Just the Beginning

     This summer has been incredibly hard for so many people. My prayers and thoughts are with my friends and family back in Prescott. Our community suffered a great loss, but what I saw come forth from such pain was something very encouraging. Despite it all Christ was proclaimed. I am so thankful to be from a town that declares its hope in God in the midst of terrible tragedy.

     When I think about the events that happened over this past summer, I find that it is hard not to think about the end. Everyone had to look death in the face. It was very sobering.

     The Lord, however, is building within me a new understanding. Death is not the end. It is also not the end for those of us still here on earth. It is just the beginning. This is something we have heard so many times preached in church, but for the first time we have a deep revelation, a deep understanding, of this truth.

There is a beautiful song by Gungor that comes to mind whenever I think about this past season,

                                                      

                                   "This Is Not The End"

This is not the end
This is not the end of this
We will open our eyes wide, wider

This is not our last
This is not our last breath
We will open our mouths wide, wider

And you know you’ll be alright
Oh and you know you’ll be alright

This is not the end
This is not the end of us
We will shine like the stars bright, brighter

     I am excited because the Lord is giving many others revelation of this encouragement through dreams, through talks, and through ideas. He is inspiring something incredible into the hearts of many “Prescottonians”.