i also think it’s great the way you write out your prayers in the blog. it’s cool to see, maybe for someone who may be new to the prayer thing, that praying is just like having a good conversation with a close friend.

oh, and good luck in afghanistan!

~A

p.s. Caden was SO cute this weekend skiing and snowshoeing!

I think that our zealousness to share our stories right after being saved is actually something that the enemy can work for his purposes, believe it or not. I mean, if you check with establihed pastors, you’ll hear them acknowledge that they struggle with discouragement, especially after messages. If they are worked on by the enemy, after having been in ministry for years, how much more so will he work on newbies? The pastors have had their resolve strengthened by God for years, even decades, and they STILL deal with discouragement. It tells me that the “tempt-o-meter” gets pretty high with ministry. So, we think, as newbies, “MUST TELL OTHERS!!!” But then, when we find we hit brick walls wherever we turn, it works hard on our resolve. A lot of times, we’re not strong enough. I know I wasn’t.
My greatest growth in trusting God was taking any ego, any pain, anything that would work against his will and turn it into efforts to serve. In 2003, my first son was born, I lost my job a month later and my wife lost hers a couple months after that. I ended up working with kids with HIV for a year and helped wire up my church’s sound system in our new building. To this day, I’m still serving in the background. It was easy to get dejected along the way, but I’d divert that into service. And God is honored by that.
Just a thought.

Hallelujah! What incredible imagery. I wish this would happen in my own life right now. Praise God for answered prayers!