After four frustrating days of cancellations and delays Char and I finally made it to Phoenix and our grandsons. Can you tell I’m smiling?

There’s another reason I’m smiling. I sense something wonderful taking place in our church. A God-thing. Something that just a year ago when things were at their bleakest looked so unlikely. When the loss of key leaders along with mounting financial woes had taken the steam out of us. When we were existing month to month. At that time a trusted member of my Advisory Team, in a moment of candor confessed, “If we were a company we’d have gone out of business by now.”

But despite the gloomy forecasts and my worst fears we haven’t gone out of business. God’s played much bigger than that. Today as we stand at the beginning of a new year it’s like night and day around here! God’s turned things around and because of that, I’m smiling.

I’m smiling even though I know we still have big challenges ahead and that we’ll miss the contributions of valued comrades who have moved on. But I’m excited so many of you have decided to step up, fill in the gaps and serve. I’m smiling because we end up being more not less and start the year off stronger not weaker.

I’m smiling because the tough decisions we were forced to make months ago – decisions that felt like we were taking steps backwards were actually prudent and wise, creating breathing room for recovery and cleared the way for God to work his will, his way.

And oh yeah, I’m smiling because of the way God continues to surprise us. When the Advisory Team and I were planning for this year’s Foundation Fund Offering we were worried about the timing and how you would react to it. Was it too much to ask? So needless to say our expectations were modest, figuring anything we raised would be better than nothing. But I’m smiling today because of your response… to date we’ve raised $26,000 in cash, checks, online giving and pledges, far exceeding anything we had expected! Not only getting us out of the red but giving us a small cushion in our bank account to start the year with.

But to be honest, it isn’t the money so much as the message your generosity sent that makes me smile… It was a big vote of confidence in our mission to break the negative stereotype of Christianity by being a community of Jesus followers that connect well with God, with one another, and with the world around us.

So I’m starting off the year with a big smile on my face and looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us all in 2011.

Happy New Year everybody!

Mike T