The Conway Church of God will always be special to me. I haven't been to Conway in a number of years now and the church has grown tremendously under the direction of Pastor Stuart Jacobs and is in a new location. The parsonage I grew up in and the old building have been replaced, but living on North Crabtree Street was special back in that day. I remember so many people that influenced my life while my dad pastored there. Even though I was born in Walterboro, I still call Conway my home town because I was 12 when we moved there and 17 when we left.
Life was simple and far less complicated back then for all of us. I remember the day we moved to McColl from Conway and thinking as I was driving about how great my life had been while living there. We always moved on my birthday because that's when the new church year started. September 1, 1970 was the day when I left so many of my friends behind and 46 years later it still seems like yesterday. Several of them have passed away now and many of my peers have retired or moved away, but my life became fuller because of the great church and the people there.
Our Lord never promised us that our lives would continue to be simple as our lives continued, but He let us know that our life is special. It is more than just existing or breathing. It is more than just counting your birthdays while your body gets older and weaker. Life isn't some race towards some distant goal, but a simple walk you take each day seeing all the wonder and beauty around you. It isn't some balancing act where you must be perfect or lose everything, but a stroll down a narrow way where if you fall off you just smile, laugh and jump right back on. It isn't some worrisome counting of every penny you make, but about smelling flowers, smiling at sunrises, playing with laughing grandchildren, and collecting priceless memories along the journey. Life isn't what happens to you, but is rather the choices that you make all through each day and all through your life.
Those daily choices you make bring you the joy you seek and the love you need. It is the Heavenly choices that bring you the oneness with God you desire and allow you to smile and forgive instead of stewing in your anger when someone hurts you. It is these choices that allow you to laugh and love instead of despair when things go wrong and allow you to give joy and goodness to others instead of always trying to get things from them. Cherish your life, your loved ones, and all your memories. Let life be a blessing instead of a curse by the choices you make.
I thank the Lord for Bishops Bobby Johnson and I. C. Morris, Jr. choosing me to work with them when I was a young minister. I thank God for the congregations in Lancaster, Powdersville, Laurens, and Union along with others that allowed Becky and I to serve them in our journey. I can honestly say it's the precious people we served that made the difference in our ministry. Again, all of life comes down to our daily choices. Let's choose to fill our lives with love, joy, peace, happiness, goodness, delight, and oneness with God. Let's choose to bless the world, help others, and bring truth, joy, love, and light to everyone we meet. A life filled with good choices equals an eternity with our loved ones and the Lord.
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