This weekend I had the opportunity to officiate a beautiful outdoor wedding in small mountain community called Oak Glen (about two hours north of San Diego). The bride is the younger sister of a friend that I knew in high school, so it was a joy to be a part of this significant day in the couple’s life, and with a family who has meant so much to my family over the years. It was a particularly busy weekend, so I needed to drive up for the rehearsal on Friday, back to San Diego, and then up again for the wedding ceremony itself. Although this was not ideal, I knew that it was necessary and important. What I was not expecting was for this busyness to make way for blessing…but it did.As many of you know, I will soon be ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church. The process can be a long one, and although it may surprise you, God has been leading me on this journey for 12 years now (a nice, biblical number!). As I drove up to the location where the wedding would be held, I was thinking about my upcoming ordination, and remembered that I had actually come to Oak Glen for a time of prayer and preparation two years ago, right before I was commissioned to serve as a pastor here at the First UMC of San Diego. I looked down at the clock in my car, and I had 30 minutes before I was expected anywhere. I pulled off at a little restaurant and store area called Los Rios Rancho, walked the trail to the picnic area behind it, and sat down to pray at a table showered in sunlight. It was so meaningful.
Sometimes, God nudges us, reminding us that God is always with us through the ups, downs, busy times, slow times, challenges and joys. God’s love never fails, it never ends, and always sustains us in life. I can speak from an experience that God’s love is powerful, and never lets us go. God not only calls each and every one of us to be in ministry, but God also equips us for what we are called to do. Sometimes the best way we can see, hear, and believe that is through spending time in prayer.
I was so grateful for the opportunity to be back in Oak Glen at the place I had prayed two years earlier at this juncture in my faith journey. It was a reminder of God’s faithfulness, past, present, and future. Perhaps you have a place of significance in your life, where you have had a powerful experience of God’s love as you prayed. If you can go there again, I encourage you to do it! You could be surprised at what God will show you, or what God wants to say to you today.
May you be blessed, and be a blessing to others.
Pastor Jessica
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