Reputations go before us

Here's something to ponder: what is reputation and how does one get it? I've walked a gazillion miles in the past two days, up and down the hills of Shreveport. One theme has been constant, people keep telling me one of two things .... either how lucky I am to be getting this wonderful charge of Eunice-Kinder-Iota or how lucky they are to be getting me. Most of the time I wonder how they know anything about me and some of the time I wonder how they know about Eunice. It seems everyone has either been in the church, knew someone who knew the church, knows someone who knows the church or the town or simply has heard great things. I wonder. I trulyy wonder. It seems to me that as far as reputation goes, simply being who you are is the best way to build one. I've never (well, mostly never) tried to be something I'm not. I believe God has blessed me with the ability to speak from the heart and mind in front of people. Call it preaching if you want. Everything else has been a learned skill, taught from the Holy Spirit through people. I'm mostly genuine. I mostly care. I mostly try. I'm myself. I learned a while ago that ultimately that's about all we have. I'm not perfect, in fact so flawed I still wonder how God uses me with so many flaws until I reason every once in a while that the reason He uses me is because of those flaws. We go home this evening, hopefully having done His business. I leave, basically, to go to that new life in a new town in a trio of new churches. I'm scared. I'm full of energy. I'm ready, and I'm not. My reputation preceeds me. Let's hope I'm even a bit worthy of it, or at least let's pray that the reputation they talked about was and is a good one. I never asked. Scared, I guess.