Worship September 2017
Church Family,
I hope this month finds you well as we are heading into the Fall season. It’s been a great season of ministry, and I am thankful to God for how He continues to move in our lives and our church! On a personal note, I want to thank you all for praying for Annaclaire and I as we have welcomed our new daughter, Presley, into the world. She is now approaching two months of age, and she is so loved! We want to thank you for loving our family so well through this season. We are so thankful that Presley has this church family to grow up with, and we know she will be raised up in the Lord, to know Him and to know His love for her. Thank you all for every meal you made, every kind of word, and every prayer. We are so grateful!
On another note, I must confess, being a father is not as easy as I thought it would be. I knew there would be challenges, and I knew there would be hurdles, but just like every father, I want to be the perfect father for my daughter! I never want to mess up. I want to be there every second, doing exactly what I need to do in order to take care of her. Before she was born, I told myself I would demand perfection from myself. She deserved for me to be perfect. So how do you think this worked out? I’ll tell you - the whole idea of being perfect was given up the second I held her. I figured out quickly, and I know now, that I cannot be perfect. I will do everything I possibly can, to be the best father I can be, but I am not perfect. I will mess up. Our daughter will cry, and as much as I want to fix it immediately, there’s not always much I can do. Sometimes all I can do is hold her close, let her cry, and do my best to comfort her. After all, she is a baby who hasn’t quite learned how to control her emotions yet! And as I think about perfection, and how far away I am from being perfect on every level, as a husband, father, friend, pastor, I miss the mark everyday. But I am thankful that I am loved by my Heavenly Father, who is perfect. Our daughter is loved by our Heavenly Father, who is perfect. As I continue to try and be this perfect father, and as I mess up, I want to live my life to point to my heavenly father who is perfect in every way. I want to point to our Savior, Jesus, who gave himself up for the sins of the world. Jesus is our great High Priest. He is our Good Father. He is our Perfect Savior. So I hope that I can encourage you to understand that you will not be perfect. But you have a Perfect Savior, who is a Good Father. He knows what you need. He provides what you need. So I encourage to live your life, not as one trying to be perfect, but as one who is pointing to a Perfect Savior in Jesus.
Jared