God's Love, God's Abundance

Yesterday in my sermon, I challenged the congregation to start bringing pictures and stories of where they see God's love and God's Abundance in this world.  These pictures and stories will be collected through Easter as we see through each other eyes and words where we see God active in our lives.

I'm willing to accept this challenge myself.  And as one of my friends mentioned a few weeks ago during a workshop at baby pastor school, he refers to these as "God moments", moments when you feel God's presence.

So here are my God moments from yesterday:

A few weeks ago I asked a newer member about getting together for coffee sometime just to get to know him a bit better.  He came over to the parsonage after worship and the two of us and Bob had a great conversation.  It was wonderful to hear him talk about his faith journey, how it has not always been easy, and about his dad who was so influential in his life.  He also shared a story from this last week when he knew that both God and his dad were still watching over him as he is undergoing a huge career transition.  I see God's love and abundance in people sharing their stories.

In the evening we went to the Lumberyard, our favorite local bar/restaurant.  A couple from the congregation was there, actually just about to leave, but we joined them and ended up talking and laughing for over an hour. They knew the waitress and introduced us who when she brought me the bill, asked for the Bethlehem's address because she would like to come check us out sometime.

My day ended with talking to one of my best friends on her 30th birthday.  When I asked her if she know felt old, she replied something like this:  No, this birthday hasn't been bad for me because it is the first one in the last few years where I felt like I was where I am suppose to be in life.  Even though she is now a 30 year old mother of two, going to school full time to be a nurse and working part-time, which just that description wants me to pull my hair out, she is in a wonderful place in her life and I'm so happy for her.  I know that God is blessing her even in the midst of a crazy schedule (which includes a gym class that is 90% running).