It's evening now in the Colorado mountains. We've got a fire going downstairs in the wood stove, and the sausages and "mash" are cooking (fine British cuisine).
My day didn't start nearly as well as it ended. Last night at our Wednesday night worship and Bible study we had four who attended (not counting the church staff who were there). For the first three weeks the numbers of those who came increased significantly each week. But for the last two weeks we've dropped down to just a handful. I found myself wondering during the night - when I should have been sleeping - if the problem is me or my teaching style? I got up before 5 a.m., and around 7 took a long walk around the block by myself to work through my feelings of discouragement. Our "block" is 2 miles around, so I had some time to think and pray as I walked. I was definitely feeling down, and I spent the first 1.5 miles just telling the Lord about what was going through my mind and heart. By the time I was within sight of our driveway again, my heart felt a little lighter. I sensed that God was confirming to me that this first year of our involvement with The Journey Church is more about what God wants to do IN us, than about anything He might want to accomplish THROUGH us. We've been given a gift of time: time to watch and learn, time to get to know the church team, time to allow others to know us, and time just to read, pray, exercise, etc. I guess I hadn't thought of it quite that way, but it did make me feel better.
I spent the morning preparing and printing an important update that we've sent to all of our financial partners. It seemed like it was finally time for an extensive update on our family and our future plans, and that took me most of the morning to print, stuff and mail. Our friends Bob and Diane joined us for lunch at the diner, and I was reminded again of how grateful I am for the ever-increasing circle of good friends God has given us here in Conifer. I know I speak for Daphne too when I say we feel rich in friendships and relationships, and some of the pain and wounds from our departure from France are beginning to heal. Three days ago we commemorated the one-year anniversary of our departure from France. It seems impossible that it has already been a year -- but then, when I think about all we've been through this past year it really is amazing where we've ended up.
Around 2 this afternoon Michael told me that a news reporter from Fox 31 was coming to do an interview with someone from the church related to the abnormally high number of deaths we've had on our stretch of highway 285. Mike doesn't enjoy giving TV interviews, and he asked me if I could represent the church. I did the interview - my first one for TV. The reporter asked a bunch of questions about how we feel as a church about the recent accidents, including the one that happened right in front of our church on Sunday morning. It should be possible to see it tomorrow if you go to their website: www.kdvr.com and look up the news archive from last night related to accidents on Hwy 285.
We ended the day with a counseling appointment with a couple from church that went great - I love watching God at work in people's lives doing what He does best; healing and putting broken things back together.
Post Note: Here's the link to the news story - http://www.kdvr.com/videobeta/84edb748-e13d-4493-b9be-243da2c46fce/News/Highway-285-accidents
(the reporter got it slightly wrong by saying I'm "the" pastor of The Journey Church)
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