(which I also post on this blog) has decided not to pay me for future columns, so I had to make the difficult decision of telling them good-bye. I really struggled to know what to write for my last column, because good-bye seems so FINAL.
I'm not saying good-bye to my blog, but this column contains my prayer for you as well.
GOOD-BYE IS THE HARDEST WORD
This week I must do something that is very difficult to do. I must start the process of saying "goodbye." Some doors have closed and others are opening. Part of closing the door on this part of my life is ending my column here at The Paris News. I have loved sharing my heart with you over the past six years. Thank you for inviting me into your homes via the newspaper. It seems like I know each of you and because of this bond, it is extremely sad to move on.
Each day is like a gift-wrapped surprise from God. We don't know what is inside until we open it! I have had many opportunities to write and encourage other writers since my humble beginnings with The Paris News, and now I also serve as a publicist with Glass Road Public Relations. It is the only literary firm in the country to exclusively promote novels with a Christian worldview.
What words would I like to leave with you in my last column? I hope each of you know Jesus in a personal way. The kind of relationship where you can talk back and forth, and you can have moments of contented silence as well. The kind of relationship that gives you peace about your eternal destiny AND your immediate needs as well. I didn't always know Jesus in such a way. For some time, I knew ABOUT Him, and believed in Him. But it was when I trusted Him as my personal Savior, accepting the price He paid for my sin by going to the cross, that life made sense.
I want you to see God in everyday things. Rather than having a God who is distant (with prayers never getting past the ceiling), why not have a relationship that is as close as your next heart beat?
Stay strong and stay in the Word. Cling to the Lord and seek His face for every detail of your everyday life. My prayer for you comes from Colossians 1:9-11. It says, "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it [your love in the Spirit], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."
Begin faithful, stay faithful, and end faithful!
(c) 2007 Kathy Carlton Willis
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