Return to Splendor

I recently received an email from a friend of ours in Massachusetts. Nelson and his family, live outside Boston, towards the north, on a lake. The opposite side of the lake is New Hampshire, for you geography buffs. Anyway, he is a great guy, with a cool family, and my wife & I have fond memories of hanging at their house, enjoying the lake view, having dinner and sharing stories of what God has done in our lives. Nelson often spoke of a man who was a good friend, mentor and pastor to him... you know, one of those people who has made a dramatic impact on his life. Well recently, this man, who had so much impact on Nelson, passed away. He sent us an email to let us know...obviously it was a hard time for him...he will miss him. He shared a portion of this man's last message...and it seems so appropriate and well said...that I share it with you also. You see at ECHO we believe, that in the Kingdom of God, relationships are not by accident. Our relationship with Nelson and his family...his relationship with this man...and our relationship with each other is part of how God encourages us, loves us, and points us towards Him. Perhaps there is a nugget in this for you too...the part that jumped out to me in his email, read like this:

"I went to Yankee stadium to see a game with the family. We arrived early. So I decided to spend some time watching the ground crew prepare the park for the game. They do an extraordinary job. In the process, a small tractor makes perfect circles inside the diamond as it grooms the dirt. It takes him about 20 minutes, but at the end, it looks fantastic. It does not matter how much they disturbed that dirt in the previous game, they always manage to bring it to its original splendor, every time.

It is the same with our lives. It doesn’t matter how the ills of this world may attack us; God has a way of bringing us back to the splendor of his peace. In Jesus, we find the peace that the world is eagerly searching for. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. John 14:27
~ Dr. Benjamin Matias

May God's "process" continually bring you into "the splendor of His peace."

be God's!

Brian O

Lead Pastor dude, ECHO