Happy day! It's almost snow time!

I had a great time at our open house last week.  Thanks to all who came, it was fun to fill the house with friends.  I have basically spent the week preparing for winter.  I put new a plugs and a battery in "Sarge", put a new fuel line on the snow blower, cleaned up the garage, bought flashlights, and got sticks to mark the side of the drive so I don't plow the yard.  Next I am getting snow tires for the car.

It is a lot of work preparing for the coming storms.  I seem to be putting lots of time doing things that I can't see any real results from for a while (some of you are hoping a LONG while).  I actually can't wait to fire up the Jeep and plow away.  Once the snow comes, hopefully I'll be prepared.  I'm sure we will still have problems, but the preparation should make most of it much easier to deal with.

Life works the same way.  We know the storms will come, and we should prepare for them.  If we aren't prepared, then the smallest storm can became a major life crisis.  The storms can overwhelm us if don't prepare ourselves ahead of time.  Too often we don't think about it.  We are too busy enjoying the "mountain top" to think about the coming valleys.  I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy the mountain top, but we know that troubles will come our way and we should prepare for them while it's easier to do so.  I was able to complete a great deal of my prep work when it was 75 degrees outside.  I was able to enjoy the sun and comforting warmth while getting work done.  We should enjoy the Son's comfort while we are working on ourselves to prepare for life's troubles.  If we are growing spiritually and daily communing with God when things are good, we won't be desperately trying to contact Him when they aren't.  We'll have had Him with us every step of the way.

Plug time--  We are halfway through Life's Healing Choices at Sonrise, and are closing in our official Celebration Service for Celebrate Recovery (CR).  If we can poor ourselves into learning how to overcome our hurts, hangups, and habits when times are good, we can better apply that knowledge to getting through them when times are bad.  CR is great for doing both the prep work and the recovery process.  The Celebration Service is Friday, November 13th at Sonrise.

Growing Toward Rest

The past few weeks have been a spiritual step ladder.  It's always fun to have spiritual highs, but this has been even better.  It has been a steady growth, moving step by step, toward a deeper relationship with Christ.  Personal reflection along with a fresh injection of Christ's teachings have provided a new awakening to the love of God for us.  This past weekend, for example, was amazing to see God working in the hearts of those at Sonrise.  I was thrilled to be able to share what God was showing me about giving EVERYTHING to Him and the healing that doing so can bring.

I talked about it this past Sunday, but it seems to keep coming up to me.  If we are unwilling to give EVERYTHING to God, than we cannot heal.  The things we decide to hold back are the things we need healing from.  It is easy to give God the good things, but we try to hang on to our hurts, hang-ups, and habits.  Those are exactly what we need healing from!

The basic reason we don't want to give those up is fear.  We fear that God can't love us the way we are, that He can't heal us from our past, that He can't help us overcome the things we struggle with, or that we will have to give up the sins we cherish.  Quite honestly, we fear commitment.

The verse that has become my current favorite address this struggle is 2 Timothy 1:7.  Christ hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, love, and self-control.  Those are exactly what we need to be made whole.  Who wouldn't jump at the offer to receive power over that which we are powerless, love for where we are unlovely, and self-control to overcome our personal struggles?  All He wants us to do is commit to Him, give Him all our burdens, and He will give us rest.  I am happy to be getting that.  I enjoy resting in Him.