Adventures in 2012?

It's Monday, January 2nd. The new year has begun. I'm happily shepherding the flock at West Grove Presbyterian Church. We anticipate a grand year in 2012 with small groups starting, Stephen Ministry beginning in earnest and a great deal of enthusiasm in the congregation. I believe that it is also a year to simplify our life. To prayerfully discern our projects and direction and then to pour ourselves into it and go for it. In this simplification, we can hold life a bit looser! I mean, I feel like I have a "too tight" grip on life. I know I don't appear this way, but deep down, tend toward the neurotic, control freak, anxious person. Always thinking that I'm not prepared for life. Always thinking I have to "do" something. In many ways, it's a similar problem for others. We have been conditioned to be "human doings" rather than "human beings." A couple of weeks ago, I visited a friend who is 101 years old. She is quite lucid and a great conversationalist. She lamented that she was visited by some people who she did not know very well and they kept telling her that they loved her. She confided that she didn't feel that lovable and wondered what this was all about. She also said that she felt like she should be more productive, more deserving of love. Isn't this the human condition? We need to feel worthy or lovable or productive. I believe that God made us in His image and in that image, we are totally lovable and worthy of life. We are even worthy of eternal life, for God sent His Son Jesus to live and die for us. Even when we were sinning, unworthy, and going in the wrong direction, God takes the proactive stance and does this for us. What an awesome God we serve! It is truly going to be an awesome 2012!