Reality Check

It's kinda funny how I sometimes have trouble noticing the progress we have made. For instance, the other day someone from The River called and the conversation went like this:

"Hello," I answered.
"Hey, how are you?" he said.
"Doing well, yourself?" I replied, recognizing the voice.
"Good thanks...what are you up to?"
"Oh, nothing much...just starting a church," I joked.
"Haven't you started it already?" he deadpanned.


To everyone else, it probably seemed obvious, but I had missed that little detail. It's already started. Something accomplished right there. Obvious, perhaps, but easy to miss in the hazy craziness of actually doing the work.

So now I'm looking around at where we are and thinking, "Wow, we really have come pretty far." The list of people connected to this community has grown a lot in the past 6 months, and it continues to grow. Leaders continue to emerge. More and more people are growing closer to God and each other. Lives are being touched, needs are being met, and God's reign is growing through what we are doing. There's lots of good stuff happening. We really have come a long way. Sure, there's a ways to go yet, but we're never going to be done. The work will never be complete until Jesus returns. But significant progress has been made, and that is something to celebrate and for which we can all be thankful.

So if we're chatting or emailing or you just read this blog and I get lost in the trees again, please feel free to help me see the forest. Sometimes I get so far into it that I can't actually see it, and that's a shame, because this is one neat forest that's growing here, and I'm so glad to be part of it.