It started again Christmas day. Although we have had the repair company out several times, they have yet to find the true source of our problem. As a result, whenever the temperature falls below thirty degrees, our furnace will simply not cycle properly. The only way it will come on is if someone goes down to the basement and resets it. Even then it will not stay on for more than ten minutes before the computer reads an error and turns it off.

The repairman has reassured us this is a "soft lock-out" which means the computer will re-set itself after two hours. By that time the house has cooled down by at least two or three degrees and ten minutes is not long enough to heat it back up. But not to worry - as soon as the outside temperature warms back up to twenty-nine or thirty degrees, the furnace works like a charm!

Now I am certain at some point the repairman will be present when the problem occurs. I am also certain he will have to arrive at our house before 3:00 in the afternoon on a day when the temperature has risen above the freezing mark. We're getting so desperate for the problem to be corrected that I invited him and his wife to spend the night in our guest room when the weather report is calling for overnight lows in the teens. At least then he would be up all night re-setting the furnace and we could get some sleep!

As we prepare to enter into a new year, it is my prayer that we will learn a lesson from this state-of-the-art, energy efficient, almost new, and highly temperamental furnace! The number of classes, outreach programs, and missions are not always an adequate measure of a church's faithfulness. Like our furnace, a church can have all the best features but still not do what it was created to do. Unless Christians are willing to devote time and energy into developing their spiritual lives, when the direction God has called them to take becomes difficult or when the future is uncertain, they will find that their faith is faltering and their willingness to stay the course weakening.

The Lowman Untied Methodist Church has an important mission. We have been called to reach out to those who are hurting and lonely with the love of Christ. We have been commissioned to go into the world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). To do so, we can't wait until all the conditions are right. We must simply continue moving forward in faith and in love.

See You in Church,
Pastor Kathleen