Pastor Trueblood Day

By Chris
Sunday was Pastor Trueblood Day at church. Pastor T. was the shepherd of our church for 41 years, retiring a few years ago. Until then, he was the only Pastor Teresa and I ever had . . . from birth to mid-30's. Family emergencies . . . he was there. Family funerals . . . he did them (very well). He, and his wife, married us, counseled us, dedicated our children and, to a large degree, helped shape who we are. It's really hard to overstate his impact on our lives. He returns every October for a sermon. It's a bitter-sweet time, Teresa and I agree. We're incredibly happy to see him. To hear his familiar, comforting voice full of wisdom. But, at these times, we are also reminded how much we miss him. Not because things are bad without him. Sort of like you hope your kids will miss you when they move on to adulthood. It's easy to fall into longing for a past that you loved, to live in secured happy memories. After all, memories are safe and guarenteed endeavors. They already happened, the outcome definite. Living in memories, essentially, takes no faith. Pastor T. gave a challenging and prophetic message to us . Lots of good stuff was crammed into his only 40 minutes with us for the whole year. A big takeaway for us, though only a minor point of the day (paraphrased): honor the past; but, yesterday is gone . . . over, don't live in it. Do what God wants you to do today. Pretty salient stuff coming from someone who shaped our past so significantly. Life lessons are his specialty, and I have a pad full of things he's said that I live by. So, we take away this lesson, challenged to honor the past but not to live in it. To aggressively pursue today, according to a higher calling. So, goodbye yesterday! Onward!

Thanks Pastor!