sojourn pastor

Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men

It doesn’t matter …

This morning I was reading in my Bible, Philippians 1:10.

Paul is writing from prison, and he is writing to a group of people who live in the city of Philippi. He writes … “For I want you to understand what really matters …” He goes on to say, if we can begin to understand these things, we will lead an exemplary life.

So I started to think, what really matters? What are the things that I need to focus, so I can lead a life of excellence? And, what are the things that I should avoid focusing?

Things that don’t matter ….

  • the checkout line – even when I’m in the slower line
  • the speed of my internet – even when the server crashes in the office and I have things that need to be done
  • the bills – which always seem to be larger than the paycheck – have you noticed gas prices?
  • the home repairs - eventually I’ll clean the gutters, cut down those branches, finish the bathroom, put up that molding – you get the idea
  • the guy that cut me off this morning - it wasn’t as much the “cutting off”, it was the “look” he gave after I gently depressed my car horn

Things that DO matter …

  • reading Junie B. Jones to Jordyn E. Court – I read Junie as a comedy, she relates to Junie as a comrade-in-arms
  • talking to Carissa about hair, fashion, or the amount of calcium in different food items – you have no idea how many foods have little to no calcium
  • playing, watching, and talking about basketball with Nathan – did I mention the NCAA tournament starts in 8 days?
  • walking with Kelly and watching our ever-aging dog desperately try to keep ahead of us - I think I may outlive her, it was debatable for a couple years
  • spending time with the Creator of the universe, the one who loves me, made me, and consistently blesses me – why is something that should be so natural seem to be a chore some days?

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This entry was posted by rick on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 9:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized, family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

About The Author

rick
I married way out of my league. And I am aware of that every day. Kelly loves me, even the worst of me … like the “1st thing in the morning me”; and the “I hate being stuck in traffic me”; and she even loves the “but I only want to lay on the couch and watch TV me”. She’s my daily demonstration of grace – unmerited favor! I have three great kids – Nathan, Carissa, & Jordyn. They are the best parts of me – wow, thanks for that God, cause there weren’t a lot of good parts to work with! I’m the associate pastor @ HOPE Church. That’s my “day job”. At night … I’m the lead pastor @ Sojourn. I have the good fortune to share my life with the broken, the scallywags, and the marginalized; which works especially well because I am one of them. I love and lead a rag tag community of people who consistently demonstrate Deuteronomy 4:29 … “You will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Sojourn is a community of Gen-Xers who have a desire to connect with those who have never gone to church – the “unchurched” and those who have given up on church – the “overchurched”.

Comments

2 Responses to “It doesn’t matter …”

  1. Jackie says:
    March 19, 2008 at 10:57 pm

    i like this post :)

  2. Anonymous says:
    March 31, 2008 at 8:32 pm

    Yeah, I like it too!
    I needed to be reminded about how much my “To Do” list really doesn’t matter and how much God and the people in my life are waiting for me to finish what’s on that list….An ouch moment for me.
    Your comments about Jordyn, Carissa and Nathan also made me cry! ;o) Thanks Ricky!

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