Last week I participated in the dedication of a special plaque and historical marker to celebrate the former Gladstone United Methodist Church -- which was the first Methodist congregation west of the Missouri River. It was an appropriately windy day on the Dakotas prairie, but about 40 people joined to celebrate that site and to remember the history of Gladstone Church.

Rev. Wayne McKirdy shared an historical perspective about the Gladstone congregation, and I was led to comment on the "ripple effect" of that historical church. Among the "ripple effect" of their faithfulness is the fact that they can trace at least 6 pastors who were sent forth from their little church to serve in ministry -- including Wayne McKirdy himself. When you start to count "second generation" effects, you soon start listing the Revs. Scott McKirdy, Ross Reinhiller, and Kyle Reinhiller of our Dakotas Conference, along with several others in other denominations. In fact it is quite remarkable to see how "fruitful" that Gladstone Church and its descendants have been!

I characterized this as the "ripple effect" of our faithfulness. Just as a stone thrown into a pond produces ripples which affect the whole pond, so it is with lives of faithfulness to God. It only takes one or two individuals, or a small congregation, to make a huge difference in the lives of many people over many generations.

Sometimes we only see the ripple effect of our faithfulness by looking back years later. Sometimes we never know the impact we have upon others. Sometimes, like with the Gladstone Church, only history can begin to measure and to mark those ripples.

I remember a few years ago when a very active woman in our congregation shared how she and her family had started attending our church. It all revolved around another woman who taught in our nursery school who had said, "Your boys seem to enjoy nursery school so much, why don't you bring them to Sunday School sometime?" A few months later, the mother did bring her children to Sunday School, and then her husband started attending (and was baptised), and their whole family became active, involved, and committed members of our church. That teacher had moved on to another state and never knew that her invitation had led to such results. The mother shared, "I often wonder if she {the teacher} knows how much her quiet invitation changed my life and the lives of my family?"

It often seems to work that way, doesn't it? Our lives of faithfulness can have a ripple effect which impacts so many others over the years.

I believe that is what the phrase in Psalm 23 means when it says, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." That is not a statement of the goodness and mercy that we receive by following the Lord, it is a description of the goodness and mercy which can steam behind us as we follow the Lord and allow the ripple effects of our faithfulness to flow onto others.

At least that is how it worked with the Gladstone Church, and it was good to celebrate the on-going impact of the faithfulness of that little church on the prairie in western North Dakota.

And so I pray ...

Lord, help us to live in such faithfulness that our lives can be a blessing to others. May something of Your goodness and mercy ripple from us and flow out to others. Amen.