I had a friend and partner in ministry who use to routinely say he was proud of me when I did something good. I was but a pup in my ministry development so I both appreciated his feedback and at the same time thought it sounded a bit too fatherly. Didn't he know I was his partner in ministry not his daughter in ministry?
Years later a sit by my dining room table typing and the word that comes to me to describe how I feel about the church which I birthed some six years ago is "proud." They, we, are doing it. We are becoming the church that we profess to be! I am proud what I see and applaud it like a parent does a child who is growing up into maturity right before their eyes.
I get the "proud" word now. I get what my friend and partner was trying to say. He was saying I was becoming who I was meant to be. He was saying he saw God active in me. He was saying well done, good and faithful servant. The "Father" is pleased to give you the Kingdom.
Yes "proud" was and is exactly the right word to use.
