As I think about the future there is one reality (among some others) that scares the hell out of me: People move, distance happens, relationships change. During this fellows year it has been sobering to have gotten so busy and to feel like I’ve lost touch with some of the main forces in my life over the past 4 years. It’s brought a full range of emotions from guilt, to shame, to sadness, to freedom, to regret, to understanding, plus a lot more both positive and negative. So this blog will be a letter. A letter to just one of the many groups of people who have blessed my life.
Dear Panther Creek Peeps,
One of the greatest privileges in my life was being invited into your community. I came into your community as someone who barely a year earlier had it revealed to me that a life lived in relationship with God was where life is found, and still didn’t really understand what that meant (still often don’t). By the time I walked out I left with a bank full of experiences where God for some reason chose to use me.
Parents, Committee, and every one else who supported, fed, and cared for me. You’ll never know how much it has meant. There were naturally times that came up where I questioned the value of what I was doing, whether it was worth it or not. I can unequivocally say it was! But without you all being there with support and care for a dumb college kid with no real business hanging out in the community, I don’t see how I would have been able to experience just how worth it, it was.
Boys- I miss y’all, all of you. Everyone has grown up and gone off to college or work and it’s only become more and more impossible to keep up with each of you. I constantly find myself smiling as I reflect on camps, trips, pickup basketball, work crews, clubs, campaigners, conversations, and everything in between. From the ones of you who I could count on seeing every week, to the ones I only got to have a conversation or two with at a sports game, you all changed my life in ways I can’t even describe. For that reality, I’m forever grateful to each of you. Thank y’all for the hangs, I love you guys.
One last thought. No matter who you are reading this, this is what God says about you: “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1
-Jeb