Yeah . . . it's true . . .

I had the distinct and wonderful privilige of introducing my mother to the congregation at the beginning of the 11:15 AM service this morning . . .

And . . . wouldn't you know it . . . I started to cry.   Could barely get out "my Mom is here."  I pointed to her . . . at which time she stood and waved her hand in a very stately fashion appropriate for the dear mother of the pastor who was preaching that morning.  

And, as everyone was looking at her . . . I forced myself to get better composed.

Who wants to see a 6'6" / 300 pound preacher in a black robe cry???

Mom waved at me and blew me a kiss.

I felt like a dork for crying.

In fact . . . I pretty much cried through out the rest of the service.   The Fishers of Men sang two songs today . . . and it was good to see Charles, Gary and Russ from our 1st Church String Band singing in that group today.  The entire group did a great job.

The chorus of the 2nd song they sang went like this . . .

-Loving God, Loving each other, Making music with my friends . . . 

I just lost it again . . . for that is exactly what we do when we get together as a band to sing and play our music.

Sniff . . . Sniff  

And . . . as I stood to preach . . . I found myself filled with more emotion before a sermon than I have ever felt in a very long time . . .  

I preached about how important it is for each of us to clearly know our "one thing" in life . . . using as a reference the famous "Curly's Law" bit from the old City Slickers movie.

"One thing, just one thing . . . and all the rest don't mean ____."

I shared about my past obsession with turning 50 . . . which began when I was 48 . . . which was tied to my having lost sight and grasp of my "one thing" some time before.   I shared the process, in detail, of how I rediscovered / recovered my "one thing" and shared it with all in the form of my personal mission statement:

To make a joyful noise wherever I am, or to cause one to be made, for God's glory.

That same mission statement appears in the right hand column of this blog . . .  and has for over three years now.

I can't remember a time when I have seen as many people taking notes while I was preaching . . . and I don't believe I have ever received as many hugs from people after a sermon. 

Usually when I preach, I tend to get a lot of blank stares.

Just kidding.

Anyway . . . it was a powerful service . . . and I haven't been as tired after a Sunday morning of worship services in a very long time.   

And, my Mom got to hear me preach for the first time in about 5 years.   She had been taking care of my late grandmother . . . and had to stay close by to where she lived . . . but today she was here . . . and we will be going with her on vacation here in a few days.

It was good.

God's grace still amazes me . . . ><>