November 28, 2011

I went for a run this morning in the dark. It was probably about 32 degrees out, but it didn't really feel too cold. When I started the run I thought this might not be so great, I didn't take any music and I just wasn't really feeling too inspired to be out there. After about a mile I said, "Okay God, here I am, what do You want me to do?" This simple question turned into a great time of prayer and conversation with God while I finished out my run. God wanted me to look around and see the beauty of His Creation. It was a great time of worship and renewal.

11/17/11

God is so good. God is so good. God is so good, he's so good to me.
He answers prayer. He answers prayer. He answers prayer, he's so good to me.
I love him so. I love him so. I love him so, he's so good to me.

This might be one of the simplest songs, but it completely fits my life right now. God has been here for me throughout everything that has happened in my life in the past month. I really can't believe how much has happened in such a short period of time.

It almost doesn't seem real.

November 16, 2011

I've just started reading "Strengthening The Soul Of Your Leadership", by Ruth Haley Barton, and I feel like I can connect with just about everything that she is saying. A few of the things that have stuck out to me so far have been:

"During those years I myself experienced in this place times of both great fulfillment and agonizing despair."

"I'm tired of helping others enjoy God. I just want to enjoy God."

"Oftentimes our feelings of isolation increase right along with our success."

"The soul... the part of you that is most real... the part of you that longs for more of God than you have right now."

I know already that this book is going to be really good for me, especially coming out of the place where I have been.

November 13, 2011

Continuing on in unpacking everything that has happened... I guess it has been just about a month ago now that I really felt like things were getting pretty hard in Kemmerer. Our tithing had been down quite drastically in the past few months and it became apparent that it wasn't going to start coming back up. At this point I had the feeling from God and others to stick with the Church, that hard times were bound to happen during a pastorate and that this was one of those hard times. I had been in Colorado for a week and half for the face2face portion of this class that I am journaling for. While I was there God moved in my life in some mighty ways, and showed me some things with what might help for the Church. Long story short, the ways in which I felt God leading me and the Church was not the way that others in the Church wanted to go. It kind of opened the door for most of the problems that people had to be pushed onto me.

November 10, 2011

I haven't written on this journal blog for a while. I believe that the reason has been a good one, Audrey and I have moved from Wyoming to Kansas. I will update this blog/journal in the coming days to reflect on all that has happened, and how God has moved in all of it. Here's my thought for today, we are shipwrecked on God. Amen.