Kelly's Journal

Well, I believe it is either week 6 or week 7 of layoffs. Time flies by very quickly! God has been faithful in providing for all of my needs abundantly! I have been able to pick up some work doing odds and ends, including snow-shoveling, drywall,, & moving jobs.

I've also been able to get some studying time in as well. I was really encouraged going through Jerry Bridges "Trusting God, Even When Life Hurts". Sarah & I have also been attending the Sonship class at my church in La Crescent, which has been incredible. God has been showing me how desperately in need of Christ I am. I tend to think of myself far too highly, and very unrealistically. I tend to think that I've got it pretty well together, I know a lot, I'm full of grace, a strong Christian on fire for God, going to be a missionary in unreached place, etc. In reality, I am still very selfish, prideful, careless with my words, easily angered, lustful., and the list goes on! I am so desperately in need of Christ every moment of every day. Even this week I am realizing that I have zero game when it comes to dealing with people in a loving, encouraging way. I need the Holy Spirit's power every moment. Toward that end, I realize that I need to be actively pursuing the things of the Spirit, i.e. prayer, studying the Bible, fellowship with other believers, etc. I also need to be very careful with the things that can dull my sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, such as movies, games music, etc. In Christ alone, there is hope!
I've got some neat ideas that I am considering for this summer. One of them, which is extremely likely, is speaking at Lake Lundgren Bible Camp again on the subject of unreached people groups. Another is doing a trip to Thailand to help build a house for women coming out of the sex trade. I'm also interested in taking a "Wilderness First Responder" course. I also heard about a bike ride across Wisconsin that goes on in July, which would be really fun & a good opportunity to connect with lots of other Christians. I'm also poking around Craigslist looking for a Geo Tracker 4x4. Sarah & I have talked about getting one if we get married & go down to school in replacement of our two cars. I really like the idea of having a little 4x4 with more seats than my truck.

The pictures here are from last weekend's camping trip We survived outside during one of the coldest nights this year! We skied into Blue Mounds State Park with backpacks full of gear and camped for one night. It was a blast!