A New Place for Old Memories

I recently moved to serve a new congregation, Rinn United Methodist Church in Frederick, Colorado. It should come as no surprise if you've read the undercurrent of my previous posts. Things weren't going well in Wellington, or at Fort Collins for me. So a new start was desperately needed. It has been great so far. Rinn Church is so different, with so much possibility. So I pray that God will bring forth the growth and vitality that was so illusive in my previous setting. Thoughts on the past are heavy on my mind as I write this note. How can I not be nostalgic? This is my first time back to the ol' blog in some time. So much has happened, making this place and time a natural location to sit back and reflect.

Additionally, I finished setting up my new office today. It now holds all my books, as well as the many knickknacks I've picked up over my 7 years of ministry. Many of these items hold a great deal of significance. There is the battered handle of a hammer, broken off by a well meaning lug of a kid who didn't realize his own strength during a mission project. I will always remember the look on his face when he realized what had happened. The hammer had gone up, but not come down having broken off mid swing. The there is the mini trophy given to me at FUMC Independence's Youth Group End of the Year award party. It was a gag award ceremony, and my particular trophy surely is that. It recalls how I nearly destroyed the church van's emergency break, while driving around with it on without realizing it. I can still smell the smoke that built up in the passenger compartment, letting me know something was amiss. And I will always remember the hooting laughter of the kids when they remembered how frustrated I got. There are many more items. My bobble head John Wesley from Annual Conference. A container of rice and a piece of brick from a latrine made by a Fort Collins mission team in Cambodia. The Green Lantern doll I won during a night out with the family of a close colleague. . . and so much more.

 Each item is yoked to a memory, all speaking of the man I have been. And yet in this place new life is dawning. What I was, all the previous instances of God working in my life through my ministry will feed into what I become, all because of grace. I am grateful for this, friends. And you should be too. So take a look at your own knickknack shelf tonight. What experiences do the items there represent? And how has God made you through them? How is the Divine Life continuing to transform you using the foundation the memories give? I hope you can recognize this in your lives this week, friends. May you see the way the Potter is molding the clay.

In Christ,
Bryson