Sunday's coming...

It's hard to believe that this Sunday will be our last at Aldersgate UMC. The following week will be an ecumenical worship affair at a local park with close to 1000 people in attendance. So, that leaves this Sunday to offer our hugs and to say our goodbyes.

After ten wonderful years of ministry - ministry that included births, deaths, weddings, tragedies, illnesses, conversions to faith, baptisms, confirmations, and all the other ordinary but-all-so-meaningful stuff that goes with the territory - our family will begin the hard work of separating from people we have grown to know and love.

What a wonderful gift this place has been to me and my family, and what bitter-sweet tears we will shed in the days and weeks that lie ahead. Such are the experiences known to us who risk loving and drink deeply from the cup of Christian community God invites us to enjoy. And drink we have.

So please pray for us and for the people of Aldersgate...that we might not fear the welling emotion, but instead celebrate the gift that each has been for the other.

Our hearts are heavy, and Sunday's coming...

Under the weather...again.

I'm sad to announce that that cold the Tracy had last week is now my cold. I cannot remember a year where I've been sick like this. Perhaps the stress of this transition is greater than I originally thought. The worst part of this was when my fever broke last night (2:23am), and all the coughing.

Please pray for me, for we have a pretty big Sunday ahead with baptisms, memberships, missions presentations, and more. Have a wonderful Pentecost and live fully into what God has created you for!!!

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again.  1 Sam 7:12

Sitting out in front of our house is a small, mostly obscure, pile of rocks - our Ebenezer. While few even notice them, everyone in our family knows why they are there and what they represent. Every so often we'll pause at a meal and we'll retell the origins of those twelve rough stones, and every time we smile and our faith is renewed, and God is praised.

As we've already read in places like Genesis 35, 1 Samuel 7, and Joshua 4 (among many other places), God's covenant faithful people regularly erected stones, altars, and other monuments as lasting testimonies to God's presence, faithfulness, and power. The word Ebenezer is a single-word rendering that comes from two Hebrew words Eben-Haezer - meaning "stone of help." The basic idea behind an Ebenezer really comes down to marking a place (that represents God's saving activity in time) so that the people involved, and those who would come after them, might be reminded of God's relentless covenant faithfulness and love of those who trust Him.

Few people mark times and places like this these days, but we will, again, and we'll encourage our congregation to do the same. Why? Because as it was back then, people tend to forget.  For no fault other than the way time clouds memories and distorts actual events, there is something incredibly healthy about erecting something real and tangible...something that can be looked at and touched...something that can be read and told again. It explains why we write history and erect monuments. We do so so that those who come after us will know what we know and be shaped by what shaped us.

The twelve stones that sit in front of our house are likened to the twelve stones that were pulled from the center of the Jordan river as God's people miraculously crossed into the promised land. As we wrapped up our time at Asbury Theological Seminary in 2002, and God was about to bring us where He had been leading all those years, we (literally) picked up twelve stones when we left, promising to erect them "on the other side" (wherever that would be). In a set of events that can only be described as miraculous, God led us to Brigham City, UT where we cut our teeth in ministry.

Now, through yet another set of amazing events, God is again at work leading us to Wilson UMC. And as it was before, we plan to unload - before anything comes off any truck - our new Ebenezer when we land safely on the "other side." It, like the one before it, will stand as a reminder to us and those we know of God's amazing help as we faithfully choose to follow.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God. ”     Joshua 4:19-24

  

Answered prayer!

Today God answered a Huge prayer request: We finally sold our motor home.

In 2003 Tracy and I made what we now consider to be our biggest financial mistake: We bought a 28' motor home. At the time, with gas $1.45 a gallon, the economy clicking along in good fashion, and the promise that we could just sell after a couple of years, we thought it was a sound decision. But when fuel prices skyrocketed and the economy tanked, we found ourselves stuck with a financial burden that would mock us for years to come.

As I spoke to my father today he commented that there are just some things you learn the hard way, and this was certainly one of them. While Tracy and I repented years ago and asked God for forgiveness (for having not sought Him out in this decision), it took until today to see how He would come to our aid.

This answered prayer is but one in a very long string of miracles that God has been orchestrating to move us out to Colorado Springs. He is so faithful and good, and tonight we rejoice.

Successful Day

Today we were able to sell tons of our stuff at our yard sale. In the midst of (literally) hundreds of other similar sales today, ours turned out to be a huge success. Our boys were invaluable with their help and the hospitality they offered to those who were there to buy their stuff.

Tracy and I would ask that you please pray for the loan approval process we're moving through. We're in the final stages and still are holding our breath. This week will determine our success or failure in securing this house.

Update!!!

