New York, New York

The Brooklyn Bridge

Well, it's official, after 16 years, Nadine and I are moving back to New York! We heading back home to pastor the Lighthouse Bridge Christian Fellowship. The church is located in Suffolk County, Lindenhurst to be exact. It's about 45 minutes east of the Brooklyn house where I grew up.

We have been warmly welcomed by both family and friends. We are excited to start this new great adventure. Nadine and I will make a second visit the first week of April in hopes of securing some housing and them make the actual move by May 1st.

Though our time here in Texas has been brief, I know it was God will for us to be here. We leave this place healthier, stronger, with great new friends and the blessing of John Paul Jackson. God has indeed been very good to us.

Please pray for us, the wonderful people at the Lighthouse Bridge and their former pastors: Rick & Kari Pavlovsky (great people), that we all navigate this season of transition and change well.

Thanks!
Tom

Hunting for the Light

I have a friend Hunter; he’s 13 and attends my church. Recently Hunter started a blog titled “Hunting for the Light”. His most recent post blew me away! It restored my hope in the future for both our nation and the church! This is what he wrote:

I just had this running through my head for a few days I don’t know what it really is but this is it.

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What if you believed you could fly would you jump?

What if you had the faith to move mountains would you push?

What if everything in your life was taken away would you have faith that everything was going to turnout?

NEVER stop believing!

Do yourself a favor, stop by Hunter’s blog and leave him an encouraging comment. I can’t think of a better way to sow into our future.

Hunter you rock!

Tom

No More Counting the Cost

Marta & Meklit

I have some dear friends who have seven beautiful children. Three sons by birth, a boy and girl recently adopted from China and two more daughters on their way from Ethiopia. Their Dad is flying out today to pick up one of the girls. I love this family; they have completely embraced the concept of being a living sacrifice. I count it a privilege to call them friends. Please check out his blog No More Counting the Cost and remember this wonderful family in your prayers. Thanks… Tom

Wedding Vows

I had a great night, some friends asked me to help them renew their wedding vows. They were celebrating their 20th anniversary, so they gathered together some close friends, their four beautiful children, some great food and an amazing wine. John, the husband is a gifted vintner. (John, I must get the name of that wine)

Their house was decorated in white lights and candles. I used a brand new wine barrel as my pulpit. The symbolism was powerful, oak panels surrounded by solid rings ready to be filled with new wine encircled by light and fire.

It’s always moving to recite wedding vows in a room filled with married couples. I can see the words penetrate each heart as their minds wander back to their own wedding days. I particularly enjoy watching the bride and groom as they look into each others eyes. At this point in the ceremony it is my custom to look for my wife, steal a glance at her and allow our eyes to lock as I pronounce these vows…

In the Name of God, I, “Tom” take you, “Nadine” to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.

Nadine and I have been married for 25 years, like many of you; we’ve tasted both:

• Better & worse, but to tell the truth, mostly better.
• Richer & poorer, mostly poorer at least financially. However, we’re extravagantly rich if you measure our wealth in the depth and quality of our friendships.
• Sickness & health, as the years go by it seems like sickness keeps making a stronger and stronger showing.
  

But, you know what; nights like tonight remind me that I would do it all over again - in a heart beat so long as I knew that Nadine would once again be part of the journey. She has made the good times better and the bad times bearable. Even in the poorest of times she has treated me like a king. And our true riches… our children, our friends, they’re all the fruit from her tree. I’d be hiding in a cave somewhere without her. And oh, that sickness part, no one, not even my mother has ever loved me through long and painful sickness like Nadine.

Honey, you’ve ruined me, I’m yours! Have been for 25 years and I plan to be for the rest of my life. I promise to love you and cherish you until we are parted by death, this is my solemn vow. In no small part, I am who I am today because of the love and sacrifice you have poured into me. I can never thank you enough so I’ll just love your forever instead.

Forever Yours,
Tom

© Tom Zawacki 2006