More of God's kindness

If we truly believe in the sovereignty of God, then both the trials and "coincidences" of life are really evidences (in different ways) of God's kindness to us. This weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to a Paul Tripp marriage conference called "What Did You Expect?" After hearing about my situation, the person in charge got both Sandy and myself tickets to attend as well as tickets for our children to attend childcare. What a blessing from someone I didn't even know!

The conference was excellent in and of itself. If you have not read any of Tripp's books, please do. If you ever get an opportunity to attend a conference, please do. If you are a pastor, please read Dangerous Calling. I finished it last December and here's my take on it. It is a must read for pastors.

We had a great time at the conference with some great brothers and sisters in the Lord. It's always better to learn in community. And during the conference, several people whom I never met and a few that I barely knew, came up to me to let me know that they were praying for me or to offer help. God's kindness through His saints never ends! He is so good.

And to top it all off, I got invited to a special luncheon to hear Paul speak to ministry leaders. It just so happened that I sat right next to him! This was no coincidence, but a divine, providential act of kindness. Now obviously, Paul Tripp is no more holy than I am. He is not greater in God's eyes. He's a sinner saved by grace just like me. But it was a special blessing from God during this difficult time in my life to have this fun and cool experience.

Thanks so much Cathy Miller (and Bob!) for being God's instrument to bless me in such a marvelous way!

Out of the ashes

A lot has happened since I last blogged. About 6 weeks ago, I parted ways with Alameda Bible Church and stepped down as pastor there. I would not think it normal to blog about this type of situation, but the role of a pastor is somewhat unique. As I have found out personally, the role of a pastor is a public one and word gets around, even in a city with close to a million people. So I thought it would be a good idea, not to rehash the past, but to address what I have learned so far and to update the many folks who are praying for us.

Obviously, this has been a very difficult time. I think the best word to describe how I feel is heartbroken. Please understand that I don't think being a pastor is more difficult than other roles in life. It simply has its unique challenges and blessings. But for a preaching pastor, you have a special relationship with the church body that no one else has. I didn't realize it until I became one. You have a burden and a love for the souls of the flock that God has entrusted you with that is spiritually intimate. Looking into the eyes and preaching into the hearts of the people every week, standing before them with transparency and exposing your own heart to them every week, and praying fervently, crying out to God for them every week develops a deep spiritual bond.

I feel a profound sadness and melancholy quite often and on so many levels. Personally, I am reeling. The obvious questions abound for my family - How we will live? Where we will live? What will I do? And on top of that, I feel such a loss for my relationship with God's flock, His sheep.

Yet despite this, God has shown me two wonderful things. First, God is not only greater than all of these problems and challenges, but He is more precious than the solutions that He will eventually provide. When we have everything we need and then some; when we have not only all our physical needs met but the overabundance of having many of our desires met; when we don't need to turn to God for anything physical; it is so easy to not turn to God at all or to not turn to him with everything in your soul. But when he strips away so much in life so that you're faced with the idea of losing your home, your things, your future, you realize that Christ has given you everything, He has given you Himself. And there's nothing and no one and no situation better than being with Christ and in Christ.

Don't get me wrong, these are truths that I have to face and force myself to trust in every day, several times a day, as I wait for Him to reveal His answers for what is next. But He is faithful as always to give me moments of great hope and peace and trust in His magnificent character that He will use all of this in my life for His glory and my good.

Second, God has shown us His goodness and kindness again and again in such tangible and concrete ways. I am absolutely humbled to have received so many phone calls, notes, gifts and encouraging words from so many people. People are praying for us from coast to coast and in between. Strangers have called with words of sympathy. People have visited with hugs and tears. God is sustaining us in our time of need with the love of the Body of Christ. He is so good, always.

What does the future hold? I want to know the details so badly. But that is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the future holds Christ. The future holds my perfection in Christ. The future holds a greater love and worship of the magnificence of knowing God. The future holds glory...because I am in Christ.

