The Joy of Glory

*On Sunday, at our annual SVCC family meeting, I briefly reflected on 2023. Below are the thoughts I shared in the form of a letter.

My Dearest Shades Valley,

When I look back over 2023, the first word that comes to mind is “milestone.” Whether I’m thinking about my life personally or our community, it feels like a year of milestones. Then again, the more I think about it, the more that word transforms into something a bit more biblical. You see, milestones tend to mark significant events of achievement. They are things we have accomplished, endured, or completed. And, while it is not wrong to celebrate such things, I feel like the Bible provides a better word to describe what I see when I look back at last year, namely, “Ebenezer.”

That word comes from 1 Samuel 7. The prophet Samuel wanted to commemorate the Lord’s victory over Israel’s enemy so the people would not forget God’s faithful help. So, Samuel set up a stone and called it “Ebenezer,” which means “stone of help.” This is not the only place in scripture such stones were used as reminders of God’s faithfulness… of what he has achieved…  and that’s what I think of when I look back at 2023.

Personally, the Haefs’ house started raising Ebenezer’s in January when Charis turned 16. That moment just felt like a marker of the Lord’s faithfulness to our family. And we felt it again last May when Talitha turned 10, then again in July when Solomon turned 5, and I felt it most personally in October when I turned 40. 

Significant birthdays weren’t the only thing that helped my family feel God’s faithfulness last year. We also felt it through anniversaries. Holly’s parents and my parents both celebrated 50 years of marriage, and just last week, Holly and I celebrated 20. I mention all these dates because more than milestones, they feel like Ebenezers… testimonies to God’s faithfulness, monumental moments that help me remember who he is, and that we are his.

I believe these Ebenezer moments were not just a reality for me personally, but also for us as Shades Valley. While there are countless ways the Lord displayed his faithfulness last year, I will simply mention three: our finances, our staff, and our body.

After sitting through our annual meeting, you probably don’t want to hear any more about our finances, but indulge me for a moment. Shades, last year we installed new parking lot lighting for the neighborhood, paid off school-lunch and after-school-care balances for needy families in the community, and replaced our old facility’s two largest A/C units. All of that totaled about $85,000, and not a dime of it came out of our budget! What kind of crazy provision is that? Can the Lord’s faithfulness be denied as he has worked through wise people to provide for our needs and those of the community through the parking lot and the Joseph fund? Add to that, the fact that we continue to miraculously make budget each year, which I know involves each of you sacrificing, and I stand in awe of God’s work in you to make you such a sacrificially generous people. And, along with each of you, I cannot wait for the day when this building is paid off in July of 2028! I am confident the Lord’s faithfulness will see us to and through that day, for don’t you see his faithfulness reflected in our finances?

Not only there, but have you seen the Ebenezer that is our staff? They are a stone of testimony to the faithfulness of the Lord, and I wish I could talk about each of them individually, so please forgive me for only highlighting three. First, there’s Joely, whom the Lord provided at just the right time to take the lead in our children’s ministry. She steps into a long legacy of faithful women who have served in this capacity at Shades, and through her leadership this past year, our kids’ ministry has grown back to its pre-covid capacity. Second, there’s Sara who’s not here because she just had a baby, and that’s also the reason she is stepping down from being an awesome youth leader, so she can focus on being an awesome mom. And Shades, she is a testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness in our midst. Sara came to us as a college freshman, was baptized in our midst, dated and married Alec, became a leader in ministry, and now has a growing family. Can there be a greater testimony to God’s faithfulness than allowing us to do life together like this? And thirdly, there is Brad and John-Mark. I’m only counting them as one because in October we recognized them together for over a decade of service at SVCC. Shades, that’s crazy! The faithful staff the Lord has blessed us with is a memorial stone, an Ebenezer to his faithfulness.

Finally, in 2023 did you see the Ebenezer of the body? That’s right, you are a testimony of God’s faithfulness in this place. Last year, you served around the world, throughout Birmingham, and you served one another. Whether on the ground in Poland working with Ukrainian refugees or hanging out in our kitchen making meals for anyone in the community or coming together to figure out how to get a family’s heater fixed and buying them a Christmas tree so they can fully celebrate the season… Shades, in all these ways and more, I have been blown away by the faithful love of the Lord on display through you. 

May all these things be more than moments from 2023, may they be memorials, reminders, not of our accomplishments, but of God’s faithfulness! He has provided all we’ve needed for the journey thus far, and he will provide all we need until the day we arrive at home with him. So, as the old hymn says, “Here I raise my ebenezer; hither by thy help I’ve come. And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.”

I love you all,

Pastor Jonathan