The other day I walked into the kitchen to go through some mail. When I got into the kitchen, however, I discovered that my floor was full of crumbs from my kid’s snacks. So, I grabbed a broom and went to work. As I went to return the broom to the closet I discovered the clean clothes were ready to be taken out of the dryer, so I piled the clothes into the laundry basket and proceeded to take them back to the bedroom to be folded. But when I was on my way to the bedroom, I saw that the dining room table was full of crafts from the boys, so I set the laundry basket down to begin picking up the crafts. Since I am a sentimental mama, when I saw the crafts, I decided that I should take pictures of each boy’s masterpiece so that I’d never forget about their beautiful creations. But when I picked up the phone, a text came through, so I sat down to respond. After that, I decided I should respond to emails. About an hour later, I found myself sitting there at the dining room table asking myself, what am I doing here? And then it dawned on me – 2 hours before then I had set out to go through the mail. That (still) never happened.

I am sure you can relate.

We live in a society saturated with distractions that tug us away from what really matters. I had a week like that – that is, a week full of distractions. While the last few months have been swirling with heavy decisions, there were times I focused on the “wind and the waves,” if you will. There were times that I had fleeting thoughts wondering if the wind and the waves would consume us. But they didn’t, and they won’t. Each morning we wake up, and we are invited to fix our eyes on what matters…and today, I want to invite you to remember to do the same.

No matter what, eyes on Jesus.

As a church, when we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will walk in the paths God has for us. And I believe when we do this, we will live into our mission statement – Inviting everyone to walk together in the calling of Christ for a life of eternal impact. 

No matter what, eyes on Jesus.

Last Sunday, I was so blessed by the warmth of worship. Once again, people lingered and lingered in fellowship. As I reflected with another pastor friend recently, I shared that the specialness of Good Shepherd isn’t the programs or the music or the preaching or the building…it’s the people – that is, it’s you. You exude the light and love and warmth of Jesus.

I love you, Good Shepherd. These are good days.

From my heart,

Pastor Tara Beth Leach