"Colossians 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."

Seattle

Since we've never been to Seattle, we did a lot of the tourist stuff. I am not a big city guy anyway, and Seattle wasn't exactly my cup of tea (or coffee), but it was fun to explore it together as a family.

We didn't go in it, but we saw the Space Needle.

We had fun at the Pacific Science Center.

Emery tested her hang time.

They had a butterfly exhibit which was filled with some amazingly huge and beautiful butterflies.

Andrew kept trying to get one to land on him to no avail.

We also went to Pike's Place Market.

We didn't see any fish flying around but the boys and girl hung out with a pig.

It was a crazy atmosphere to navigate, but the seafood was delicious! Here we are at the When Harry Met Sally restaurant.

The view wasn't too shabby either.

All in all, it was a fun time.

Flower girl

Emery was the flower girl for her uncle's wedding in Seattle. Welcome Charlotte Imo to the family! We all had a great time celebrating God's work in Sam and Char's lives to bring them together as one.

Emery was very scared to do her job, but she did great.

The whole family got all dolled up.

The boys and girl were so proud of their one and only Cancun.

It was an absolutely fabulous wedding.

Since everybody was so dressed up, Sandy was having the boys practice some modelling. Do they have a future?

The venue had a breathtaking view of Puget sound. Stellar choice. It had great ambiance during the reception at night too.

And Emery got to be big sister to her little cousin Yoey. It was a great wedding and great time in Seattle!

Ta-dah!

Guess who finished his puzzle?

It was a family affair and everyone contributed at least one piece, even Sandy! As we worked on it, the boys and girl often asked - why do you like puzzles dad? I tell them it helps me develop more patience. But mostly, I have odd hobbies.

Upward season #3

Andrew finished up his 3rd season of Upward basketball. And I must say, I am very proud of him. I don't know if he will go on and play HS basketball someday. It seems like he has some skill and showed some good progress in his ability this season. But either way, it doesn't really matter to me. What counts most to me is his heart attitude as he played.

Every season, I have emphasized to him that it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, whether you score a lot of points or not, even whether you had fun out there. The point of it all is to play for the glory of God. It seemed like that has really started to sink in. I am proud of Andrew for not only obeying his coach but having a teachable spirit. I am proud of Andrew for not only trying to be a good example but also for trying to be a good influence on his teammates who were not always very self-controlled. I am proud of Andrew for not only playing his absolute best to win for his team but also for caring about people on his team and on the other team. For the first time, Andrew has started saying the right things and doing the right things outside of my presence, on his own. Great job Andrew. I love you.

And he gave me one of those touching, heartfelt moments that all of you parents can appreciate. During one of the games, in the pregame introductions, they asked each child - who do you look up to the most? As they introduced each player, they gave his name, number and their answer to that question. Many of the kids said famous athletes or their family and one even said George Lucas! But Andrew Lee, #25 came out and the person he looks up to the most is his dad.

Snow and sun

Spring is here in ABQ, and I LOVE it! We can't get enough heat in the Lee household. But since we knew the weather is warming up big time, we decided to hit the snow in the mountains one last time.

I wasn't sure if there was any snow left, but we kept driving up til we found some.

The boys and girl have been dying to go sledding all winter so we went for it. There wasn't a lot of snow, but there was enough. And the sledding was steep!

The boys are fearless now. They went flying down on a couple of runs where I was really worried someone would get hurt. Thankfully no one did.

And we can't go sledding without some hot chocolate.

This was one of the oddest sledding experiences I have ever had. In the sun, there was not a hint of snow and it was almost 50 degrees at an elevation of about 7,000 feet. But in the shade, there was snow and it felt pretty cold. Matt didn't seem to notice the paradox.

The beautiful thing was after we had fun sledding, we drove home in about 45 minutes and whipped out the shorts and flip-flops. It was over 60 degrees and gorgeous outside! Gotta love ABQ.