The sellers have agreed to address all our safety concerns, including a radon mitigation system. We've also been told that they plan on using the most reliable company around (very consistent with how they've kept the house up thus far). So, we continue to move forward in smooth (Godlike) fashion toward our closing date! We only have a few more hurdles to get to a successful close.

This weekend we sell everything but our children and our dog in what we're calling an EPICALLY HUGE yard sale. It's time to clean house - literally.

The Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below...

We just got word that our sellers agreed to address our safety conditions at the house. So, everything continues to move ahead smoothly! God is good!!

This weekend's yard sale is our next objective. Our goal is to sell as much as we can and donate the rest. It seems that we've accumulated more than we'd thought over these last 10 years. It's time to streamline.

After returning home, Tracy and I have found ourselves quite busy these past few days. I'm sorry for having not posted to this blog in a while. But that you might know how you might pray for us:

• We continue to move forward with the purchase of the Saddlemountain Rd property (my are there hoops to jump through in the process!!!). As I write this, the sellers have been asked to shore up one item that was surfaced in the home inspection (a Radon mitigation system). We are praying that this not stall the purchase in any way.
• I continue move through the Grand Sweep materials, aiming to develop a sermon plan that will get us through the rest of the year. What an interesting journey it has been this time through the OT!!!
• Tracy once again has come down with another aggravating (allergy-initiated) cold. This season has been especially tough for her...please pray for strength and healing.

Thank you for your love and support. Our entire family is excited about the move, and we can't wait to begin!!!

A Defining Day

What an amazing day! We worshipped at all three services this morning - and at each, were presented with gifts. This transition really is like no other I have ever heard about (and like all should be in my opinion). We have experienced such love, grace, and hospitality from everyone at Wilson...truly remarkable.

One of our objectives was to secure housing while out here, and in-between one of the services we were contacted regarding a house we had placed an offer on. Just as the Haiti mission team presentation was getting underway, Tracy and I snuck into Randy's office to respond to a counter offer, and within moments had signed a contract on a new home!!! We are happy to announce that we will be living in the Tamarron area just inside of Rockrimmon (off of Saddlemountain Rd).  God is so very good!  This of course answers a lot of questions for us and allows us to more fully prepare as we head home.  Please continue to pray for us, our family, and the people of Aldersgate UMC.
              

National Day of Prayer

Today was the National Day of Prayer. Most of you probably knew that, and perhaps a few of you attended various functions, while others paused to pray at some point on this day.

But here are some questions: How did you pray? And, for what did you pray?

At this point in your journey through the bible, you have now wrapped up 1 & 2 Kings, a historical summary of the God's covenant people and their leaders.

I don't know how you faired in your reading, but I was left with an aching heart. Over and over again, Israel and Judah continued in their sin-intoxicated states of independence while they drifted farther and farther away from God and His purposes. With only a few notable exceptions, those who wrote these accounts declared again again, how so-in-so (and God's people) "did evil in the eyes of the Lord."

Does that strike you as peculiar (looking at history in that way I mean) how radically different a perspective that is than how we think about history today.  Few today - even with the Church thank you very much - even think to frame history in such a way, and fewer still are bold enough to call others to live out of such a paradigm.

I can't help but wonder how different things might be for our country if we earnestly and honestly, pursued God in a full-blown, no-holds-barred, covenant relationship with Him. What if our hearts were so captured by His goodness and grace that we allowed Him to transform us in His image and restore us as a people. What if we trusted God and His Word enough to shape how we live and act, and what if we lovingly obeyed it? What if we chose dependence upon God instead of persistent and radical independence from God?

My prayer today has been simple: Lord, by your grace, help us to love, trust, and cling to you as our only hope and power. Transform the hearts of your followers and cause us to be the kingdom of priests and holy people (nation) you desire.   Amen

Praying for us...

One of the functions of tis blog is to give you the chance to pray for us - and prayer we need. As I mentioned in my last posting, I came down with a cold around Friday of last week. It seems this cold continues to persist, and now my lovely bride has come down with it. Were it just the cold she was dealing with, she'd be fine. However, she's also dealing with a small collection of other health-related challenges that have left her exhausted and stressed out. It is difficult for us all to mom under the weather as she is rarely prone to illness, and we ask you to please pray for healing.

Our sights are presently set on flying to CS this weekend (to house hunt, AND to visit with you!!!). Hoping that we might secure our future residence on this visit, we cling in to God in trust. He has already been amazing in this process and we stand amazed in His goodness.  We'd also like to check out some of the schools as well (for our boys).

Some other items you might be in prayer about on our behalf:

• Future employment for Tracy - presently she's a preschool teacher and CNA (when she's not working at the ballpark!)
• A summer job for our daughter Katie before she departs for college (Jul-Aug)
• Our children this weekend as we travel (it's great to have such wonderful kids that we trust)