As “Keeper of the Blog,” I am pleased to welcome our new Senior Pastor, Pastor David Cross and his family. They have arrived from Hillcrest United Methodist Church in Elkhart, Indiana.
Welcome, welcome, welcome. That is your “tri-fold” welcome. 
Transitions are strange times in our lives. We know what we have lost and are looking forward with “joy and delight” as well as “fear and trepidation”…a certain looking forward and backward at the same time. The unknown is ahead…as it always is. But it is, as we change senior pastors, that we are extremely aware of not knowing the future. And that is not surprising. David and Christy don’t know about us either.
However, I do know this about the future. It will unfold the way we “think and say” that it will. For example, if we say our future is going to be bleak, unprofitable, and uninspiring, we can be certain that is how we will experience it.
On the other hand if we look at the future with joy, good will, hope, and we talk and behave in those terms, we can be certain that is how we will experience it.
God sets the stage for us. But each individual must decide for him or herself just how to view that stage. And we need to remember that how we view and talk about past stages will influence how we see this different stage.
I am glad David and Christy Cross have joined us just as I was delighted when Chris and Ginny joined us. I am sorry to see Chris and Ginny leave; but I am delighted that David and Christy have come.
God is willing and ready to bless us. We need to be willing and able to allow Him to do so.
So welcome to David and Christy and your family. Let the “Cross Era” begin in our church. And may we all lift up the entire church into God’s “life” by what we pray, say, do, and think.
Carol
