Balancing Ministry N' Work

I am sitting here on New Years Eve reflecting on 2010 and thinking on how good God has been to me! This year has been an amazing year filled with dreams being fulfilled, lives changed, and interesting challenges. I started this blog on Dec 26, 2009 (roughly 1 year ago) not knowing what 2010 had in store for me. I believe God guided me that night to start this blog so that I would have a way to communicate the ups and downs and record His blessings. This blog has allowed me to share these things with family, friends, and many people I have never met. I started this blog as a way to journal what was going on in my life mostly for my benefit, but I have received comments about how this blog has encouraged others as they go through difficult times. I am glad this tool has allowed my story and my faith in Jesus Christ to touch people in need. Thank you Jesus for expanding my sphere of influence! Someone has recently told me that I am 'Always looking at the bright side'. With this po...

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Ours was GREAT! My Mother flew out to spend Christmas with us and we had a nice relaxing time. Last time I saw my Mother I was in a hospital bed recovering from my surgery. If everything had gone as planned in the hospital we would have spent a couple of days at our house in MI during her last trip. With the complications I had I was still in the hospital when she had to head back to CA. I was on the mend when she left and was just waiting for the spinal fluid leak to seal up. My Mom coming to see us in IA this Christmas was a blessing for the whole family. Not only was she here Christmas morning to celebrate Jesus but she also got to see first hand that I am doing just fine. This Christmas we have a lot to be Thankful for. Eventhough things have not worked out perfectly so far in Spencer with our House not selling in MI and us in a rental instead of a new home, we enjoyed ourselves. My Mom got to have a Christmas morning with the kids, which is s...

Here are my notes from the sermon I was blessed with sharing last weekend. I hope you enjoy and are blessed! Merry Christmas and God Bless! Most of us tend to think of this as a time to celebrate with friends and family, and many of us tend to get wrapped up in all the different aspects of the holiday. Family gatherings, giving and receiving of gifts, singing Christmas carols, and some extra time off work. While these things are great, we should take some time and reflect on the first Christmas. Let’s start our reading in Matthew 1:18 “18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” Imagine being in Joseph’s shoes. He is engaged to a beautiful woman and finds out she is pregnant and he knows h...

WOW it has been a long time since my last blog post! It has been roughly 5 weeks since my last post, and I missed my 6 month post by roughly 1 week. I guess I have been busy. New Job and getting settled in our rental home has taken more time than can be imagined. Thankfully I am still feeling GREAT! I have been able to help paint, clean, un-pack, move boxes, move furniture, and more! God has given me the strength to do everything I have needed to do. My energy level is still not what it was before the surgery and I do have to take time to rest. I have found that when I push myself to hard I get weak and uneasy on my feet. As long as I pay attention to how I am feeling, I do just fine. Overall I am doing really good. Still get minor headaches but they do not slow me down. I also have all the energy I need for regular day to day activities. I am still very grateful for all that God has done for me this year! It is nothing short of a miracle that I am feeling so good 6 months after having...