Hey Gang,
Yeah, don't get too jealous though. It's about 45 degrees here, and the locals are all acting like the world is coming to an end. Still, weather.com says it's 25 degrees at home on Strong Island, so I guess I can't really complain.
I'm in town for a Lead Pastors' retreat, sponsored by Orchard Group - that's the outfit that helped us launch True North. I love these guys. And, since my annual winter sabbatical trip was canceled due to tight finances, I decided to take an extra day on the front end of the retreat to spend some solo time thinking and praying.
This, of course, was all preceded by a trip to Tuscarora for this years' Junior High Winter Weekend retreat. I spent three days with about 225 Jr. High students and absolutely had a blast. Truthfully, I was a bit nervous about it. My usual listening audience is quite a bit older and it had been quite a while since I communicated to a group exclusively composed of people that young. I'm happy to say that things went well. At least, I think they did. 
It was also very cool to have some familiar faces up there with me. Matt, Tom, Sean, Tim and Nick were leading worship, and the kids ate them up a spoon the size of a front-end loader. And, I got to bring Jen and the kids with me, so the whole thing was a Win.
A quick pit stop at the 'Nizzle for the 6:30 Elevate service, where Dominick hit a home run and 'Livin on a Prayer' kicked things off with a bang, then it was home to pack.
Today, I went for a drive. No destination – just a drive. I headed east out of Orlando and figured I'd hit the beach eventually. After getting out of the touristy areas, I found myself nearly alone on a two lane highway driving through some serious swampy wilderness. Crowded as some parts are, there's a LOT of open space in Florida.
So, I set the cruise control at a nice leisurely pace and just asked God to speak to me a little. I said something like "God, where are the places in my life where you've been trying to get my attention and I just haven't been listening?" "What have you been trying to say to me lately that I just haven't been willing to hear?"
Just then I passed a long driveway leading to the only house visible in any direction. It was a small, dumpy place and I wondered how much of this vast wilderness was owned by the people who lived in it. Then it kinda hit me - the whole 'ownership' thing, I mean.
Looking around, there was no visible or obvious owner for any of the land around me. No roads, no fences, no mailboxes. Just acre after acre of woods and shrubs and land and ponds. Obviously, somebody must own it. But how could anyone know?
It occurred to me that God owns me. I'm His. He leaves me with free will, but I've given my life over to Him. Trouble is, I don't always act like it. My sense of entitlement knows no bounds. I've traveled to some of the poorest parts of the world and I still have trouble remembering that my good fortune in life is a blessing from God.
I preach every week about how our blessings are there to serve a purpose – to propel us into praising the Giver of all good things. And instead of remembering and observing and living out these truths, I walk through life expecting good things to come to me, failing to praise God when they do, and complaining incessantly when they don't.
Result – other than the fact that I'm a pastor – it's not readily obvious who owns me.
This makes me sad, and I want to change it. I want it to be obvious that I belong to Him. And I want my life to be marked by the joy that comes from constant connectivity to the One who made me.
Eventually, I did up at the beach. It was windy and freezing and pretty much abandoned but it was still beautiful. Thought you might enjoy a picture of it.
He owns all this too.
Peace.
