and don’t have some gargantuan marketing budget. Yet, I’ve had pastors contact me, wondering where we purchased our logos and designs for our various ministries and sermon series. I’d share with them that we had a lady in our church who God had greatly gifted with creativity.

  John 13:4-5, 14 tells us that, “[Jesus]  rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. ‘If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet’.” In Jesus’ ministry, we frequently hear Him talking about serving others. This is clearly illustrated by His act of washing His disciple's feet.

  When our Lord took on the task of the lowest slave of the household by washing the feet of those who were supposed to be His servants, He was making a powerful statement to them - especially because the issue they were fighting over that evening was who was the greatest among them. Christians are to have servant’s hearts and that’s one of Sarah’s greatest strengths. She loves to serve; she loves to minister to others.

  So Sarah, Rob, Bjorn and Aiden, we’re going to miss you! Thank you so much for your faithfulness and Christlikeness! Yet, we truly know and trust that God’s plan is always best, that our loss is just a blessing in another part of His Kingdom. It’s been a privilege working with you, Sarah, and having you on our staff! Thank you so much for being a blessing to us and faithfully serving King Jesus!