In the midst of change in my life, I see God working. I have spend more time with God than I have in a long time and He has really used this time to work in me. I can see that I have become comfortable and lost my since of danger for things of Christ. God has started working on me and I am now seeing some things much more clearly. There are still hard days and moments now and ahead but in the midst of all this I see the Lord at work. It is a good but scary place to be.
I need your prayers
I am leaving the church that I have been at for 7 and 1/2 years. I am looking forward to at the adventure that lays out before me and my family. To be honest it is very scary. I would appreciate any and all prayers for me and my family. I would also appreciate it if any of you know of postions that open, that you would let me know about them. Thanks for your prayers and info.
Just when I thought….
Have you ever been in the position that just when you thought things were going to be rolling in the right direction and a barrier pops up?
I have seen some major changes in some ministry areas and thought that we were over the hump so to speak , but over the past couple of days it has become apparent that we have taken 5 steps forward and 4and 1/2 steps back. It is frustrating and disappointing but through it God has shown me that vision is the key. While we were making progress forward vision was a top priority but we stopped talking so much about vision and it got blurry. When it got blurry we began to slide backward. I in my frustration and disappointment am also determined to not let us stay stuck. I will cast vision and encourage the lead pastor to get back on the vision in services.
What do you do when you get to the place where you just thought things were ready to bring a new problem and the old one rears it ugly head?
Psalm 25
One the of things that I have been trying to do with the Word of God is to study it intently and intentionally. When I study I might get “stuck” in a chapter or a few verses. “Stuck” means that when I read it, I can not get past it. I need to allow God to work in and through those verses. Sometimes I am “stuck” for a day and sometimes as much as 3 to 4 weeks. Right now I am “stuck” in Psalm 25, more specifically in verse 4 and 5. They have become something of a prayer and desire to me. Here is what they say:
4 Show me your ways, O LORD ,
teach me your paths;
5 guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
The words that are striking to me are “Show me”, “teach me”, “guide me”, and “teach me”. I sometimes get caught up in the idea that I am the one who does the showing, guiding, and teaching. God has reminded me that I need Him to do those things in my life.
Here are the questions I have been asking – What do I want God to show me?, What do I want God to teach me?, and Where does God want to guide me? These questions have been making a difference in the way I approach life on daily basis.
Here is where I am at with these right now (it could change) -
What doe I want God to show me? There are many things but right now I want Him to show those who need encouragement and love. I want Him to teach how to give encouragement and love. I think God wants to guide me where those are who need his love.
How would you anwser those questions?
whew – the holidays!
The holidays were a killer this year! I had family in our house staying with us for 2 weeks straight. I had a daughter who had the stomach bug. I was trying to prepare a message that was not coming together at all. And did I mention that I had people living in my house for two straight weeks. Do not get me wrong – I loved it – but it killed me. At the end of it all I have been exhausted. I have a couple of cool things I need to share ( if I have any readers left after the long spell of nothing fresh).
1) This Christmas will be in my heart as one of the most special for one simple reason. Let me share the story. I have a 13 year old who does not believe in Santa and a 6 year old who does. Christmas morning my kids get up and wake us up – not till 6:45 – I got to sleep in Christmas morning. We go downstairs and both kids are excited. Our kids look at my wife and I with the pile of presents from Santa and say “It is better to give than receive so we want to give you your presents before we open ours.” My kids gave my wife and me as well as my in-laws our presents before they ever thought of opening theirs. It was a great day from that point on no matter what happened.
2) This is just a fun one. On New Years Eve we went to see a duck drop and fireworks. It was COLD and Windy but so much fun and the fireworks went off right over our heads. It was a great start to a great new year.
Happy New Year and I hope all had a wonderful Christmas.
It has been a great time but I am glad to be back into my routine!
