On to the Next Chapter!
I have a blank document before me … blank except for the sentence I am working on right now. And isn’t that pretty descriptive of life?
When Joanie and I arrived back in Bothell in July of 2007 our time here as your pastors was basically a blank sheet. What the page would look like as we prepared to leave was unknown.
It’s not that we weren’t aware of the tools at our disposal. We’d be writing with words, with actions, with attitudes and with love. We also knew the predominant colors we would be using … primarily the warm hues of relationships.
Well, we’ve come to the end of the page but far too close to it at this moment to be able to read it accurately. Time will allow us to step back and evaluate it more carefully. What I believe we will find is that another part of the incredible book God is writing in and through the lives of his children will have taken place.
Woven into the disappointments, the victories, the highs and lows, the questions and the rock-solid answers will be a story that continually displays God’s magnificent grace and love. We’ll discover that we’ve grown some, matured a bit, faced fear with a tad more confidence than we previously had, and generally enjoyed the companionship of brothers and sisters going in the same direction.
I would guess that the page will reveal tears shed, victories touted and the continual surprise at having been loved by the Creator Himself.
For Paul and Joanie Walterman, the page will tell a most amazing story … that we were loved and cared for and honored by a church filled with extraordinary people who have changed our lives forever.
So until heaven allows us to have all the uninterrupted fellowship time that we can handle, we hold you close to our hearts and love every one of you deeply.
On to the next chapter!
Pastor Paul