Day 33 of Lent - Happy Birthday, Preacher!

Today is not just the first day of spring, it is also the birthday of my favorite human. My pastor. My person.

He is my closest, most incredible friend. I love him unreservedly and completely. We are a package deal, and let me tell you, the moment anyone has treated him with a pattern of disrespect (which thankfully is not often at all), I’m no longer their friend. I will hang in there with anyone once, twice, even three times. But if I see a clear tendency towards disrespect, I put some distance there. That is a solid boundary for me, and I believe it is a healthy one.

God gave him to me to “walk him home” in this life. God gave him to me to serve, to feed (sometimes), have his back (at all times), to take care of, and love unconditionally.

I love his lion heart for the Gospel, I love the way he preaches the lavish grace of God, I love the way he can play drums, or guitar, or he can preach, or build a house, or fix a car. He’s like a human Swiss Army knife. There’s very little he cannot do. So, for his birthday, I felt like going big, this year.

This is his present:

I know it’s just a (super nice, all leather, all power, sunroof, tonneau bed cover, quad cab) truck.

But there is an amazing story behind this truck! Anyone who knows us, knows that our stuff is never just stuff. All our stuff has a story. Because we live in dependence on the Lord for everything we have.

So this, friends, is way more than a truck. It’s another “God-Truck” for The Preacher. (That’s what he called his old truck, which is still alive and well and passed down to a family member!)

I think we are going to do something we don’t often do. I think we might actually take Monday (tomorrow) off. I will try to share some gorgeous shots of the Smokies tomorrow evening, as we squeeze all the sweetness out of the “birthweek” of the hottest preacher I know.

I sure love you, Tim Atchley!