The Pay is Great

Let me start by saying that I love Ohio. I think northeast Ohio is one of the best kept secrets in the States. With that being said I am in an amazing place right now. I was asked by a good friend to officiate his daughter's wedding. I have known her since she was little so it was a great privilege to do this. It is a destination wedding that has brought my wife Karen and me out to Telluride, Colorado. Everywhere I look the scenery is breathtaking. I am reminded of a story my friend Tom Randall told me. He knew some missionaries who on their way home from the field were able to stop at a chalet in the mountains of Switzerland. It was owned by one of their supporters who had insisted the family take a few days and stay there as a treat after the long hard months of ministry in a foreign land. After standing on the veranda looking out onto the pristine beauty of a mountain lake the son turned to his parents and said, "To stay at a place like this you have to be either really rich or a missionary." I love that. God has deep pockets and anyone who has been in ministry knows it. Actually you should know it too. As I sit and sip my coffee looking up at the bluest sky I have ever seen and mountain peaks still dusted with snow, I am reminded that being a child of God is an extraordinary thing. When one of the disciples said to Jesus, "We have given up everything to follow you", Jesus told them that anyone who really follows him always receives way more than they give up. That has been true for 2000 years and it is just as true today. Serving the King of Kings is no sacrifice.