We just completed our twelfth “Beyond the Valley of Death” Seminar for this year. It is always a tremendous blessing to sit and listen to people as they tell their stories. One of my favorite lifetime mentors often says, “Everybody has a story!” As preachers, we are often allowed into others' stories, and I hope that all of us consider it a blessing that people trust us with theirs.
Another insight I’ve gained from hearing people tell their stories is how highly they value the ministers in their lives. During the last two seminars, someone has told me how much their preacher means to them. I’ve heard comments such as, “I don’t know what I would do with him,” or “We couldn’t have made it through this without our preacher.”
So, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for having the heart of our Savior, who taught us how to serve others. Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening with your ears and your heart. Thank you for caring about the pain, grief, and heartache your people are enduring. Thank you for walking with people during some of the most difficult days of their lives. Thank you for showing others what it means to be Jesus. Thank you for ministering to the Body of Christ. Thank you for loving. Thank you for being present. Thank you for doing all of this sometimes, even in the middle of your own pain. Thank you for being you!
May our Loving Father surround you with His presence, His comfort, and His love. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
