We're Back!

We made it across the country once again back to the frozen paradise of Idaho. Luckily some snow fairys came and removed the snow from our drive. Unfortunately it has already snowed 6 or so inches since we've been home. Sometimes we just have to make sacrifices to serve God.

Christmas was wonderful for Jana and I. We saw all of our families and spent time in Houston, Petal, Lucedale, and Hattiesburg. We even got to meet with David and Sarah of Globe Outreach. There are more stories from the past two weeks than you'd care to hear. Just know that God is good. Well okay, I'll tell you a little, but only in summation form.

At the airport we told my parents that Jana is pregnant. We drove to the hospital to be with my sister and her sick baby. We spent one night in the hospital. The baby is cleared to come home on Christmas Eve. Also on Christmas eve, we went and picked up my brother-in-law who came in from Iraq on leave to see his newborn son for the first time. From the airport we went to church where we celebrated Communion. The church stood in applause for my bro-in-law and his child. It was touching. I'm sure it would make a great email forward if someone wrote it up reallll nice.

The title of this blog encourages me to get back to what's happening here in the Inland Northwest.
While we were gone for two weeks our church was busy serving the community. Every year on New Years Day a gathering of a couple thousand go down to the lake to take a Polar Bear Plunge. That's where you go outside in freezing weather and jump in water that is 30 degrees (I was told it was 30 degrees. I'm no scientist, but that sounds impossible to me.) The air was much colder than that. Well for about five years now our church has been there. Not really to participate but to serve. We (I guess I should say "they" since I have conveniently been out of town for this event every year) brave the cold and pass out free hot cocoa and coffee to everyone on the beach. People are always surprised that this is free and it is from a church. Events like this are how our small church has built a reputation of service in the community. On top of that we learn what it means to serve people unconditionally just as Christ served mankind.

This paragraph should have been at the beginning because this is what I most wanted to share with you. But it is not. So hopefully you skipped down this far. Church yesterday was so great. God moved on our small congregation. Well, to be honest I can only speak for myself. He moved in my heart. I felt so free to worship, and so glad to be in the presence of God's people. Specifically, I felt glad to be in the local community God has connected my family with. When we were singing and glorifying Jesus together it was a taste of Heaven and a great reminder of why we do what we do.

I couldn't be more excited about what God is doing at NorthStar. Even while we are without a senior pastor and there are so many questions about our future, the church feels united and devoted to each other and to Christ. What else could you ask for? Pray that Satan would be impotent against us. Actually, pray that Satan won't have any defense against our attacks on his kingdom!

Thanks.

Comments

  1. Welcome Back home. Thanks for sharing your hear. I'm praying for you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. typo correction:
    "thanks for sharing your heart".

    ReplyDelete

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