This morning I'm boarding a flight for Sante Fe, New Mexico, where I'll be involved in location scouting for a television movie that will start shooting the first week of January. I serve as the Associate Producer for this film, titled Dear Annie, and will be based in New Mexico for most of next month.
Last year at this exact time I was at the very center of 12 Christmas services at Willow Creek, serving as Executive Producer. If you had whispered to me at that time what I would be doing just 12 months later, I would have been incredulous. I am learning all over again that we never truly know where the intriguing pathways of life will take us, where the opportunities for a new adventure might lurk, what relationships might lead to a surprising twist, an unexpected fork in the road. As we listen to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit and hold everything loosely, I am convinced we will occasionally be astonished at the place we suddenly find ourselves.
As you enter the new year, I want to urge you to stay open. Some of us will remain planted in a work we have been engaged in for years and years. For all those faithful folks, I hope your passion will continue to flame stronger than ever, that you will not take for granted the wonder of your calling. Others might be sensing a certain restlessness, that maybe, just maybe, something new is in the wind. If that fits your place in life these days, do not be afraid, as the angels proclaimed. Our God can be trusted even in the scary in-between places that feel so uncertain. I hold tightly to the Scripture that reminds me His ways are infinitely higher and wiser than our ways, and He wants to give each one of us a future and a hope.
So off I go to a role that is not yet comfortable (and maybe never will be), to a new team and a new identity. And yet, it's still the same me with the same strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly, with the same Heavenly Father walking with me every step of the way.
I pray a special blessing on those of you in the thick of serving our God in Christmas services, sacrificing so much of your own holiday for the enrichment of others. May you know the peace and deep delight of a job well done, even in the midst of too much on your "to do" list. And when Christmas day dawns, may all of us breathe a huge thank you to the God who is WITH US no matter what.

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