“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I’m not sure who first uttered these words, but it’s hard to deny the wisdom they communicate. Early and often are the times that life goes sideways on us. In those times, we must decide if we’ll let our circumstances make us sour, or if we’ll find a way to make something sweet and enjoyable out of it. In my own life, I’ve found that many of my best...
Several years ago, country singer Trace Adkins released a song entitled You’re Gonna Miss This. The song chronicles the life and frustrations of an unnamed woman. When we first meet this woman, she is an angsty teenager being dropped off for school by her mother. She is looking forward to better days, days when she is older and independent. The song then jumps ahead a few years to just after the...
Who doesn’t love seeing a beautiful rainbow in the sky? I know that a vast majority of people in the community of Seymour, Indiana are just as fascinated by them as I, because every time one appears in the Seymourian sky it dominates my social media feed for the next 24 hours. This leads me to believe that a vast majority of people do exactly as I do when I learn that a rainbow has appeared...
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen is an old African-American spiritual song, first published in 1867. The original version of the song was written during the time of slavery. While the author remains unknown, the song has been covered and adapted numerous times over the years. The original lyrics of the song are as follows… Nobody knows the trouble I’ve been through Nobody knows my sorrow Nobody...
Certain sights, smells, and sounds seem to hold supernatural powers. They have the ability to transport us back through time to the good old days, to simpler times. And, while the sensations that trigger this experience are different for each of us, I am fairly certain we all have them. Whenever I smell freshly cut grass or hear the rustling of leaves, I am immediately transported to a cross...
“I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” I have heard and uttered this phrase countless times over the years. In my experience, the phrase falls into one of two categories. It is either funny or foreboding… Or rather, it is an attempt to be funny in order to mitigate the foreboding. The good news, in these instances, is rarely good. It is really just a slightly less ominous...
Weekends are the best! Who doesn’t love a good weekend?! As the rock band Loverboy so famously sang back in 1981, “Everybody’s working for the weekend!” We persevere through the day to day grind of the workweek with a growing sense of expectation as we make our way towards days of recreation, relaxation, and restoration. Weekends, even with the insanity of Sunday, are awesome! As a pastor...
Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite monk at a monastery in Paris in the late 1600’s. Most of what we know about him comes through a small, if not timeless, book entitled The Practice of the Presence of God. As I have noted before, this small book had a profound impact on my life several years back, and continues to influence me to this day. The overarching principle of the book, the principle that...
We are entering a new, exciting, and extremely bittersweet chapter in the story of the Myers family. We just took our firstborn child to college. For the first time in her life, she will, for long periods of time, not live under our roof, or be under our direct supervision and guidance. She will take the next steps of becoming her own person and pursuing her own life. It is a natural part of the...
Last week, the Seymour High School Varsity Chorale performed their yearly musical, Mary Poppins. It was amazing to be in a theater with other people enjoying a live performance. Honestly, I probably would have enjoyed a novice oboe player squeaking their way through scales just for the small joy of a live concert experience. The musical fare, however, was anything but basic. It was exceptional...
Jeremy Myers is the Lead Pastor of First Baptist Church of Seymour, Indiana, where he has served since 2017. He has over 25 years of experience in local church ministry and not-for-profit leadership. He has a passion for helping emerging and existing generations learn to make space for each other and caring for the under-served and marginalized. In 2016, he earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Palmer Theological Seminary, with his thesis focusing on developing connections between senior adults and youth in the church. He is a passionate and gifted communicator and is regularly invited to speak at retreats, camps, conferences, and other events. He lives in Seymour, Indiana with his wife Robyn, their two children, Mikayla and JJ, and their Golden Doodle, Evie.
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