Are we there yet? Those words would come from the backseat of our car when our kids were younger and we took trips. Sometimes they asked even before we left the local traffic. When it came to trying to explain to them who much longer until we arrived at our destination, talking about minutes and hours did not make sense to them. So we talked about it in terms they did know. When there was an hour left until we arrived, we would say, "It will be two Barneys before we get there." Barney was the purple dinosaur they would watch on TV. Each program lasted about thirty minutes, so two "Barneys" equaled an hour. It is how we answered the question, "Are we there yet?"
This past Sunday we announced the total, so far, for our "Bridge to the Future" Capital Campaign. As of Sunday, we had received 129 pledges totaling $2,214,867. This is 74% of our goal and is a really good start. I am very grateful for each person who made a generous, sacrificial pledge. Our goal was to reach $3,000,000. So if we were task the question, "Are we there yet?" The answer would be, "Not yet." (I am still not sure how to convert the difference into "Barneys.") But I believe we still have folks out there who can help us close the gap so that we can build this "Bridge to the Future." If you have yet to make a pledge, or if you want to increase yours so that we can close the gap, please do so soon. That way our session can move forward with the next step to build these new buildings and share the love of Christ with more folks.
In the season of Advent, we also ask the question, "Are we there yet?" "There" in this case means "Christmas." So, like the time we have to wait for Christmas before opening presents, we also have to wait to fully celebrate the coming of Christ. So we wait - maybe for many "Barneys" -- but Christmas comes each year, and we will soon celebrate that Jesus came into our lives and our world!
Prayer for Today
Loving God, we confess our impatience with life. We want everything now. Teach us to wait patiently -- trusting that you will work in our lives at just the right time. We pray this in the name of Jesus, who came into our world so that we might experience abundant, new life. Amen.
