Well I’m the new guy, and I wanted to take this space to say a HUGE thank you on behalf of me and my family for the welcome we have received.
We’ve been here about 6 weeks now, and I’ve got to tell you so far we love it. We spent the last four years in Abilene and we are glad to be back in a town where the leading news story is not about school being shut down because some rattlesnake got loose.
My wife and I were very intentional about keeping our 2½ year old daughter Clare informed about our move. Surprising a toddler with a major move is a major mistake. We had been telling her for a few weeks that we would be moving to a new place called Denton. We were going to have a new house, she was going to go to a new school (which she LOVES by the way – she asks to go every single day – so good work Chele’!) and she was going to make so many new friends. We thought she was primed and ready to go. So we loaded up the cars and the U-hauls, yes plural, and started making the trek towards Denton. We were about to Weatherford and I asked Clare if she was excited about going to Denton. After a suspiciously long pause she said, “Daddy, I don’t want to go to the dentist.” No Clare, Denton. Denton. Not the dentist.
As I’ve been reflecting back on our move I am reminded of how much change is all around us all the time. Not just moving from town to town but maybe from job to job or the loss of loved ones and friends. Or how about your kids changing right before your eyes and you just wish that your clocks had a TiVo function where you could pause time.
Change can bring with it all kinds of emotions, joy and excitement for what is to come but also fear and trepidation of the unknown. God’s people have wrestled with both ends of this spectrum for thousands of years. The Jews were led to the promise land, spending hundreds of years in transition. The early Christians tried to remain faithful to a Messiah who was not exactly what they anticipated and who was always turning expectations on their head. And Christians in our world today are constantly torn between longing for another world yet remaining faithful to God’s call here and now.
For all of us, transition really is a constant state. Always, we are beginning again with each new morning as a gift, bringing word of his new mercies and unfailing love. And praise God that we are not called to arrive but simply trust that his work in us in never finished, “working out our salvation” as Paul reminds us in Philippians.
We want to thank you for making our transition here a good one. We have been embraced with open arms and warm hearts. The hospitality of Jerry and Marcia Browder opening their home to us was a tremendous blessing and so many others of you have made our transition full of encouragement and made us feel at home already.
It is an honor for Kasey and I to join you in God’s work at Singing Oaks and in the city of Denton. I have a good feeling that it’s going to be way better than going to the dentist.
