It's been a week since I have posted, and then today's flood. Truth is...and this has been very good for me...things have been very busy. At church, we have been preparing for months for yesterday, when we launched a second service and a second Sunday school. It was a tremendous day, starting off the new year with more people in Bible study than any time last year. It was just a great day. There were a lot of moving parts requiring the effort of a ton of dedicated people in the church. It was awesome to see. New teachers for every age group, new directors, new visitors. Any way you can measure success, we saw it, to the credit of the laity and the glory of God.
And I tell you the truth, it was not without significant spiritual opposition. As our pastor said when taking account of everything that could-have-but-didn't get in the way, "it's not that the enemy orchestrated all these things, but he attempts to work in these things to distract and derail." The "these things" included a broken water main that threatened to flood the church, pastor getting a serious scratch on his eye that blurred his vision, one of our senior adults tripping in the entrance and badly fracturing her wrist, and about a half-dozen other things.
And yes, I've been thankful for the busy-ness of these days. I do great when I'm busy. Not so much when I'm not. Sleep is still elusive and confounding. I'll go to bed exhausted, but unable to turn off my brain, I toss and turn. When I take a sleeping pill (which doesn't help you fall asleep, but only stay asleep, at least for me), I sleep dreamless sleep, but good luck rousing me in the morning.
A couple of things that have been amazing/noteworthy. First, we have been overwhelmed by the number of people in our congregation who have "come out of the woodwork" to share their own personal accounts of dealing with suicide. I guess it is this way with any personal tragedy, but it is so very sad to see how many people have been touched by a similar situation. However, it is also encouraging to know that these folks are willing to share the burden with us and to know we don't feel these pains alone.
Second, we got a new car this past week. And by "new" we mean, "new to us." Its actually a '93 Mercedes. And it was just given to us. It needs a new battery, but is in otherwise excellent condition. We're finally a two-car family again and we're so thankful for the family in our church who so generously donated this to us.
Third, I finished my final (I hope!) edit on the book of devotions I've been working on for the past year. It's being submitted to the publisher and hopefully I'll be able to soon tell you all about it.
Fourth, here's our recent letter to the Craig Daily Press thanking all the local folks for their love they've shown us.
Fifth, and finally...Kaylyn & Cotter started school today. We should have some pictures to share later...2nd and 4th grade.
August 14, 2006 11:48 AM