Wednesday, March 31st

Not many people know this . . . But I was born prematurely.


I wasn’t fully formed in the womb.

Only instead of an incubator, I needed a church.

While nature and nurture helped form me physically, I was spiritually malformed well into my thirties.

Ascension Lutheran Church was – and continues to be – my spiritual incubator.

Surrounded by a congregation of loving people – saints, really – about 20 years ago I began to take baby steps of faith.

As my stride increased, I began testing the waters upon which Jesus invited me to join him. My wife and kids joined me in that adventure. They, too, were undergirded by a loving congregation, my children both having attended Ascension Lutheran School.

As my faith journey progressed, I persistently tested those waters, trying new, more challenging things in service to our Lord. Teaching, preaching, leading, interceding. Continually pushing the envelope in following what I believed Jesus was calling me to do.

Most of the time my efforts were successful; other times I failed miserably, sometimes embarrassingly so. But my congregation stood alongside me, celebrating my accomplishments (like when my book, The Jonah Factor®, was first published) and dusting me off when I crashed and burned (like the time I delivered a men’s breakfast devotion that involved using a big stack of charcoal briquettes – don’t ask!).

Transformation is not a solitary process. It requires the life-changing help of Jesus and of people who traverse the sometimes difficult pathway of faith alongside of us. It requires the community of God.

I’ve been transformed by the great love of my Savior, the wise mentoring of my pastors and the caring incubator of my congregation.

Forever changed. Changed forever.

Lord, help us to be a people always on the lookout for others to come alongside of as you work in them to transform their lives. Amen.

Ed Klodt