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Hi Jeff , Two years ago, I wrote the first draft of an email to you. A handwritten version still rests in my Newsletter Notebook, dated September 24, 2024. Fans of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” will recognize it as a gigantic open loop! I told myself I was too busy. “My actual work must have priority.” Life has been demanding, but was that the real reason? I’m not sure I’m ready to admit this, but I have been afraid. And here’s the big one: Trying to be a faithful leader, I gave myself to my pastoral calling: sermons, hospital visits, meetings, planning. None of it was optional; all of it was meaningful, and I’d do it all again. But I also quietly allowed this good work to become a reason to put this off one more month, then one more year. Only last week did I reopen that notebook intending to make progress. Lately, the Lord, through books, podcasts, conversations, Scripture, and prayer, has been building in me a greater urgency to start. I wanted to launch something polished and professional. Polish is good, but not when it keeps me from starting. Sometimes I become my own “bottleneck,” building backlogs like an email two years overdue. Can you relate? The good news is that God is sovereign over my fears and my bottleneck-self. The psalmist wrote, “My times are in your hands” (Psalm 31:15). And Paul assures us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV). Even this delay is not wasted in his hands. So, this is me starting. Looking toward retirement from pastoral ministry and what lies beyond, I want to write for leaders like you, who are trying to help others follow Jesus and who then will help others do the same. This email is my first step, a promise to show up each month with something helpful, rooted in Scripture. I’m glad you’re here.
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