A bit of retrospection and anticipation seems in order on the last day of 2008.

Looking back, 2008 brought blessings, challenges, the expected and the unexpected. The church launched new ministries to special needs children and their families, women interested in missions and ministries, and through various Bible study opportunities. We drastically restructered our approach to youth Sunday School, small groups and speciality interests. School age children shifted from traditional Sunday School to a rotation model. With church approval, we purchased two properties to help meet future needs. We welcomed Phil Potratz to our ministry staff and began to enjoy the fruits of his work. With the help of many people, "Connections Worship" took shape and began to touch the lives of a variety of people. All in all, 2008 proved to be a year of meaningful change.

The church faced challenges as well. We lost a number of good friends to death, and I could sense the weight of the grief many of us felt. The national economy's woes affected our members. Many of us became more than a little fearful as we watched savings and investments plummet in value. The church's ministry budget suffered as a direct result, and we had to begin to think seriously about how best to continue our work on a reduced budget. Many of us experienced family or other personal crises of various kinds. Truthfulness compels me to say that 2008 was cruel year.

Now I sit before the computer monitor and look ahead to 2009. I am surprised (I think) to find that I feel hopeful. Perhaps the economic crisis will prove to be a time in which we learn or relearn to focus on what matters most. When we can't afford to do everything, we may learn to do the most needful things well. The groundwork we've laid in the past year with children, youth, systematic outreach, women's ministries, and the like may well bear fruit in 2009. Most of all, our trust in God and in one another may deepen because of the challenges we have faced together. 

May 2009 prove to be the year in which the people of First Baptist Church, Murfreesboro act in faith and with wisdom to share the gospel and be a good neighbor to all.