“‎Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, ‎whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, ‎that sends out its roots by the stream, ‎and does not fear when heat comes, ‎for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

The idea of trust as the thing that roots us and sustains us is a pretty amazing one. In the passage above we are told that trust in the Lord is essential to getting through life’s difficult times. Trusting God’s goodness to sustain us is not always easy though. We experience a lot of pain and suffering in this world and it often makes us question God’s goodness. We wonder why He would allow terrible things to take place. Or why our loved ones have suffered in the ways they have. Or why He hasn’t come back yet.

Whatever we wonder it isn’t unique to us. Humanity has been asking these questions about God’s goodness since the first time we questioned Him in the garden and found ourselves in a broken relationship with Him. Yet over and over again throughout scripture God continues to reveal His goodness and love to us. He remains faithful to provide a source of life in the deserts of life. Sometimes it is hard to trust in His goodness but it is the only way to make it through the darkness and the drought of pain and sorrow. God provides fruit for our lives even in those seasons when we trust in Him and allow Him to be our sustainer.

I spent last week at our annual Yearly Meeting sessions in Newberg at George Fox University. It was great to gather together with so many Friends from our region to work on the business of our church. As we headed into the sessions there was a palpable energy to be felt in the space. Expectation, trepidation, wonder, and hope. We were presented and approved our new super intendent Jim Le Shana. Besides that outstanding news we also had our board meeting and time to learn in workshops presented in the afternoons. Our meal times were great to fellowship and further discussion of the Yearly Meeting business. There were opportunities to pray together and worship was joyful.

            One of my favorite parts of my week was spending time with Youth Yearly Meeting participants as part of my role on the Board of Youth and Young Adults. I met with students and another of our board members to talk about their experience of the event and hopes for how it might look going forward. Going forward. It is nice to be able to say that. For the past few years it has felt as though we were stuck. Held to the same discussions and frustrations. We were not a body that was able to speak well to one another always. We often had confrontation and there was a general mistrust of others. People had to determine which “camp” you were a part of. That kind of fractious and tribal activity was not something that we wanted. But when it is clear that two groups were trying to lead and control a space it ended up being obvious that there was a fracture. We acknowledged that brokenness and took steps to free both groups to pursue ministry in the ways they feel led to. That space, that freedom, is what resulted in the hopefulness at our Yearly Meeting sessions.

Looking back is great to show us where we have been but looking forward is the way to get where we want to be. Going forward is what we want to do as a Yearly Meeting. Part of me is wondering how we can participate in that vision and activity as a church in Medford. What our role is in the Yearly Meeting and our area. How can we share the gospel with our community? What does it look like for us to be the church here in our neighborhood? How can we continue to be faithful to the calling of the Lord to be His people and live in His kingdom? What does going forward look like for us?

I just got back from a trip to Mexico. I went down with a group to help build a house for a family in extreme need down there. We partnered with YWAM Central Baja to help this family. Four days was what we had scheduled to build a house from the ground up; the foundation was already poured and dry but we were doing the rest. We did the framing of the walls and roof panels, attached the exterior, painted it, and put it all together in four days. Going down there I was a little nervous about how little time we had. Four days isn’t enough time to get a building permit here so how were we gonna build a house in that time? I was amazed at the team and how we all worked together to get this new home built for this family.

As I think about the experiences I had working on the house I am reminded of the beauty of the church. When we all work together and pool our skills we can do things that we never thought possible. What might seem like an impossible task can be accomplished with what we think is not enough. God showed me that if we pull together with Him we can accomplish amazing things.

I said goodbye to a friend today. My buddy Orlando is moving back to the east coast after a year out here in Oregon. I am going to miss him. We had a lot of laughter over the last year that is going to be missing from my life now. As we ate lunch today and talked about his plans for going back and the trip I was excited for what the future holds for him. I don’t mind leave takings like this one, where a person is heading off to do life somewhere else and is excited about it.

Tomorrow I am doing a memorial service for a family. Talking with families about their loved ones who have just passed away is a hard thing. You see the sorrow in their eyes as they recall stories of the good times and the laughter they shared. You are a part of their grief and mourning. You offer hope and prayer for comfort to them. You try to honor the individual and the family in the best way possible, by pointing to Jesus’ goodness.

As I sit in my office and think about saying goodbye to Orlando and prep for helping this family mourn I can’t help but compare the experiences. In one case it is leaving by choice, in another it is the inevitable leave taking we all face as fragile human beings. Both have elements of sorrow and joy, personal and communal. We celebrate and send off. We mourn and let go.  For my part, it helps to remember that goodbye is really “see you later.” As Christians our hope in in Christ that we will partake of the resurrection. When we say goodbye to those we love it isn’t final. We could honestly say, “see you later.” Even to those we have lost to the grave. I, for one, am grateful for that hope today.