Saying Thanks

Sometimes saying thanks isn't enough. At least, it doesn't feel like it's enough to the one saying it. It often is enough to the one being thanked, but to the one who is thankful, it seems like more needs to be said or done to express how thankful he or she is.

I feel that today-- thankful again for the privilege of serving the Creator of the Universe! It was about twenty-six years ago that he called us to serve his church; and there have been so many ways he has confirmed that call and blessed me since! Here's a partial list:

• First, 37 years ago (eleven years before MBS) he saved me from a life that was destined to be wasted in prison or in an early death.
• He planted me in a good church and gave me friendships that continue to shape me to this day.
• He gave me a wife who is an absolute delight to be in life-partnership with, and a daughter who brings me great joy.

Okay, that's the personal stuff, here's some of the work/ ministry stuff:

• He gave me an interest in computers back in the late 1960s, and developed in me an ability to see their value and then later to develop systems and methods necessary to make them a valuable tool he would eventually use in ministry.
• He took a guy (me) that had nearly lost his ability to communicate because of too many psychedelic drugs, and made me an effective conference speaker; giving me the ability to communicate technical information in a way that non-technical people could use to make good decisions.
• My college professors would be shocked to know that I have been published in print hundreds of times. I think they would all agree that it wasn't my ability, but clearly a miracle!
• He has granted our little firm the privilege of helping to shape how technology is used in churches and ministries throughout the U.S., and even beyond!
• He has granted us favor among hardware and software providers, allowing us to influence solutions through relationships with engineers and executives.
• More recently, he has granted us the privilege of helping to lead The Church into the cloud by placing us in an awesome datacenter and letting us 'play' with some very sophisticated hardware and software.

On that last point I am thoroughly amazed. In fact, it's what woke me up tonight and has me writing now with such deep gratitude. You see, I felt his strong leading to pursue this direction (the cloud) a few years ago; but I was cautious. I let him lead me and speak to me, and I did my best to pay attention and to follow. But I was hesitant because of the investment involved.

So I worked out a business plan that could pay for itself with as few as six clients added per year. That became my hope! Just six clients each year. But the Lord was going to do-- and has done much more than that. We've been offering hosted servers and services in our datacenter for a year this month, and he has blessed us with so many clients (after all, it was his idea in the first place!) that this month we are significantly expanding our datacenter capacity.

I am thankful to be serving. Once again, the Lord has proven himself to be faithful and true. I am also thankful that our opportunity to serve doesn't rest on the shoulders of my brilliance (that would be a problem!), but on the brilliance of the One who called us into service twenty-six years ago this month.