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I am sitting in my office on Monday morning feeling a little sentimental because I have officially begun the whole, “this is the last time…” bit. You know like this is the last time I will have staff meeting, this is the last time I will preach, this is the last time I have to listen to Pastor Eric’s cheesy jokes. Alright that last ones not so sad.

Taylor and I have a tremendous peace about our leaving. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m not excited about our new opportunity in Wisconsin. We are very excited and we can’t wait to get up there. At the same time we have not already forgotten just how much the people here in Missouri mean to us. They are amazing people who have loved us and become our friends. We will miss them tremendously and we intend, to the best of our ability, to remain in touch with them.

Moving stinks. Packing boxes is no fun that is for sure but I have been thankful that we have been consistent in cleaning our our junk twice a year because it has made it much easier to pack when you don’t have to spend tons of time sorting through what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of. We are moving to a much larger house than the one we have and it will definitely feel empty when we get our stuff in this because we don’t have a lot of stuff compared to most.

Sunday services went very good yesterday. It was really slim in both services but I should have expected that because it was 4th of July weekend. I wish I would have used some foresight and only had one service. Oh well. The band was still great and I felt really good about the message. I have one more message to go and it has been more difficult than I thought it would be figuring out what I’m supposed to talk about. I mean, it’s my last sermon. It’s probably the last message I will ever preach to this church. I want to get it right. We’ll just have to see what God wants to say through me. I know I can’t wait to hear.

After services we had a really busy afternoon. First we went to the Brandwein’s home for an hour or so because their son Brent was home for the weekend. Brent is an awesome kid. He is now in the Army studying to be an Apache helicopter mechanic. I had a good time eating his food and asking him a bunch of questions about what boot camp is like. My son was fascinated by their horses and fish pond. Oh and he loved their little dog Daisy. He kept going over to her to pet and kiss her. I don’t think she minded.

After the Brandwein’s we went over to the Fahland’s place. We had an AWESOME time just hanging out with them. They put together a cool final get together with the Akers and we ate lots of Casey’s pizza and desserts. We also played games. Well I mostly watched. They had washers and one of our friends, Malea, put together some silly games that involved cheese puffs, marshmallows and shaving cream. It got a little crazy but it was fun to watch. We also played some 80’s trivia which was a lot of fun. I was actually surprised with how much we all knew considering the majority of the group were just little kids during the 80’s. We were asked something like 80+ questions and combined we got 70 right. I would say that’s pretty good. It was a lot of fun although my team lost 32 to 38. We only lost because the other team cheated.

Well that’s all I have to say this week. My week is going to be spent packing and getting ready to move next Monday. Peace out.

If you haven’t read part one you may do so HERE.

I often think back to my cross country experience because when I am struggling with life, temptation, people it reminds me to keep fighting through and finish strong. I Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Whenever I read that verse I am reminded that everything I do in life whether it’s running a race, preaching a sermon, fixing a car, surfing the web, talking to people I need to do it all for the glory of God. I work hard not for me but for God’s glory and because of that I need to finish strong. I love people for God’s glory, I spend hours upon hours in sermon preparation for God’s glory, I go to school for God’s glory, I love my wife and children for God’s glory, I spend money wisely for God’s glory, I pay taxes for God’s glory. I do none of these things for me or my personal benefit I do them all to the absolute best of my ability for God’s glory.

When I ran cross country I vowed to never again finish weak. And yeah we had a great year BUT looking back I now realize my motivation and reasoning to finish strong was selfish. I wanted to finish strong so that I wouldn’t have to experience the embarrassment of losing again. I ran and trained for me. Now, as an adult, who likes to believe he’s matured a little since high school understand that I do nothing for me but instead I do all things to the best of my ability for Him. I do this because Christ Jesus has saved me from sin and hell. He has covered me with His merciful love and grace. I am redeemed, reborn, sanctified and now driven to finish the race called life strong because I want to glorify God. I want people to see his love and mercy and grace in my life. I want them to see there is hope. I want them to see there are people who truly care. I want them to see through me that they too can be saved if they will only repent and believe. Being a Christian isn’t easy. Running from sin and temptation can be very difficult at times. But if we want to finish strong we must wake up everyday choosing Christ. So I say again whatever you have to do today finish strong. Don’t complain, don’t whine, don’t have a bad attitude, don’t grumble or gossip. Be thankful, be joyful because you have been saved by grace and FINISH STRONG for Jesus because He FINISHED STRONG for you.

Let us look to the example of Paul who gave his life to serving Christ with everything he could muster. In the end when his life was about to end Paul could hold his head high because he had finished his race strong. He had done everything he was asked to do. He took beatings that none of us could imagine. He loved people, planted churches and preached the Gospel. Above all other things that we do in life and work hard to finish strong in let us first ask ourselves, “am I doing all I can with all the energy I can muster to serve God and love others? Am I on the path that at the end of my life I will be able to hold my head high like Paul and know that I have finished strong for my Savior?”

As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8