June 12, 2011

I haven't had much contact with any of you for about 10 days.  I was at camp til Friday and came home and spent the weekend here.  Now it is time to get ready for church and bck to camp.  we are having a good time, good staff and helpers, it was a small camp but god's presence was real and I believe that lives were touched.  That is why we are there.

A Way to Wholeness


I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

--John 10:10

I remember when Ken and I welcomed twenty-six of his high school students for a
Graduation Day barbeque.  A sunny day... the aroma of burgers sizzling on the grill...
the sounds of kids laughing and throwing Frisbees.  It was a great time to connect
with these young people.

I asked one girl, "So... what does the summer hold for you?"  She responded, "I
want to work on becoming more whole, more fulfilled, more myself."  She thinks it
will all come together when she finds a boyfriend.  She said, "I just know there's
somebody out there who matches the other side of me, someone who is my perfect complement."
 I stifled a giggle, and then replied, "A lot of us are seeking that.  We're looking
for that person or that situation in life which will make us feel complete."  I
then proceeded to gently explain what really does make us complete:  God.

Life isn't going to get completely fixed.  We're never going to experience wholeness
this side of eternity.  Someone once said, "In worshiping God we realize we were
 never created to be whole.  What we were created to enjoy is fellowship with God,
who alone is whole and complete.  Nowhere in the Bible are we told that God wants
to give us wholeness.  What God wants to give us is himself."

This is good news for each of those students who left our barbeque, many of them
 thinking seriously about the insights Ken and I shared.  This is also good news
 for you, if, today, you are struggling with feeling incomplete in your marriage
 or restless with where you live. And it is great news if you are looking for something
beyond romance or riches, aching to be whole and complete.  There is an answer,
and there is a complement that makes us whole. His name is Jesus.

Father, help me to fill those aching, empty places in my soul with more and more
 of you.

  I felt that those were thoughts that we might be able to connect with today.

You can reach me at:  701-658-7548  or 701-674-3211  I don't have a phone in the kitchen, but they will get me.