If there was one thing I could never have to do again, it would be to move! I cannot stand even the thought of moving. It just gives you one of those really bad feelings you get when you think back to all the stuff your mom made you eat when you were a child that you just hated. If it was me and I had a choice between moving and a visit to the dentist with no drugs – I would choose the dentist!

Now that you know how I feel about moving, the irony is that I find myself in the middle of moving our church facility from one location to another. This brings a whole new meaning to spring cleaning. I thought moving a house was difficult. Just imagine moving your house, but about 15 times more difficult.

Now as we prepare to move from a rather large facility to a much smaller and more cost-effective space, we have begun the cleaning out and paring down process. I think cleaning out our stuff is the hardest part for a lot of us because we have to get rid of some of our stuff that we desperately want to hold onto and never let go of. When you move from one place to another, you must clean out some old stuff, decide which are your essentials and make room for some new things to come your way.

I think it would be great if we could all look into our own lives and give ourselves an honest evaluation of all the baggage we carry. Then, after we decide what our essentials are, we can remove some old stuff, and begin to make room for some new things to come our way.

Some essentials that we should want to keep include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Add to that prayer (talking with God), going to church, family, friends and love. Yes, I said love twice because it is so important that it needs to be said twice. Everything should begin and end with love. Remember that God’s kind of love has no conditions on it, but rather is giving unconditionally with no strings attached. God’s love does not say ‘I love you because you did something for me,’ it simply says, ‘I love you, no matter what.’  Some of our baggage might include painful memories, hurt feelings, wounded pride and unforgiveness. We need to take those bags out to the garbage where they belong and get rid of them for good. Then and only then will we be ready for the new things God wants to bless our lives with. I don’t know about you, but I like God’s blessings in my life.

I want you to know there is someone in this world who loves you and cares about you, so keep your head up and stay strong. I always pray that everyone who reads the articles will be encouraged and blessed. This time is no different, but if you could please pray for us as we prepare to move and  get ready to have our first service in our new facility by April 1. Thank you and God bless you.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church