Learning so MUCH!

I've been through a lot of transitions this past month, and I'll update a little and share some things that I've been learning...no pictures today (incidently, we've lost our camera, so no new pictures for a while, either).

After much prayer and consideration, my husband resigned from our church where he pastored the past 2 years.  It's difficult to know where and how God leads in these situations, and we are leaving behind many friends.  We are grateful that they all live about 45 minutes away, and we intend to not loose touch.  On the bright side, my husband will go to work for his dad as a mechanic, and we will rejoin our church in Hart.  I'm not sure where, when, or how we will go back to full time Christian ministry, but we are confident that God will use us in whatever capacity we are willing to fulfill.  Meaning, we are called to minister to those around us, regardless if we are "getting paid" for it.  We have many friends here that we haven't seen much of for the past 2.5 years, so we are looking forward to renewing friendships.  One way that I've done this is to join a group of about 40 ladies on a Ladies' Retreat at Lake Ann Camp, one of my most favorite places on earth.  I grew up going there as a camper and as a counselor/life guard.  I saw people there I haven't seen for years, like a friend from college that I haven't seen for 7 years, a great friend's mom from college, a fellow lifeguard co-worker, and old bosses from Lake Ann.  Plus, spending 2.5 days with the friends from the group that I went with!  Great!  Our speaker, Ken Rudolph, was fabulous--authentic and pours out what he's been learning, thoroughly bathed in Scripture.  His topic was responding to God and situations with a godly Grace instead of worry, anger, depression, etc.  Simply enough, I caught myself hungering for the Word of God, and renewed my desire to spend time with God on a more regular basis, something I've struggle with for a long time.  When I read through some passages, I just felt God's love surge through me, and I wanted more!  Here's one of my most favorite passages:

• When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 
• the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 
• I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. 
• And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. 
• And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. 
• May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 
• Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.

God wants to set us apart, to be Holy!  We are called by His name, and His love gives us strength.  He works in us so that we can understand His love!  He wants us to seek Him out first in each and every situation, and "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf on those whose heart is loyal to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9

I want my speech, my actions, my very LIFE to be saturated with the LORD God, my Sheperd, my King!