Is it just me or do you feel like it was only a few days ago we were celebrating Christmas, watching the ball drop on New Year's Eve, and wishing we would have gone ahead and bought that winter coat after all?  Now it's March, and we're talking about spring training, springing our clocks forward, spring break, springtime allergies, and on and on it goes.

The reality is that when spring arrives our calendars tend to fill up quickly with a lot of activities, sports, and other new commitments.  Recently my wife, Kim, and I scheduled a few days for the two of us to take off and see and do some of the things we enjoy together.  We have always felt like it is great to get away, but it's also a blessing to have a great family, great friends, and a great church to come home to.

One morning, we found ourselves browsing through a little shop in a town we were visiting.  Now I'll admit that when it comes to shopping I sometimes have the patience level of a 6 year old (and that day was no exception).  So I decided to step out on the boardwalk, and as I did I found myself standing next to a local high school student.  I asked the young man for the time, and we quickly struck up a conversation.  Right about here is where you might expect me to say that I shared the Gospel with this young man, led him to the Lord, and then enrolled him in a Bible college or seminary (okay, maybe not that far but at least you might think I would tell him about Jesus).  But, I didn't.  In fact I walked off.  And not only did I walk off once, but I went back to talk some more and then walked off again. 

In 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT), Paul wrote that "we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!'"  The truth of that verse and a persistent nudging from God just would not stop.  I also began to think that God just might keep my wife in the store purchasing things until I gave in, so I decided to stroll back down the boardwalk now for a third time.  And yes... it was a little awkward by now, and no... the young man did not become a Christian that day (at least not while I was with him).  However, I did get to share with him the fact that as a young man the best and most important decision I made was to become a follower of Jesus Christ. 

I know that spring sports, spring break, and spring travel plans are going to take many of us to new places and may even result in meeting new people.  I want to challenge and encourage each of us to do two things.  First of all, work hard at protecting that time when you come together with the rest of your church family to serve and worship.  You truly are missed when you're not at church.  And secondly remember that wherever you go, God's Word says you, me, and every Christian are representatives of Jesus Christ.  Just as spring is a time for new things, my prayer is that our conversations and our actions will point others to the Savior who offers everyone a new beginning and eternal life.

May the Lord bless you,

Pastor Dale