God has a way of changing our plans

     The last few days have been interesting.  We worked hard to finish painting and furnishing our new guest room for our first "official" guest - Eliane, who we worked with for all ten years we were in France.  This was to be Eliane's first trip to America as an adult, and we were so much looking forward to her spending 8 days with us in our "mountain hideaway".  The day before she was to come we got the most snow yet - about 15 inches in one night.  The roads in our neighborhood are always cleared, but the problem is our 200 yard driveway.  We can usually push through the thick snow in the truck, if it's too deep for me to plow with the four-wheeler.  Anyway, we couldn't wait for her to come.

     The day before her flight, her eldest son Sebastien had surgery and everything seemed to go well.  Eliane left as planned, but after she was already in the air we got a call from France to tell us that
there had been some complications; Sebastien had been put into a medically induced coma to help his

 body to fight off a very serious lung infection.  The doctors were encouraging the family to prepare themselves for the worst.  You can imagine having to break this news to Eliane as soon as she arrived!  We ended up spending only one day together, before we put her on another flight back home to be with her son and daughter-in-law.  When we asked her what she would like to do in the short time she had, her reply was, "Go to a shopping mall, a supermarket and shoot Jim's gun!"  Well, we hit (no pun intended) two out of three, which ain't bad.  She doesn't think she'll be "shooting" for a new job as Calamity Jane, but she enjoyed the experience nonetheless.  We're praying for a miracle healing for Sebastien.
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 Saturday morning.  It snowed again all night last night.  We still enjoy it!  Everyone predicts that we'll start to moan every time it snows; maybe, but for now we're enjoying the novelty, and I still have fun driving the four-wheeler.  Karine went to watch a movie at a friend's house last night with a group of friends, and when the parents saw how much it was snowing they decided to keep them all overnight, rather than have them drive in the snow.  Of course, Karine wasn't complaining!

I spoke to Eliane this morning and she arrived home safely and was about to go visit Sebastien.  He is still in the coma, although the doctors have identified the specific bacteria that is causing the infection.  The problem is that he still can't breath on his own, so they have to keep him on a respirator in a state of coma.  What an ordeal for Eliane and the whole family.

Daphne and I spent some time praying this morning, because we both identified that we've been under spiritual attack lately.  I do not use that term lightly, because the enemy gets blamed for a lot that has nothing to do with him (and everything to do with our own heart condition).  However, Daphne has felt like she's under oppression a great deal, and I am continually feeling blocked in my efforts to make any progress on preparing the documents I'll need to register as a non-profit corporation.  I know I have the training and experience to be of significant help to churches and mission groups, but I've never felt as fearful or incompetent as I do now.  Daph and I agreed with each other that fear, oppression and discouragement are not the tools the Lord uses to communicate His heart - so it's coming from down below.  Strange how long it takes us to finally identify the source of our feelings: I guess that's part of the enemy's plan, to keep us looking in the wrong places.

Mike, the Pastor of The Journey Church we're attending, continues to challenge me to take on leadership in the church.  He doesn't want to push me, and he's very aware of the burnout we've come through in the past year - so he just keeps gently stating his desires.  I guess our 20+ years of experience in ministry (in the good and the bad) makes us a safe source of help and encouragement for him.  He's looking for a friend he can turn to, lean on, and be "real" with - and that is something that draws my heart towards him.  Don't know how this is all going to work out (between the church and building Storm Guides) - I guess we'll just have to rest in God's leadership day by day. 

I've finally settled on a logo design for Storm Guides.  I wanted it to be something simple, that can be applied equally to business cards and stationary, as well as on a hat or T-shirt.  Here it is: