Recently, my wife and I attended a wedding where we were asked to serve as host and hostess.
As a result of this honor of being a part of the wedding we were invited to the reception and groom’s dinner the night before the wedding.
As I went through the serving line I was next to the wife of the pastor conducting the ceremony.
Prior to meeting in this beautiful, character filled old church the fairly new congregation had been meeting on Sunday mornings in a comedy club.
Yes, a comedy club complete with bar and stage and all the other things that fill a secular establishment of this nature.
Having had the opportunity to attend a few services in the church while they met in the comedy club, I can remember the aroma of spilled drinks as well as imagining words of indiscretion hanging in the air from the night before.
It was an unusual setting for a church service but one that I’m sure would meet Jesus’ approval!
As I went through the food line with the pastor’s wife I asked her how they were able to move into this charismatic house of worship.
For me, at this time in my life, her response was profound.
This was her simple response, “Micah (her husband) and I would go for drives around neighborhoods imagining and dreaming where we would want our church to be. As we drove we would wonder as well as say out loud “What if?”
Those words hit me like a smack upside the head with a two by four.
What if?
My wife and I are currently reading a book titled “If” by Mark Batterson. Each week we separately read three chapters and then discuss what we read on Monday nights.
The premise of the entire book is based around that simple two letter word, if.
Batterson posits that we have two choices in how we lead our lives.
We can lead “if only” lives, which are lives lived in disappointment and regret.
Or, we can lead “what if” lives, which are lives filled with hope and possibility.
As the pastor’s wife spoke those words they banged like cymbals in my head. I don’t remember much of what she said afterwards because they took me back to the book we are reading together.
As a Christian I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe God put me in that line with the pastor’s wife to hear her “what if” story. Our conversation was not an accident.
As we go through this book I have become even more aware of how I have, for the most part, lived an “if only” life.
“If only” lives are lives of fear.
“What if” lives are lives of courage.
Here are a few of my “what if” questions my wife and I discussed a couple weeks ago:
What if I believed in myself?
What if I didn’t care what others thought?
What if I finished my book?
What if I thought big?
So, are you an “if only” person or a “what if” person?
The pastor’s wife gave me a glimpse of what can happen if we courageously ask “What if?”
What could happen for you, and those around you, if you stopped saying to yourself “if only” and had the courage to ask yourself “What if?”
Romans 8:31
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
Dave, my question is this……what if you had never started this Blog? We probably would never have reconnected, you would not have helped me find meaning in some of life’s mysteries, and last but not least, some of my friends would never have been able to read and learn from your Blogs. Blessings and keep it flowing!!!
Craig, your continued support of me and my blog are appreciated more than you know. You are correct on all counts in your statement!
Dave Cornell
Excellent. Thanks for posting.
Thank you, Ron, and thank you for reposting it as well! I appreciate your support!