They tell me Christchurch welcomed us Aucklander's with a small tremor on Friday morning. I didn't feel it, but many others did.
I believe we'll feel the "tremors" from our 2020 WMCNZ Conference for many years to come though. In a good way! Consensus among the national officers is that this was a "highlight" conference in our first 20 years. A highlight for many reasons which we will be unpacking as we evaluate the weekend but a quick synopisis would be that our theme of "Crossings" encouraged us to "Celebrate the Past, Engage with the Present, and Prepare for the future." Starting from celebration fuelled our focus.
Celebration is important, indeed vital to life. It's very easy, too easy to get pulled into the daily grind - putting one foot in front of the other, just doing what needs to be done. But we need to pause and celebrate. We need to make that a habit - something that we build into our day. I had a mentor who was so committed to this that he expected me to let him know every day one celebration point I had for the day AND how I was going to celebrate it. AND if I didn't contact him - he would contact me and ask me!
So, I encourage you to pause right now and think of something you can celebrate from the day you've had or from yesterday. It doesn't have to be big - it can be small. As I write this I think of
being able to look out on the ducks on the pond in Hayman Park
the coffee I'm drinking
a fantastic conference
being able to take time away from national church duties this week
a special woman God has brought into my life
you - the people God has brought into my life
I woke up this morning
and so the list could go on - when we start thinking of celebration points (or you might think of them as things to be thankful for) it can sometimes be hard to stop.
There is an old hymn - Count your Blessings - that comes to mind. The chorus goes like this
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God has done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
I encourage you to take 4 mins and listen to it and as you do allow God to being to mind the things that you can celebrate.
And I encourage you make it a habit to daily pause and celebrate - take a minute to name one thing from your day, your week that you can celebrate. If you live with others I encourage you to get together and each person name one thing. Though it might seem difficult to do at first - in time it will become easier.
Blessings for the week
Peter
