Influence

I was thinking today about the influence that people have on our lives, and with that how important it is to realise the influence and impact you can have on the lives of those around you. During the last twelve months as we started on this journey of ministry there have been a number of people who have invested significantly in our lives including officers,family,friends, work colleagues, etc.. Each has had their own impact upon what we are doing and where we are headed.
We are truly blessed to have the leaders we have.On a Territorial Level Commissioners Knaggs are wonderful Christian Leaders who continue to inspire me with their leadership, and their willingness to spend time with you and develop a real relationship. Their loving,caring personalities shine through everything they do. Likewise on a Divisional level we are extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful team at Western Vic DHQ led by Majors Peter and Jenny Walker. These are caring people who have made us feel very much a part of the team and valued for what we are, and for that we thank them.
The corps at Warrnambool has embraced us as a family with open arms and we have made some wonderful friendships. Captains Main are great leaders and we are very fortunate to be able to work with and learn from them, Chris Philpot is an amazing young man who has far more potential and is far more valuable than I think he realises.The list could go on and on.
But it was a recent phone conversation with Captain Tracey English that really made me realise how much of an impact on others we can have just by being ourselves and being true to our calling as Gods children. It is easy to just go with the flow and allow life to roll on without really getting too deep with anyone. But if we are to be true to what God wants of us we need to spend time investing in people, listening to them, building relationships and showing an example of what Christian living is like.
As we start youth group this Friday I hope that we can build some real strong relationships with the youth , and that some of them may look back at these times and remember the people who had a positive influence on them and helped to make God real for them.