at such a time as this.. new husband, new church... same GOD!!!!!

over the last month my husband ( still makes me so giddy and all saying that :) and I have been going to a church together... a new church...

we had been praying and asking God for guidance on where to go.. and then we went to Harvest Bible Chapel West Olive..

walking in there felt ( almost ) like coming home.. same set up, same size... turned out to be the same kind of format, 45 minutes of worship and 45 minutes of sermon.. people were very welcoming and the assistant pastor's wife even lived about an hour away from where I have lived the last 23 years ... how cool is that???

we happened to go there for the first time when the pastor announced a 5 week sermon series , with a devotional study to go along with it for the congregation ( another thing that made me feel "almost" at home, considering my "now old" :( church has been doing the meditating and studying of the passage my "now old" pastor is preaching on for many years...)
this sermon series was to lay the ground for some new initiative.. a growing closer to God, a being more confident in what He can do, being more committed to Him and His church and all He has called the church to do IN, AROUND and BEYOND...

quite amazing to enter into this fellowship, this vibrant and alive family of God at such a time as this..
their outreach to the community totally where my passion lies.. mission oriented they are involved in supporting a church plant in the Caribbean..  all so very exciting..

the Word being preached boldly and honestly, I do find myself feeling right at home and then again..
not really. obviously I do not know anyone really, obviously I am not involved with anything that is going on ( YET ) but I can sense the potential, I can sense why it is that the Lord brought me here instead of my husband to where I was.. where all had been so well established.. deep soul ties... knowing everyone and being known.. woven into the fabric of this family of God... there are huge losses now, losses that have to be grieved.. but in it all, I am sensing that here might really just be that place where we, my most wonderful husband and I, could get "crafted in" ...

fasting and praying prescribed for today...  we were asked to read Isaiah 58... I love this chapter... I love what it is all about.. I am soaring on wings like eagles letting it all sink into my heart...

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

    and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

    and break every yoke?

 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

    and your night will become like the noonday.

 The Lord will guide you always;

    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

    and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

    like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58: 6-11

this is where my heart is, this is where we need to be... oh how small the things that bother me personally become when I fix my eyes on Jesus.. when I hear His call once again.. it's not about me, it is about what He is doing and how He wants me to be part of it... thankful that He knew exactly where He would take us, when we had no idea at all... I do not know what my future holds but I for sure can know the One who holds it as much as I want.. He has revealed Himself and His heart in His Word.. and that I can pick up any time I want to.. thankful beyond words...