First, I'm so happy to say that Erika and I have begun a process of getting closer. We spend much time together and for whatever reason have begun to cling to on another even more. We've enjoyed this lil phase and I pray it continues.
Second, I find myself leaning on and depending on God more and more. Most of you know my Mom passed away in April of 2009. A difficult thing for sure. Her whole time in the nursing home/hospital was a time of leaning on the Lord and trusting in Him. In the midst of that Jay had some things he was dealing with and all I could really do was lift my hands to heavens and remember that God has got him...a promise HE made to me a long time ago, that Jason is His. Also in the midst of all this, we've been building His church, The Elements. If you've never been a part of a "from the ground up" church plant, you have no idea how difficult it is. You have no idea how discouraging some thing can be. You have no idea the amount of paperwork involved. Trust me, it's tons of work but in the end, OH so satisfying. And now...we might have a child brought our way. No we're not pregnant but we have been in the process of adopting and God has seen it fit to connect us with a beautiful baby girl. Keep us in prayer! So...as you can see, I find myself just LEANING heavy on the Lord. I'm so glad He's braulik/diesel/buff enough to handle the strain of my life when I do. And it's a beautiful thing when I do cause I realize that all of this is not me or us at all, but Him...He's doing everything, we're just His hands. So in leaning, I'm getting closer and closer to Him.
Third, I find that close relationships are being drawn closer and tighter than ever. There's an old Western illustration I like to think of...circling the wagons. When the West was being stolen from the Native Americans (topic for another day), those doing the stealing would come in wagons with their whole families. When attacked, they'd circle the wagons for protection. I feel like those who are closest to me, my virtual family, has tried and tried to let others in. To help others. Even to disciple others in one form or another...all to no avail. We keep getting let down. We keep getting hurt. We keep getting betrayed. So what has that forced us to do? We've circled our wagons in such a way that we now know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God has brought us together for such a time as this. Don't worry, we haven't given up the hope/desire/mandate of discipling others. Matter of fact, many of us have recently been blessed with wonderful discipling opportunities. I'm just sayin...we have learned to cherish what God has brought to us, WHO God has brought to us and we don't take our family, our unity lightly. Praise God because all of this is making us just get closer.
Fourth, I'm excited to announce here for the very first time just how close we are to opening up our services at the new "spot." Yes, it's been dubbed "The Spot" until we open up, then it'll be "the church" LOL. So the spot is so close to phase one, which is having our first floor ready for business as we begin phase two, which is working on our basement. Just keep us, The Elements, in prayer and keep looking at our page http://www.elementsbx.org/ or for me on facebook, to keep up with what's going on.
Fifth and finally, I'd like to invite you all to my ordination. Those who have known me a long long time know how long this road, how difficult this road has been, the road to ordination. Trust me, I'm hyper excited about it. The date is October 18, 2009 at 4PM at Promised Land Church. Here's the flyer:
Come through, spend some time with us and if not, keep us in prayer...2009 is the year of getting closer for us!
James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
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