As always, we are grateful for the loving support you have shared with us for over 20 years.”
It was noted that this arrangement would free up some funds to address future needs and ministry projects, and the Board’s discussion focused on “the next chapter” for First Christian Church (acknowledging that we live in a “post-COVID culture”). I also look at this proposal as a “win-win” situation for myself and our church.
It seems that life does not provide many “win-win” opportunities, but our attitudes certainly help (or detract from) our quality of life. I was reminded of a story about twins and the ways that they dealt with birthday gifts:
A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the TV was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom and gloom pessimist.
Just to see what would happen, on the twins' birthday their father loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with horse manure.
That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly.
"Why are you crying?" the father asked.
"Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken," answered the pessimist twin.
Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure.
"What are you so happy about?" he asked.
To which his optimist twin replied, "Look at all this manure! There's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"
Could it be that there is something positive in those situations where “manure” is dumped on us? Take a few minutes to read
James 1: 2-4, and consider how faith affects our attitudes.
Romans 15:13,
Pastor Roger