Brad Wilkerson // COC Metro

Can't Wait Until Sunday

It is only Tuesday afternoon but I am already stoked about this coming Sunday.  At the end of our service on Sunday we will be celebrating baptism for the third time in our churches’ short history.  What is really going to be cool this weekend is that we are going to do the baptism in the school that we meet in.  We have been able to borrow a portable baptistry from another ministry and we are ready to experience this as a part of our worship service.  We have at least 14 new believers ready to follow the Lord in the first step of obedience.  We have adults, teens, as well as children who will be celebrating this event in their spiritual journey.  It is so awesome to see life change in people and to watch God move in our midst. 

I am also excited for this coming Sunday because SPRING BREAK has come and gone!  We have had many of our folks out the past two weekends for their annual spring getaways and now everyone is back in place and back into their routines.  It will be good to see many folks who have been gone the past two Sundays. 

I am anticipating a great spirit filled day full of power and celebration.  See you there!

Seventeen Years And Counting!

Seventeen years ago this past Saturday night Sarah and I took the big plunge and tied the knot.  We celebrated on Friday night by enjoying a great dinner together at the Cheesecake Factory and then watched a movie in our new blessed home that the Lord recently gave us.  It was cool to just hang out together for a few hours and talk about how far we have come and how we look forward to growing old together. 

I am amazed, as the years pass by, how the two of us continue to grow closer not just as husband and wife but as best friends as well.  When we got married on March 14, 1992, I really had no clue just how special Sarah was.  I knew she was God’s gift to me as my partner in this journey called life but I never realized how close we would grow through the years.  Through all the good and bad we have made it by trusting in Christ as the center of our home and putting each other first.  Things haven’t always been perfect, but I can honestly say it has been an awesome adventure.

As our kids continue to grow and we see those empty nest years approaching we continue to strive to set an example for the couples of COC.  Thanks for all your prayers, love and support all of you show us each and every day. 

May God give us many great years together as we serve Him together!

The Hurdles Just Kept Coming

Now that the spring sports season is finally here my daughter, Haley, is again running the 100 meter hurdles in track for the Prosper Lady Eagles.  Last week was her first track meet of the year.  Keep in mind, she hadn’t run the hurdles in competition for nearly a year, she took 5th in Tom Bean, Texas.  I picked her up at the bus about 10:30 p.m. last Tuesday night and when I told her great job, she said, “Thanks Dad, but it just seemed liked the hurdles kept coming.  I thought I was never going to get to the last one.”

When she said that to me it really didn’t hit me what she had said.  It was the next morning that it clicked.  In life, it seems like we are never going to get to the last hurdle.  Most of the time it seems like, the hurdles just keep coming.  Let me encourage you that in the race of life to continue to press toward the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus.  I know the hurdles are tough and the discouragement is very real but don’t give up…don’t ever give up. 

The Bible tells us that if we don’t quit we will reap in due season.  Your best years are in front of you…not behind you.  Keep running for HIM!

Have a great week.

Sometimes Losing Is Winning

Well tonight my son, Ryder, finished up his 3rd grade year of basketball.  We had a great time this season continuing to learn the game and having a blast competing for the last seven weeks.  Of course, I had a blast coaching my son and seeing him enjoy the game as well.  What I am about to share with you is something I learned tonight from this group of 3rd grade boys.  Our last game tonight was an elimination game from the year end tournament.  We went in as the last seed therefore we had to play the #1 seeded team in the league.  Going into tonight we knew it was going to be a tough battle since this very same team beat us by over 40 points just two weeks ago.  It was really cool seeing the boys go into tonight’s game believing they could really win.  Even Ryder said, “Hey, Jesus can do anything he wants and this miracle is not too big for Him.”  Well as you can already tell by the previous sentences, we did lose but we only lost by 20 points this time.  Wow…the boys played great!  We walked off the floor tonight as the loser on the score board but we were the winners tonight.  I saw a group of boys start to figure out things about this game that I had been trying to teach them for the past 9 weeks.  It was like the big light bulb in their head finally lit up.  Tonight our team may have been eliminated from the tournament but we walked out of the gym as winners. 

On the way home from McKinney, Ryder and I talked about this very thing.  I then related it to him in a spiritual light.  It was cool to see him get the idea that many times God allows opposition and valleys in our lives so that we can experience victory sometime and somewhere later in life.  We all enjoy the mountain top experiences with God but lets face it…we learn more in the valleys.  This is true for all of us, even those of us who are Pastors.  “God, I thank You for the moments that aren’t so easy, the moments that we would rather skip and those moments that you allow to come into our lives that teach us that sometimes losing leads to winning.