I have to admit that when I was asked to write about my favorite things of 2007 I wasn't very excited. It's not that I didn't have a great year and/or have great memories from the year. It's just that, for me, looking back takes away from the time I prefer to spend looking forward. That's my nature, to look forward; to create, to plan, to scheme... they all require looking forward. With that said, I do realize that there is value in looking back both for nostalgic purposes and more importantly for learning opportunities. So as I share with you, the esteemed, and if your still reading, patient reader some of my 2007 I would like to present with it the lessons I learned along the way.
This past January I had the opportunity to learn again the immense value of a husband and wife spending time alone together. Since Carrie and I were rather
young when we married and had our first child in the first year we never really had the chance to experience "just the two of us." To help compensate each year we would leave the kids with Grandparents and take a vacation, just the two of us. Unfortunately when God called us to relocate to Phoenix, and later to Fergus Falls, that tradition was lost. With the move back to the PNW we had the opportunity to revive it. And since we had two plane tickets that were about to expire we decided to resurrect the tradition and head off to Disneyland by ourselves. We love our boys, and
missed them too, but we had a great time of simply being with one another. As a Pastor every so often I have the opportunity to offer pre-marital advice and I always share how positive our "Vacation for Two" has been for our relationship. And anything that is good for our relationship with one another is good for the whole family! I thank God for the wonderful wife he has given me, and the incredible love that I have for her. Since God IS love, and the Giver of all good things I know that she is a precious gift to me.
Not long after we returned from our trip our long time friend and former pastor Forrest Erickson came into town and officiated at my Ordination
service. Being ordained into the ministry is a great honor and blessing by God, but I also found it very humbling and found myself rather nervous, not for the event, but for the significance of the calling it symbolized. Being surrounded by many pastors and elders from our district, feeling their hands and hearing their prayers for me, left me with a great sense of awe. These were regular, ordinary men. 
Men I knew, many of whom I was good friends with and God had used each one of them in significant ways to bless, lead and minister in the church. Could my ministry ever compare to those standing around me? It was a sobering and humbling thought. With great relief I recognize, and regularly confess, that it is not my ministry, but God's and I am but His servant. I hope, pray, and work to be faithful to the calling He has given me, and trust that He will work was is pleasing to Him both in my life and in the ministry He gives me. To Him be the glory!
Along with February comes a birthday. At my age, a birthday is always a cause to pause; the problem is that the older I get the harder it is to get going once I stop, so I prefer to zip right past this event without giving it much thought at all. I don't need birthdays to tell me I've gotten older, my age becomes obvious every time I stand up after sharing with the children during our Sunday morning worship service.
This year was a big year for home projects.
The boys and I finished a drainage ditch, This past January I had the opportunity to learn again the immense value of a husband and wife spending time alone together. Since Carrie and I were rather
young when we married and had our first child in the first year we never really had the chance to experience "just the two of us." To help compensate each year we would leave the kids with Grandparents and take a vacation, just the two of us. Unfortunately when God called us to relocate to Phoenix, and later to Fergus Falls, that tradition was lost. With the move back to the PNW we had the opportunity to revive it. And since we had two plane tickets that were about to expire we decided to resurrect the tradition and head off to Disneyland by ourselves. We love our boys, and
missed them too, but we had a great time of simply being with one another. As a Pastor every so often I have the opportunity to offer pre-marital advice and I always share how positive our "Vacation for Two" has been for our relationship. And anything that is good for our relationship with one another is good for the whole family! I thank God for the wonderful wife he has given me, and the incredible love that I have for her. Since God IS love, and the Giver of all good things I know that she is a precious gift to me.Not long after we returned from our trip our long time friend and former pastor Forrest Erickson came into town and officiated at my Ordination
service. Being ordained into the ministry is a great honor and blessing by God, but I also found it very humbling and found myself rather nervous, not for the event, but for the significance of the calling it symbolized. Being surrounded by many pastors and elders from our district, feeling their hands and hearing their prayers for me, left me with a great sense of awe. These were regular, ordinary men. 
Men I knew, many of whom I was good friends with and God had used each one of them in significant ways to bless, lead and minister in the church. Could my ministry ever compare to those standing around me? It was a sobering and humbling thought. With great relief I recognize, and regularly confess, that it is not my ministry, but God's and I am but His servant. I hope, pray, and work to be faithful to the calling He has given me, and trust that He will work was is pleasing to Him both in my life and in the ministry He gives me. To Him be the glory!Along with February comes a birthday. At my age, a birthday is always a cause to pause; the problem is that the older I get the harder it is to get going once I stop, so I prefer to zip right past this event without giving it much thought at all. I don't need birthdays to tell me I've gotten older, my age becomes obvious every time I stand up after sharing with the children during our Sunday morning worship service.
This year was a big year for home projects.
installed a whole bunch of windows
and a woodstove
and worked with Grandpa Rohrer to build a treehouse fort in the woods behind our house.
It seems that I'm a pretty handy guy to have around after all. Who would of known?!
Finally, with the fall came the opportunity to coach soccer to a bunch of homeschooled kids that had basically NO soccer experience at all. I was nervous about how it would go (my last coaching experience wasn't necessarily positive). 
It turned out to be a wonderful time, a great experience, and the kids were great! The hardest part of coaching is standing on the sidelines.
Perhaps the most important part of 2007 was the blessing of sharing many moments, both memorable and mundane, with family and friends. So here are MY favorite memories from 2007:
- Monday morning donuts with my boys
- Family vacation with my wife, my boys, and my mom.
- Being ordained into ministry
- Meeting monthly with fellow pastors of the CLB
- Fall Bible study on Marriage
- Monday and Friday soccer practice with my boys and 33 other Homeschooled kids.
Grace and peace to all,
Chris
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