Moving among the boxes

Someone once said that the two most important days in a person’s life are the days on which she was born and the day on which she discovers why she was born.
I would like to add moving as a third important day to that list.

Packing up your life, then turning around to unpack it in a new place, allows us to remember, to toss out and to cherish so much. Basically, we stand amid boxes and realize that our real lives are not there. True, in those boxes are things that function to make life easier, along with mementoes that help us remember. But there is so much that can’t can never be boxed up or unboxed, like the outstretched arms of hello, or the hugs of good bye.

Greta and I have been so touched by the tremendous welcome you folks in Downers Grove provided us. That required no unpacking -- just receiving. We are thankful for you.

And we are thankful for God’s Spirit, always “unboxed,” – a Spirit that refines life where it is coarse, softens it where it is hard, reconciles it where it is lost, values it where it is debased, celebrates it where it is doubted, forever lighting our step. We look forward to “unwrapping” all that God has in store for this wonderful church and our years of ministry together.