Up and Running!

Good morning everybody. It's a delightful day in Yakima. I've been a little slow in getting up and running...but I'm getting there. I actually put myself on Sabbatical, beginning at the end of my Pastoral ministry at West Valley Church in Yakima...meaning...that I determined that I should not preach for three months (100 days) (beginning January 1, 2009) so I could simply be quiet before God, listening, meditating, "scribbling", reading, praying...just waiting, as I sought to draw near to God...anticipating that He would know best what the next chapter would look like in the journey Mary and I are taking.

LOSS - The last 18 months have been a sort of "season of loss" for me...(more on that later - still processing)...with the most recent loss being the loss of my eldest brother, John Wesley Lewis. What a guy...what a loss! There was one exception to my "time away from preaching", and that was the message for my dear brother's funeral, at the request of the family. Several wonderful events occured during the last few months of John's life that allowed us to find a deep peace in placing John in the hands of a loving and graceful God. I wish you could have heard the playing of "taps" at the graveside down in the country. The young airforce gal played so clearly..beautifully...without a flaw. What a powerful moment.

BREAK THE FAST -I will break my "preaching fast" on Good Friday, 101 days after the "fast" began, accepting the invitation to bring the Good Friday message at "The Living Care Center" in Yakima...a large care giving and assisted care home here. I'm looking forward to it.

Be blessed today, and do remember: "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind." (2Timothy 1:7). htl

PS - Some are asking, "what's LIFESHIFTall about?" We'll talk, soon, about that! htl