...JUST LIKE JESUS

That's Emily. She's a little more than the punk kid at church. She's a little more than my kids "WORLD'S BEST BABYSITTER EVER!" She's a little more than a great friend. She's a little more than the sloppy person who leaves her "underthings" all over the floor in my wife's camper. And She's a Heck of a lot more than STEVE'S DATE FOR THE PROM!!!!!!!SHE'S JUST LIKE JESUS! At least that's what all of her teachers at school seem to think. The way I understand it, Emily was voted upon by her teachers to be the Student who most resembles the Servant's Heart of Jesus in EVERYTHING that she does. DUH! I could've told them that a long time ago. For what its worth, during this particular time of year, students are given all sorts of awards. Most of those are probably OK things that would make your granny cry, but if there was ever one single award I would hope for for either of my kids, it would be the Bible Award that Emily earned by living just like Jesus. Way to go Emmy. She's gonna grow up and be one of those Proverbs 31 ladies for sure, and some lucky little puke is going to get way better than he deserves.

Speaking of "Just Like Jesus," tonight is the first night our new youth minister, Drew Gray, is meeting with the youth group here at New Hope. From what I can tell, he had a good crowd. Drew's job is to help our kids learn to live just like Jesus. Of course, for all of you parents, HE IS NOT TO REPLACE YOUR EFFORTS in this endeavor. (Just thought I'd provide that reminder)

Speaking even further of Just Like Jesus...I got to go to the hospital today and see a new baby. Talk about just like Jesus. Every problem in the world just falls away in the peacefulness of a newborn (that's asleep, anyhow). And this baby is a special baby. Her mother has already volunteered her to be the Baby Jesus in the manger scene of our Christmas Bethlehem Production. So its a good thing she's just like Jesus.

Taking it one step further with this "just like Jesus" spiel, it's just like Him to come through and prove Himself, when you're not sure you can take another step. There have been a number of "typical" ministry sorts of things going on that have really been burdens. In most occupations you can usually leave the junk at the office when you go home at night. The "Junk" pastor's get to deal with isn't "Junk" at all. It's people. Broken, hurting, in-need people. I guess on a normal day, those "people" are fairly manageable. It's when you take them home with you and there's another batch of "Junk" to deal with there. That's been our story for a while at least. Well, I guess its "Just Like Jesus," because today Jesus showed up and pulled the biggest burden off our shoulders and tossed it farther than we could see. Everything else seems bearable now, knowing that the love of my life will be around a while longer, encouraging me to be just like Jesus.

He Has Made Me Glad!
jeff