Mike Cope

Tomorrow is Mike Cope's official last Sunday as our minister at Highland. I will miss his voice every week in my life. I loved how he has guided our hearts. He has been gentle but persistent about living our lives in a kingdom way....lives that reflect our Savior in every way possible. I have only been here for 5 of his 18 years at Highland but this 5 years have been amazing. There are so many things that I love about him being my minister....I know that I will forget something but I am going to give it a go.
I love his love for children. How he gently explains things to them and makes sure that they know they are important....sometimes letting them tell the story.
I love how he laughs so easily...once being so overcome with laughter that he couldn't stop.
I love that he is real. He has walked through grief too many times and is honest about it. Honest that it is hard and sometimes it feels impossible. Honest that sometimes we are not sure about God in the midst of all that. And confident that doubt is part of our walk.
I love that he doesn't take the scripture in the conventional-always-given-to-us kind of way. He has walked me through scripture and turned my world upside down.
I love how he always prays that God give him the gift of preaching. I believe that he has been given that gift a hundred fold.
I love that he is a reader. I know, of course, a reader of scripture but also a reader of theology, a reader of literature, a reader of newspapers, a reader of blogs....you get it.
I love that he loves to play...basketball, ping pong, dodgeball (sorry that you got hurt)
I love that he loves God's people. He ministers to people all over the world. He walks them through difficult times...difficult church times, difficult family times, and yes, those walking through grief....he's been there and he is good at reassuring words.
I love how he loses things....his ipod in his house, his remote for his sermon, the clip on mic....this makes him more human to all of us.
I love how he loves his family. You can see a different light in his eyes when they are around or he is talking about them. Chris is precious to me and I have loved getting to know him more and more...but I am especially glad that he is married to Diane. She is an amazing friend....one of a small handful of people that hear the secrets of my heart. Glad he isn't taking her away.
I love how I feel the Spirit move when he is preaching. I know that this might be weird but there have been moments that I have felt the air move...move in a way that I thought only the Spirit could move it.
I love that he is committed to women and their involvement in the kingdom. I love that he has been willing to stand up for women and their part. I know that means that he risked many things but was still willing to stand up.

I am nervous about someone else taking his place. I am nervous about them being the one to pull on our hearts. I am afraid that I might not be very receptive at first to listening to their voice and especially to taking it in. I know that they will have to earn my trust but that is part of the process and I will adjust.

Tomorrow is your day, Mike Cope. Take it all in and realize how much you are loved and how many lives you have touched.

Surprise!

I answered the phone at work yesterday as I usually do. I just said, "ACU Med Clinic. This is Julie. Can I help you?" And someone giggled and said, "Hi Julie. You answered and so professionally. This is Pix and I am coming to your house tonight." Crazy! Pixie and Trudy are driving cross country to move Trudy's stuff from New York City to San Diego. They rented a truck and filled it with her stuff and are roadtripping it. They had a little setback in TN when a tire blew and the truck turned over. Stuff was smashed and they are bruised but they now have a bigger truck and less stuff and they are fine. Crazy! You should have them tell you the story sometime.
It was such a short visit but so fun to have them at our house. They are family and they could've stayed forever and that would have been fine.