Awesome Men

"God is always seeking you. Every sunset. Every clear blue sky. Every ocean wave. The starry host of night. He blankets each new day with the invitation 'I am here'. Somehow, we know He's there. The creation surrounding us tells us there's more to this life than living and dying. To us, ready or not, Jesus came. To us, worthy or not, He appeared. Accepting or not, we find His footprints in Palestinian soil."

I read these words on page 23 of Louie Giglio's book, The Air I Breathe--thank you Ron R. for loaning it to me. Louie Giglio is the most current awesome man that God has placed in my life. I can't get enough of him and the way that he expresses himself about the greatness of God, the Salvation delivered through Jesus Christ and the existence of the Holy Spirit. I am so passionate at this time in my life about Jesus Christ and my walk with Him. Thanks to Louie and a few other awesome men in my life.

The journey started with Chuck about 6 years ago. He had always been a believer, not me. But he had been through some major health issues and felt a strong desire to get closer to God. We started "church shopping". I was willing to do this, but I was basically appeasing him. He had said to me many times in our 38 year marriage, "I feel so sorry for you because I won't see you in heaven." That meant a lot to him, but not to me, the non-believer. So, after visiting 3 or 4 churches, we landed at Woods Chapel United Methodist. We stayed because we both liked the pastor, Jeff Brinkman. I almost always came away from one of his sermons just positive that he had been speaking to me directly, and I needed that.

Chuck passed away just 3 years later. We had started the process of becoming members mostly because that seemed like the next step. I didn't feel a real connection to Jesus Christ--I was just going through the motions. But the day Chuck died, Jeff Brinkman was at my door. He had some very profound words to say to me. Within a few days, he was back at my house sitting with me and my girls, listening to us tell about the awesome husband/father that we had lost. He performed the service and it was beautiful--my girls (also pretty much non-believers) were finding out for themselves, what an awesome man of God Jeff Brinkman is. A few months later, Jeff performed the wedding ceremony for Angela and Patrick and baptized me just 4 months after that. I now consider Jeff B. a dear friend and I am so grateful for the part he has played in connecting me to Jesus Christ.

And then came Kris Bartman, our music director at WCC. I joined the Gospel Choir--inspired by the 1st combined concert performance of the WCC Gospel Choir and the St. Mark's Union Church Gospel Choir. Kris was such an inspiration to all of us. His passion for Christ was so obvious. There were times in choir practice that he could barely contain it. He taught us about the importance of singing praises to God and how by our example, we could lead others to do the same. He was just awesome--and still is, just somewhere else. God lead him in another direction and there's no doubt in my mind, that many others will find him just as awesome as I did.

Shortly after Kris left, God placed another awesome man in my life. One of the most spiritual men I've ever known. We have prayed together every day for over three months and the words and the way he expresses his thoughts just amaze me. We haven't seen each other for about 11 years--it's a Facebook/phone relationship, but one that I feel so blessed to have and one that I thank God for every day.

And now, back to the beginning--Louie Giglio. I can't share all of the awesome men that have been in my life--the ones who have helped me get to where I am today, but I can share Louie Giglio. Here is the link to the 1st in a 5-part video series on how incredible God is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewKtSKbWZUI

If you want to feel passionate or renew your passion for Christ, do yourself a favor and tune into Louie. I'll be seeing him in person on May 15th as he and Chris Tomlin open the permanent location for Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA.

I am so excited!