It's been a heavy season in some ways. Many have been asking for an update on my mom: she is in a rough spot after whole-brain radiation a couple of weeks ago. The treatment she was on was not stopping the cancer in her brain, so my parents decided on this course. It's really affected her short-term memory and caused a lot of confusion and fatigue. It's our hope that within a couple more weeks some of those side effects will recede significantly, but there's no guarantee of that. Despite all of that, she is so sweet and kind and mostly seems to feel good. My dad has been an amazing servant, taking care of her all hours of the day and night with us trying to relieve him a bit each day. He is a superstar, and his example is inspiring.
I also got an update from Brady Bobbink a few weeks ago that he is officially retiring from campus ministry. While he will no doubt continue to minister to many people as opportunities arise, he will no longer be on staff with UCM. In his update he was saying "thank you" to the many men and women who prayed for and funded his ministry at WWU for over 50 years--I know their faithfulness has left a rich legacy that will continue in thousands of families for generations. I know that partly because I and our ministry here in Dallas are just a small part of that legacy!
All of this has me thinking about one of the leadership axioms we teach our student leaders and try to live by as pastors--Finish Well. This axiom is about realizing that we are often most remembered for how well we finish our time in a relationship or organization rather than for how things go in the middle, or even for our greatest accomplishments. I'm sure we could all tell stories of people who did some great things, but finished poorly and left a trail of broken hearts or a mess to clean up. We could also all tell stories of people who had some rough patches along the way but got it together and finished well. We tend to remember those people much more fondly, even if their overall contributions may have been less!
Every one of us will at some point finish our current job or assignment. Every one of us will at some point wrap up every relationship we are in. Sometimes those endings are a surprise and totally out of our control, which reminds us to live with a sense of urgency. But often, we get choices around how to finish. Will turn in my 2 weeks notice at a time that leaves my team in a lurch? Will I cut off a friendship abruptly just to make a point? Or will I be committed to finishing as best I can in every situation?
It's a decision we make now. For the student leaders, their commitment to lead a small group on campus ends with the school year. For some that simply means it comes at the same time as final exams, while for others it's finals plus transitioning out of college to a new phase of life. So it's an easy time to justify slacking off. But year after year these students amaze us with the way they step up to the challenge of loving and serving their peers well right to the end of the year (and beyond). I think a part of that is because we get them to think and pray about what finishing well would look like, and then ask them to commit to it.
Maybe you sense a change coming in some area of life. Or maybe you feel settled and happy right where you are! Either way, I encourage you to decide now to finish well to honor our Lord who finished his own assignment on earth, even though the hardest part came at the end. And I pray that, Lord willing, I can someday (many years in the future!) write my own announcement of retiring from paid ministry knowing I've run my race well to the very end.
Thank you for joining me in this exciting work. I think we are still just working on the first floor of this great project we are building together, and Lord willing, we will finish well!
