January 15, 2025

Dear friends in Christ,

I’m leaving, on a jet plane . . . however, unlike John Denver, I DO know when I’ll be back again. Vicki and I will be in San Antonio, Texas from 1/17 through 1/22 visiting our son, daughter-in-love and grandson. While we get to see him almost every day via Facetime, we have not been with him in person since last July when our whole family gathered in Memphis, Tennessee. It will have been six months since we have been with little Dominic, which is about ¼ of his life!

As I thought about that, I was reminded of some calculations that were done by author Jim Burns (Jim is the executive director of HomeWord Center for Youth and Family at Azusa Pacific University.) This is one of the things he wrote about raising children: “From the time a child is born to the time they are launched into adulthood at eighteen, you have 936 weeks with them.”

Now, 936 weeks seems like a lot of weeks. However, for those of us who continue to age , we have figured out how quickly time can pass. Yes, 936 weeks is a large number of weeks. What is enlightening to me, however, is the finite-ness of the number. We often act as if we have all the time in the world to connect with, love and provide positive influences to those we care about. The truth of the matter is that our time with those we love in this world is finite.

And that brought me back to one of my favorite Scripture verses from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Christians: “So then be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16) Until Jesus comes again to gather us to Himself and bring us to our heavenly home, sin and evil will continue to be used by the devil to rip us apart from each other and away from God. While we have time, then, . . . while we are given the opportunities to love and support and influence those like Dominic who are just starting to make their way in this whacko world of ours, we grab onto those opportunities and run with them!

We never know how much time we have left with those we love in this world. While we have it, let’s make it a priority to make the most of it!

In Christ,
Pastor John
 
(next weekly note: February 5)