Change of Scenery

I'm sitting in my partment in West Salem, Wi. My truck is parked out on the street. I'm working for G-Mack again. Sarah and I are basically starting over from the beginning in our relationship. I'm not going back to school this year, and because of how the program works, I won't be able to enroll again until fall of 2013. And there seems to be cheap towel threads in all kinds of random places in my apartment, hahaha! In the midst of all these changes, I have joy in Christ!

There have been several interesting twists to my plans over this summer. The biggest twist is that I will not be going back to school this year. Instead I will be working full-time doing carpentry, establishing a strong relationship with Sarah, and a strong relationship with my church. As I earnestly sought the Lord over the past 4 weeks before making this decision, I felt He was strongly leading in this direction. I feel that the relationships with Sarah and with my home church are important enough to stay behind and nurture for this time period. In the big picture, my goal is for these two years to be fruitful preparation for the missionary task that God has called me to. And as I felt Him leading in a direction that I really didn't want to go, He was faithful in giving me the desire for this path, and a heart for the people He's called me to minister to and with right now. He is an ever-faithful, loving, sovereign God. I am very excited to see what He does with these next two years!

A life striving to glorify Him is where joy & fulfillment & peace are found. That is my prayer, that I would strive to glorify God in everything I do, knowing that I am nothing without Christ, and I can do no good thing without the work of the Holy Spirit. I want my life to be marked by obedience, confession, and repentance. I want to live according to Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect." "Lord, strengthen our hearts to this end, fill us with Your Holy Spirit, that we may glorify You in all that we do. Thank you for Your faithfulness in transforming us! Thank you that Your Son paid the price for our sin! In Christ's name, Amen"