So Far This Week

Good morning!  We've had two very full days since returning from our family vacation.  In some ways they are typical days for summertime. 

So far this week I have met with:

• the young men who will be participating in their second week of Leadership Quest (the first week was in 2013), arranging details and reaching out to include another potential participant in the twin cities (if you want to bless the generations to come a financial gift toward our upcoming week of LQ would be welcome!); 
• our prayer group and a community men's Bible study (I got to the Bible study a half hour late but at least connected with the guys who were there for a bit--it's been quite some time since I made it to that group);
• two families who challenge us to persistent prayer and care, and with 
• elders for individual and group prayer and worship at the Cokato Manor.  

Together with others and on my own we have been:

• discerning God's will for upcoming worship gatherings and studying and doing some message prep,
• praying for individuals and for our church, for others in our immediate area, and for those we support as missionaries beyond,
• continuing to participate in "30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World,"
• reaching out to a family who suffered the death of a dear one,
• looking into possibilities for future programming,
• connecting with youth leaders, church board members, and other folks who care about the work God does through Crossroads locally, plus spending time in the "church office" with our administrative assistant,
• arranging a ride for a person in need and an upcoming conversation with a school district official about teen mental illness issues,
• getting ready to help load Karl Kruse's organ onto a trailer (today) so he can donate it to a church in Wisconsin (they have an organist but no organ since theirs was it by lightning last month), and
• doing my best to keep our Crossroads partners and others informed about what's up.

Some of these things take a few minutes, others take up scattered moments throughout the day, and some involve hours of care and prayer.  All of them are directed by the love of God and the "fellowship of the Holy Spirit."  There are lots of other ministry items that come to mind, but most of them just need to be brought to the Lord.  He will provide what's needed and will push me to do my part in his time. 

Personally, I've managed to take start taking care of a few things at home that end up getting neglected because there's always so much going on.  I often say there are never enough hours in the day!  (I suppose that's one reason I end up getting up sometimes in the very early morning.  Don't be concerned, I'll get back to bed in a bit and can often get a nap in at some point.  I'm not one who can get by on little sleep!)

Let's continue in prayer, asking God to provide all that's needed for His Work in our midst.  And thank you for your prayers, your support and your participation in this work.

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Reading this again at 9 a.m. I think I could have worded some of this differently to make this clear: Very little of the "work of God" in our midst has anything to do with me personally.  I do get to participate thanks to those who partner with us, but most of the "work of God" goes on without me.  God works directly in supernatural ways that I know nothing about, and God also is at work through so many people in our area, in the every day lives of people who are connected with our church and through many others who are not.

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