“Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.” ~Bill Vaughn (columnist and author)
The question is, did you “get” to stay up late on New Year’s Eve or were you “forced” to?
Speaking of middle-age (how’s that for a transition?)… It’s hard to believe that this is my fourth New Year’s with Northminster! I was 34 when I started in 2007. This year I’ll turn 39 and next year the big FOUR-O!
There’s no question that with age comes change. And with change comes loss. The loss of energy. The loss of wrinkle-free skin. The loss of hair. That’s what makes change so hard. It’s not the change. It’s the loss.
Northminster has gone through a lot of changes over the last several years. For some, these changes have involved loss. Loss of certain traditions. Loss of a particular style of worship. Loss of some things that just meant a lot to you.
But with change, we gain something, as well. With age, we gain wisdom. We gain knowledge. We gain experience and expertise.
As a church we’ve gained some things, too. We’ve gained a lot of new and younger families. We’ve gained renewed energy as a congregation. We’ve begun to gain a reputation in the community as a church that cares.
No doubt, change is hard. In 2011, you will experience change. We all will. We will lose some things. But we will also gain some things. Some wonderful things! And that’s the hope we have as God’s people—that no matter how much we change or the world changes around us, we can trust God to get us through the losses and rejoice in the gains!
Happy New Year, Northminster!
