Jump In!

So sorry to many of you who read my blog for not writing for a while. Life has handed us a boatload of things and I just have not had time to write. From moving into a new house and painting and organizing, to taking care of Emily after a horrible experience with wisdom teeth extraction, planning her and Jon's wedding, Angela moving here after finishing out her time at Luth. North it's been crazy times.

So God is amazing. It seems as though God has had us on a journey of incredible trust for quite a while now. We were watching the movie National Treasure 2 last night and one of the characters lines made me think of our life - "The last time I checked we make our living off crazy." Sure made me smile as I think that God asks us, all of us, to live a life expecting him to work in some crazy ways. Sometimes I want life to be more predictable yet God has a way of keeping us in places of trusting him and expecting his hand to daily be at work. Keeping me humble - a good thing - I love the scripture "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." I don't want to boast about anything except Christ alone.

I love how Paul puts it:

"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

God will use us in our weak areas to show his power. Paul knew his shortcomings, he knew that in himself he could not preach the message with power. It was only in the power of the Spirit. Yet those listening would see Christ through him and put their faith in Jesus. Boy do I ever want my life to refect this. I desire so much to be so filled with the Spirit of Christ that it shines so bright that others will see Christ. My weaknesses will always get in the way and every day I need to seek that washing over and filling up. It is only in his power that we can all move from uncertainties to victories.

The end of Psalm 27 says "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

So we walk in confidence knowing that this amazing all knowing creator of the universe loves us with a love that we cannot even begin to imagine. He has placed each of us where we are in our life and does have a plan for each of us. May we all be confident of that.

This weekend we will have family visiting. Our church will be serving hot chocolate and cookies to over 300 people - The Polar Bear Club - taking their winter dip in the Maumee River. May Jesus shine through each of us. This should be an exciting day! :)

Sometimes God asks us to just jump in!