I pray that you and yours are well on these warming spring days as we remember the wonder of our lives up to this point and look forward in hope to all that God has in mind for us.

A good place to spend time as we pray with God is that place between what has come before and what will come next. Our past experience is a gateway to gratitude as we remember all the gifts that make up our lives and the challenges and struggles that are helping us to form us as God's children. Remembering also gives us a hint about what might be coming our way next - more blessings and, frankly, more struggles. In praying for what comes next, we have an opportunity to let go of our sense of control and give it over to God, while at the same time being opened to new things and new adventures in our lives.

Our staff and our leadership have been putting in a good bit of this kind of prayer time these past few weeks. We've been remembering what has gone before and giving thanks or recognizing that perhaps we could have lived into our mission in a different way. For our planning meeting this week, I name this part of our work "Triumphs, Mishaps and Seeds Planted." We've also been dreaming with God about how our lives might best go forward and spent many hours trying to discern how God is directing us for the coming year and remembering that change is always a part of the life with God. By the way, next year's mission and ministry is shaping up to be something extraordinary, so stay tuned.

So, as we remember what has gone before and listen and look for what may be coming next, it is critical that we remember our true or first purpose because if we don't, we will get stuck where we are or make false or lesser choices for how we will live our lives going forward. That true and first purpose is seeking God and His kingdom. All that we do in church and in our lives are not for checking some box or keeping life as it is. We are a people who are called to seek after God and to participate in a life that draws us and others closer to God.

So as you are remembering what has gone before and looking to what is coming next in your life and at St. David's, remember our purpose and our calling. For if we will, then we will be touched by a grace and a love that bring real life and can look forward in complete confidence and hope to what is coming next. See you in church!