Back?

It's been almost three years since the planting...

I stopped writing because it got pretty rough and I was discouraged. But hey, I'm still here. Pretty sure I just got a nice lesson in perseverance. I hope I can use this blog to revisit the journey and learn even more from reflection. Since we're still building the church here, I'll get to share the new adventures too.

Where to begin?

Things learned...

1) Pray

Heb 5:7-8
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered

After the first 6 months or so of the planting, I started to pray a lot. I could see no "light" at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. I prayed the psalms out loud constantly. I prayed about the woes in my heart. I cried. I wrestled with stressful feelings and prayed about them. I felt, maybe for the first time, that all I had was prayer. I learned a lot from this.

Now a relatively short time later, I have stopped praying so much. Mistake. I guess I may need to learn this over and over. I'm so fickle. Yet I find that I'm not so different than my spiritual ancestors. I find rebels and fools all over the bible. I hope I'm more like the Peters and Nehemiah's in having a repentant prayer life.

I find myself leading this small family of God now. I want to lead. I feel called to do it. It has turned me upside down and inside out though. All that I thought and knew went out the door. I got shaken up and wrung out. God did some explaining, disciplining, and reshaping of me. It hurt. It still does. Somehow it seems just right. God knows what he's doing. I sure don't. Sometimes I think I do. He then re-explains it to me in some way.

Overall I am in awe of what God has done. There are new faces in his kingdom because of what he has done. Many have grown so much because of what he has done. I am a different man because of what he has done.

Pray.

Pray for us too please.

Ian