I am sure many people, including me, would gladly say “Goodbye” to 2023. I know someone who switched her 2023 calendar with the 2024 one already. She even choked on words when describing how horrible the year 2023 had been for her, going through what we had gone through together as a church. I could not agree more with that score, sharing her sentiment and enthusiasm for moving forward from 2023.
I want a brand-new year of thanksgiving and blessings, being in the center of God’s will. To do that, I have decided to clean up the parsonage, ridding of all the garbage and old personal belongings such as clothes, bags, and things, including carbon boxes I had accumulated over the three years of my stay in Gillespie.
That is what Koreans do before the new year starts. Since the New Year celebration is considered one of the biggest holidays in Korea, along with Korean Thanksgiving (Choo-Seok), they do things in preparation. One of them is cleaning up! As I was cleaning up, flattening boxes, and sorting out rummage sale items, I thought,
Without being cleansed spiritually and emotionally and neatly organizing internal things, can I have a new year in the true sense of the word?’
I want to come clean of my spiritual immaturity, if not sin, as a start. As I mentioned, 2023 had been a tough year, caring for those who refused to be nourished and cared for by me, a shepherd. When I faced opposition, ill-treatment, and being ignored, I retaliated(?)by sharing/writing about how they treated me in the newsletters and preaching. Instead of considering them as God-sent instruments to
refine me to be a better pastor, instead of treating them as strong winds that caused a tender tree to grow, being strong and sturdy, firmly rooted in the ground, I reacted and responded in kind. For that, I repent deep down.
From the time I realized my faults, I have been blessing them in the morning for quite some time. I have been praying for those who have left the church to makegood adjustments in their new church and be fed to their heart’s content.
Now, it is time for me to move on from the place of regret and being sorry. I want tolet go of them from my fold emotionally and spiritually with a trust that their newshepherd would pray and care for them.
It is time to make a new list of those I need to pray for and do ministry with. I want to be an open and available pastor than ever in the new year. I pray that God will give me a heart to reach out to unreached people who need God. I pray for a brand-new year full of God’s spiritual blessings and happiness for the people of Gillespie Methodist Church! Happy New Year!!!