I trust that your Labor Day Holiday was enjoyable.  Denise, Jackson and I traveled south to Tennessee to visit some of Denise’s friends and to Mississippi to visit my family for an extended Labor Day weekend.  We were also able to pick up a crib for Anna Sloan, whose birth is just around the corner.  As is our custom, we watched a lot of college football, I played a round a golf with my brothers and we topped it off with pizza, burgers and fish.  It was an enjoyable time yet one that wasn’t without its challenges.  When you bring together four sets of families who view life through different lenses, there is going to be frustration.  Views on politics, TV watching, doctrine, and parenting (just to name a few) varied as much as the weather does here in Springfield.  We were constantly faced with the temptation to forsake the gospel and judge the other families whose worldviews differed from ours.  We struggled to resist the urge to see our views as “right” and everyone else’s as “wrong”…to see ourselves as better parents and to take pride in the choices we have made.  I wish I could tell you that we succeeded but we caught ourselves several times being judgmental and prideful in our thoughts for which we had to repent.  How grateful I am for the gospel of God’s grace as it sanctifies my heart and shows me my ever-increasing need for it.

I was also reminded of God’s grace this weekend as I thought about how thankful I am to be employed as a church planter and that I am able to labor and provide for my family.  I continue to grieve for those who are among the 10% or so in our state who are unemployed right now and are emptying their bank accounts or maxing their credit cards to stay afloat.  Only God is able to take such a frustrating and life-altering situation and turn it into good.  I don’t know about you, but I have always put Labor Day right up their with Columbus Day as holidays that I have given very little thought to.  However, I couldnt’ help but be overcome yesterday with a sense of gratitude to God for the opportunities, the skills, the talents, the abilities and the resources that enable me to work outside the home and for Denise to work inside the home.  It has given me a new appreciation for Labor Day.  Lord willing even as we grow in appreciation for Labor Day where we honor work, we can grow in appreciation for the Sabbath Day where we honor rest.