A Wonderful Road Trip
I am nearing the end of a longer road trip that has taken me to Santa Barbara, California, north to San Francisco via the Central Valley of the state to visit family and see the beauties of Yosemite under cover of snow….yes, I took the photo above last week…notice the little stream of water coming off the lower falls. Anyway, this trip just finished up in Chicago for the Covenant's Midwinter conference. I have been speaking in churches to multiple age groups about our ministry to focus people, ranging from a middle school group to a senior citizens gathering at a retirement center. Yesterday, I just finished a 3.5 hour workshop with my ministry partner, Ken S to a gathering of Covenant pastors, leaders and cross-cultural workers.
The time has been very rich. It has been most rewarding as I see people respond to the approach of showing love to focus friends. I have been also amazed at the number of people in our churches who have focus friends. Last weekend in one church over 50 people raised their hands in response to the question of whether they had a focus friend. One of my underlying texts is 1 Peter 3:15. "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." I am excited to see this seems to be the predominant ethos and attitude among the people in our broader church community. It seems there is a strong, pervasive desire in our churches to really live this way before focus people.
Well this month is almost over and I am ready to get back home, after a few more stops. I get to take some time to visit a few longtime friends over the weekend. One is a young man I discipled for several years in Mexico who now lives in the Chicago area, with his own family. It will be great to see Chuy again.
Here is a Friday Foto. February should be a better month for pictures and regular posts. Have a great weekend.
