Newsbrief: Nine Years

Nine years ago I was still using the first computer I had ever purchased for myself. It had a half-a-gigabyte hard drive, took up the entirety of the card table I used for a desk, and cost about $2500.

Nine years ago the only internet access, I had, came through a dial-up modem that connected to a telephone line.

Nine years ago my cellphone could only make phone calls, Facebook hadn’t been invented, and Arizona Cardinals super wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was just starting his freshman year in college. It is amazing how much things change in nine years – technology, innovation, the sweep of history.

What is so significant about nine years ago, you ask? Well, on this day nine years ago Susan and I were married!

It was a beautiful ceremony in the sanctuary of the church where she grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri. We were surrounded by friends and family, and after the ceremony we processed with all 200+ guests down the street to the local children’s museum where we had our reception! It is the greatest night of my life.

It is amazing how some things stay timeless – love, sacred promises, those moments that come to define our lives.

On my ninth wedding anniversary I can’t help but wonder what the next nine years have in store -- for my family, for our church, for our world. What will change? What will remain constant? What are the timeless things that not only will endure, but will help shape the ways that we respond to a constantly evolving world?

It is exciting to dream about what this church will look like in the year 2020, where God will be leading us, and what new opportunities and possibilities will be there for us to respond to the good news of the Gospel.

So take a little time today and reflect with me. Where were you nine years ago? What has changed? What has remained constant? As we look forward, what are your dreams for our church in the coming years? And, what will we have to do to get there? I look forward to hearing all of your answers and living into the future with you all.

Yours in the journey, Rev. Brian