Giving birth...

I can never say that I know what it is like to give birth to a child. Because of the way God has designed it, Amy Lynn endures that painful process. Thank you, Lord, and thank you Amy. :-)

But I will say that the process by which I just crafted and finished my message for tomorrow is the closest thing I can imagine to giving birth. I know, women, it is a stretch, but please bear with this man for a moment. I have been at it all week and that was long and painful and hard.

Like babies, some messages come easier than others. It always takes me at least 10 - 20 hours a week, but those 10 - 20 hours can be enjoyable in the truest sense of the word or downright difficult. The process of preparing a message can be either extreme or anywhere between the two. This week, that delivery process was painstakingly slow, difficult, and exhausting to say the least.

I can hear the Senior Pastors out there saying, "Amen." You know exactly what I am talking about. I just had a wonderful, yet impossible thought - wouldn't it be awesome if we could get an epidural for weeks like this. I am telling you I would have endured multiple 6 inch needles stuck deep within my back to not have to go through that process. :-)

Anywho - it is done, at 10:20 pm and thankfully I am fired up about delivering this baby tomorrow. If you are local and attend newhope, I can't wait to see you. If you are not local or attend somewhere else, please pray for your pastor each and every week. He/she probably works very hard to divide the Word of the Lord for you and the community of faith. If you are a pastor out there, take heart, you are not alone when it comes to the sermon crafting process. Hang in there and together, let's remember this:

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (I Corinthians 15:58)