I Never Dreamed
Ecclesiastes 3 starts this way, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven.”
When Randy Barnett, a high school friend, invited me to his church to hear his youth choir sing back in 1973, I never dreamed at 17 years old that would be the beginning of my relationship with Jesus.
When, in that same year, I asked Sheryl Rose, a fellow drummer in the high school band to go out with me, I never dreamed we’d eventually get married. There’s something sexy about a girl drummer.
When we got married in June of 1978, I never dreamed our hope of having children together would result in nearly a decade of infertility.

When in 1986 we had our first son, I never dreamed he’d come into our lives through adoption.
When in the following 4 years our family grew by 3 more children, one through adoption and two through miraculous pregnancy, I never dreamed we’d be parents of 4 kids under 5.
When Steve Taylor invited me to lunch in 1982, I suspected it was to sell me on Amway. I never dreamed it was to offer me a job at his dad’s American Baptist Church in Northglenn.
When in 1992 Roland Taylor announced his retirement as Pastor of Crossroads ABC, I never dreamed the church would vote me in as their 2nd Senior Pastor.
When in 1998 my wife and I sensed God leading us into Foster Care, I never dreamed that from the 28 kids we fostered in our home over 10 years 2 of them would become our 5th and 6th children.
When in the years between 1993 and 2011, years that seemed to fly by, I never dreamed that the church I pastored would swell to over 3,000 people who’d call it their church home.
When in 2012 we had to start the process of letting a beloved staff member go I never dreamed over 300 people would leave my church because of it.
When in 2013 I never dreamed that my unmarried middle daughter would give birth to our first grandson who would live a valiant 30 days before dying of heart complications in my daughters arms.
When from 2014-2017 I was stretched in my leadership abilities at church because of declining attendance and declining income, I never dreamed we’d ever get to the point of cutting our budget by a third.
When in 2014, facing the fact that I would be turning 60 in 2 years, I never dreamed that God would start speaking to me about transitioning out of senior pastor leadership to pass the mantel on to a younger man.
When in 2018 my oldest daughter and her husband took in 2 beautiful girls (8 months and 20 months) to foster, I never dreamed within a year they’d legally become our granddaughters.
When the calendar page turned to 2019, I never dreamed that it would be a year of such emotional ups and downs.
When in this last week I started to feel the magnitude of preaching my last sermons as Senior Pastor of Crossroads Church, I never dreamed it would as hard as it is.
Time. It marches on. And if it weren’t for the fact that Chronos time, (the time of our lives measured off by years and months and days and minutes and seconds), we’re not punctuated and captured by Kairos time (the time of our lives experienced by seasons and moments) I would never have dreamed that I’d cherish and treasure every event and experience with the immense gratitude and profound humility I have today.
All time is God’s time, the seasons and days. I’m finding myself very grateful here at the end of my 38 years of church ministry in the ABCRM that in the middle of my chronos calendar planning, God would often show up and interrupt it with Kairos moments in way I would have never dreamed.
God, I’m so small and dumb. You are so big and wise. Thank You today for the minutes I have to live it and moments that will punctuate it. Please help me cherish them both, for my good and Your glory I pray in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.