Our Hearts Are Full
Greetings, Chapel Hill Family!
I’m not sure if 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) is my “life verse,” but it is helpful to meditate on “in season and out of season.”
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Jennifer and I are so grateful for the five years we have served and “lived among you” here at Chapel Hill. We had no idea what a delight “life in the Harbor” would be. A couple of friends in Southern California who knew of Chapel Hill and Gig Harbor were “green with envy” when they heard we were moving north.” We had no idea the blessing that was about to come our way!
As we end our season of ministry with you, our hearts are full of gratitude and thankfulness. We know that God is faithful to provide and guide on the journey. So it is with a heightened sense of anticipation that we look forward to where God will lead on the next leg for Chapel Hill and for the MacDonalds!
What we have experienced these past five years is the joy of “convergence”—that season of ministry former Fuller Seminary Professor Bobby Clinton describes as a time when God integrates all your life experiences, education, work life, hurts, gifts and temperament to maximize God’s purposes and fruitfulness in your life. In God’s economy nothing is wasted, even the hard stuff!
I take great satisfaction in this. Especially as it relates to the ministry of Celebrate Recovery. One of our favorite verses in CR is 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV):
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort we ourselves are comforted by God.”
God never wastes a hurt. And as we are comforted and healed by God we too can be a source of comfort and transformation to others through the power of God’s Spirit.
Thank you, Chapel Hill, for loving the MacDonalds so well. We are healthier, happier people because of your ministry to us. We are filled with the fullness of God’s love as we step into God’s future in the power of the Holy Spirit!
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!
Love,
Bill and Jennifer MacDonald