Rev. Karen Wheat
Rev. Karen Wheat
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From
the Pastor:
While up at Mackinaw this summer we found a lighthouse, just to the west of the city, that we never knew existed. It was Gulpin Point light House and it was tucked away, off of a little dirt road. It was so secluded that we actually missed it the first time through. It was when we were ready to leave the area that we caught a glimpse of it and turned around to go check it out. I started to think of what else I'd been missing during these busy days, What gifts of joy and laughter, beauty, love and peace would have been mine if I had simply paused to really look and see around me.All of this reminded me of a story: "A man stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers, announcing that it was time for a quiz. Then he pulled out a one-gallon., wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. He then produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this Jar full? Everyone in the class said, "Yes". He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel, pouring the gravel in and shaking the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group again if the jar was full. By then they had figured out that more probably could be packed into the jar, and sure enough, the man added sand, then water to the jar.After demonstrating how much could fit in the jar, he asked his seminar attendees what the point of his illustration was. One of the group answered immediately, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is,- if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it." "No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all." I keep those rocks to remind me to put the big rocks in first. For the next few weeks we are going to be participating in the series, "One Month to Live...". It is the goal of this series to help us all figure out what the big rocks are in our lives. I hope that one of the big rocks in your life is faith and your relationship with God. That means putting God First!The beginning sermon of the series reminded us to do just that and gave us a guide on how to do it. It reminded us to Give God:
tithe out of thanks for all that he has given us) May God give us the insight and the will to in all things, put him first. Shalom, Rev. Karen |