Adios!

Well, we're sitting here packing for Costa Rica, where we'll be heading tomorrow morning for 9 days. I can't tell you how excited we truly are for this! These days have been challenging ones, as many of you know. Finding my place in God plan, in my church and in life has been quite a trip right now. I'm proud to tell you guys that I've got nothing figured out. I don't know what God wants me to do at my church or with my life or anything really. For once, I'm really quite okay with an immense amount of uncertainty!

I'm excited to go spend time with missionaries and see what God is doing in a different culture. It's rare that I look around in my church and feel like God is at work there. Does that sound terrible? I am ashamed to admit that I'm a part of the problem. I'm so unsure how to help lead people out of spiritual apathy and into a passionate relationship with God. It's all I can do to keep myself from falling into it, let alone try to pull others out. However, I know that God is more than sufficient.

Okay, so I'll rant for a few minutes here...it's quite incredible that after my wife and I finished reading our Bibles, we had extremely similar things to share with on another afterward (as a note, I wish I could claim that we sit down to read our Bibles together regularly, but it's unfortunately rather rare that this happens). She was reading in Leviticus and I was reading in 1 Peter, and we had similar thoughts. I'll share my own. Peter writes and just assumes that so many things are true about his readers simply because they are Christians. He assumes that they have put aside so many sinful and useless practices and that they are filled with an "inexpressible and glorious joy." Wow, when's the last time I could say I was filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy? What am I missing? Why is it that I am rather filled with...stuff to do? I am hoping that this trip to Costa Rica will be one that will help me remember that inexpressible and glorious joy that we should be filled with due to the grace that has been shown us! For the 3 of you that read this (I'm going to do this more frequently now, I promise), please be in prayer for Katie and I as we are away. Have a great week!