Colossians 1: 1-8 Thanks

I love the formal greetings given in the epistles. Can you imagine if we started our emails or facebook communications the way Paul did? Crazy! These first 8 verses are about greeting and thankfulness. The more I say goodbye to people, I mean the kind of goodbye where you don't see people for months or years, the more I appreciate Paul's greetings. The more I say goodbye to people the more thankful I am for them. The last few years have seen many "goodbyes" in my life, too many for my way of thinking, but they have changed me some. It's not just in the taking of people for granted, although I did that, but its in the way God moves us around and how we are not to be too rooted or tied to any one place. It's how we are His regardless of where we are and we have family in most everywhere we go because of the gospel. This greeting reminds me of how we are at home wherever God takes us because the gospel is increasing, bearing fruit, and is present wherever we are at, because the Spirit of God is in us. I have been at this one place for a very long time, but I am more willing now than I have been for years for God to take me anywhere and do anything with me. Now writing this is a bit scary because you never know what God has in store, but I trust Him. It won't be bad, but good wherever He leads.