Living the Song

In the month of July I have vacationed with the family, biked several hundred miles with Tom Randall to raise money for orphans, led a marriage retreat for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and taken a long weekend with my wife and a couple of dear friends. It has been a great month but it has kept me away from the church for nearly the whole time. Today I went back to work. I was reminded of how much I love it. Walking back into the office and seeing staff members is like seeing old friends. I love the problems,the challenges, the stories of changing lives. I love working with people who are passionate about what they do. I love sitting with my Bible open and trying to figure out how to say what I feel like God is saying. I like getting hit with e-mails to pray for people and other e-mails reminding me that people are praying for me. I was reminded today that there is nothing in all the world quite like the church of Jesus Christ. It is not a place of perfect people, by a long shot. But it is a place that vibrates with grace and I love that. It is a place where the veil that separates our world from heaven is the thinnest. It is a place people come to and expect to hear the truth even if it is truth they would rather not hear right then. It is a place of unexpected acts of love that are so selfless that it takes my breath away. It can be a place of magnificent generosity. More than anything it is a place where people have found the truth that whatever mess they have made with their lives there is a God who loves them so that He has moved heaven and earth to get them back. It is a place of redemption and life. Out of all the things people get to do for a living I have to believe that the thing God has given me is the best and today I was reminded again how thankful I am to do what I get to do. I remember hearing a song that said "Love the things you do and do the things you love." I am living the song.