A LETTER OF GRATEFULNESS FROM PASTOR CODY

Dear Life Pointe Church Family,

As I sit here thinking about what I want to say to you, I am overwhelmed by all the thoughts that are flooding my mind and simultaneously at a loss for words to adequately express what I am feeling. I sincerely have no idea where to begin…

…but here it goes.

I have had enough well-seasoned, experienced, veteran pastors tell me that this has been the hardest year of ministry that they have ever experienced for me to know that I am not alone in feeling like these past 9 months have been brutal. Honestly, I am thankful for this because somewhere around May I was feeling like I was just a big sissy and a bit of whiner. (Which I still may be those things for sure, but at least not for believing this year was really hard haha!) Between the coronavirus pandemic, racial justice issues, and the election year chaos, not to mention the constant politicizing and emotional polarization of all of these things, this year will be remembered as one of the most exhausting, frustrating, and confusing years as a pastor that I am surely ever to experience. At the time of this writing, the statistic is becoming widely accepted that 70% of pastors in this country are looking for other jobs. That’s sobering.

But I am not writing to you so that you feel bad for me. We have all been in this mess together and we have felt the sting of this year deeply and personally. No, I promise this will not be a personal whine session, instead I wanted to take some time to tell you how incredibly thankful I am to be your pastor. If there is any silver lining to this year at all, it is that it has shown me over and over again how privileged I am to follow Jesus with all of you and this letter is my best attempt to express that to you.

I have had many moments this year where I have been incredibly discouraged by others. Someone allowed their emotions to get the better of them and fired off an email or text that punched me in the gut more than a few times. But for every one of those stories, I have 10 others where so many of you have taken the time to reach out and check on me, pray with me, or just send me a card or a text or a note or an email. Sometimes they were so heartfelt that I could barely keep reading through the tears, while other times they were simple, short encouragements and jokes that made me smile. I want you all to know that I have read all of them, most them I have read multiple times as reminders. Not one word or second that you put into those encouragements was wasted, I promise you that. In fact, I don’t even think it would be an exaggeration to say that I’m not so sure I would have made it through this year without the accumulation of your encouragement and your love and your grace toward me. I’m not sure where exactly I would be without all of you, but it freaks me out to think about it. So, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

What I am getting at, and really what I wanted to tell you is that following JESUS with you all during this crazy year has confirmed something in me that I was never quite sure I would feel totally confident in: I am thankful to be a pastor. But more specifically, I am thankful that I get to be YOUR pastor. I don’t want to be anyone else’s pastor and I am not so sure I would be much good at it anyway. Kind of like how parents really only like their own kids, that is how I feel about all of you.

And you should know, this thankfulness has been a long time coming for me, only because I have always thought that being a pastor is such a strange job and I wasn’t ever quite sure how well I fit into this role. Truthfully it has always been a bit of a struggle for me. I’ve kind of always assumed that someone could do it better than me or that there was someone out there who would be a stronger leader or a more dynamic preacher or would have way better ideas. Or really just someone who would feel some sort of confidence, like that he actually knew what he was doing haha! And I am positive that there are thousands of people out there that are all those things. FOR SURE! I know that and honestly, I am still super uncomfortable doing this weird job, but for maybe the first time I am certain that there is no other person on the face of this planet that would be a more suited pastor for you, Life Pointe Church. Not because I am the strongest leader or best preacher or because I have such great ideas, I think we all know that just isn’t true, BUT there is not another human being alive that could be more honored to follow JESUS with you as your pastor. There is no one who could stand at the end of a year like this and feel more grateful or happy to be your pastor. No one. I love this church family of Life Pointe Church so much! I love you all a lot and I just wanted to tell you that. I am super grateful to be your pastor! Thank you for following JESUS with me and if you’re in, I say we just keep going…

Sincerely & Gratefully,

Cody