To say this past month was busy,
would be an understatement. Scot and
Hannah got married, Pope’s went on vacation, lots of planning for preview
services, and I just finished my first series.
This next month looks to be just as busy. Thanks for you prayers and support, we are
reminded daily of how much we need it.
Scot and Hannah were married this
past Saturday. They had planned for an
outdoor wedding, but right as we were about to begin the service, the weather
had a change of heart. We relocated to the
back-up spot and everything went well.
John, Amy, and Abi enjoyed their
first vacation. John was able to get
some rest, reading, graphic design work, and many other things done during
their vacation. Right before they left
on vacation, Amy was notified that she did not have a job due to
remodeling. She interviewed with another
department, and ended up getting the job and works with the patients she use to
have. She is now trying to get her boss
to lessen the work hours.
Scot, Hannah, and I helped with a
bridge painting project. UpDayton is a
group that is trying to do things to help revitalize downtown. Scot and Hannah were able to talk to people
as they painted the walking bridge. I
was able to have several short conversations, because I was constantly getting
paint, paint supplies, and moving things.
We now have about a month till our
first preview service. John took the
time to go over everything that needs to be done, and is relying on me to
organize all the parts. We have three
separate areas that other people are organizing and leading in, and John has
asked me to work with these leaders, serve them. My role is best understood as a servant of
everyone, but makes sure all areas are organized, and have all the materials
they need. So there is a lot of
organizing, purchasing, and detail planning happening.
While I learned a lot by doing the
Jude series, prehaps the thing I learned about the most, is filling in for a
pastor is not easy. I now see more mercy
in John’s life and how he interacts with people than I had seen before. Even though I agree with the assesment of
Treasuring Christ Church, when they endorced John as a pastor, I have grown
exponentially in that agreement while he was on vacation. I am blessed to have him as a friend, but I
feel even more blessed to have him as a pastor.
If you search for “Refuge City
Church” on iTunes, you can download and listen to the Jude series and many
others. Two things happened during that
series: I did the longest message in
Refuge history and even though I might feel the message was not that good,
doesn’t mean others agree. The last
part, I was so distracted and my thoughts felt as if they were running alll
over the place, but the next day John said it was one of the best I had ever
done. I told him thanks, but God
deserves all the praise because I was doubting myself and constantly praying
for His help throughout the whole message.
Please pray for strength, rest,
and patience. There is a lot to do in
the next month. Refuge will be helping
out at two different churches, handing out flyers, brainstorming, planning,
constructing, purchasing, and praying in order to be ready for our first
preview service on July 22.
