If you've ever gotten up in the middle of the night for a drink of water or whatever, and hit your shin on an unexpected object that was placed in your path whle the kids were still awake, you know the value of a nightlight. That small plug-in can make all the difference in the world when it comes to making headway towards your destination and returning to the comforts of the comforter for a peaceful night's rest. I'm finishing up message preparation for the next couple of week's Sunday morning's messages and it's getting me excited. I love talking about the vision of Clearwater, and this week I get to do just that. It's a chance to shine a light on the path we walk together as a church. It's one thing to have a vision and be able to state it...it's quite another to flesh that out together in daily life and follow it's light to the destination until the day we find rest in the arms of Jesus. The race we run is not a sprint..it's a marathon. I wa sharing with somone just last night that these are the people I want to finish my life with...to run the race with "endurance and patience...joyfully thanking God who qualifies us to share in the inheritance of the saints." (Col.1) Are we up for this? Of course we are...it's what we were made for...to follow the Creator Who lights the path with His Word (Psalm 119:105). My prayer for each of us is that we're able to glimpse the vision in such a way that it transforms us into the kinds of people God has called us to be...created us to be. So if you're walking this road with the people of Clearwater, take this with you today....we "VALUE GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE". Sunday, I plan on laying out the first step in how that's done. The answer is found in the entire 13th chapter of I Corinthians and fleshed out in Luke 10:25-37...we commonly know it as the parable of the good Samaritan. One glorious four-letter word...LOVE. It's outrageous to think about...unthinkable to attempt...not for the faint of heart; to love even when doing so hurts. Then after we've been hurt...to love the very one who hurt us. In a word: SCANDALOUS! It's also exactly what Jesus did, and He calls us to follow Him. Then He lights the way so that we have the vision to do so until the day we find rest in the comfort...of the Comforter.