Tough Times Require Prayer

I have been thinking for weeks that it is time to update this blog.  Today is just one more day in what has been a rough couple of months for me and mine.  The first big event was the announcement that the Dakota District is closing our Custer Wesleyan Church.  Lots of tears, some anger, lots of questions, much prayer...and here we are into April and nothing really settled.  That is just the first thing, though.  Second was a growth that appeared on my face overnight in March and scared me half to death!  After a few days of praying and psyching myself up, I went to the doctor and had it removed.  Praise God that it was benign and now all I have to do is figure out how to pay the bill - but that is better than the alternative!  The third problem is that we need to figure how to take care of Wildcat.  Once Dan and Stacy are moved on, there will not be enough money coming in, nor will there be enough staff to do the work.  We all have ideas of how things can be made easy, but it looks like God will have to undertake for us.  We cannot accomplish any of this on our own.  If  we pray 24/7, there are probably not enough days to get it done.  But our God is a big God and He only needs to speak the Word and we can breathe easier.  We know He has a plan for all of us and we are asking that He continue to implement that plan without interference from any of us.  All we ask for is patience, grace, wisdom, and (kind of) to please hurry up?  Well, then today we spent a tense afternoon looking for funds to pay Lisa's house payment, which was our fourth big problem.  We got to where all we could do was say, "Help!" and some of us could not even get that much out!  But with some creative shuffling and a little extra help and more prayer, the payment was made.  We still need some more by Friday, but we are breathing a little easier.  There are many more problems yet to be solved because of this decision of the Dakota District.  It is affecting many people, in many different ways.  We are all impacted and we are all making changes.  We can only pray that we will react well, and that we will learn from all this what God  wants us to learn.  He has a future for all of us and it is one of hope and promise.  It is also probably not what we were expecting when we moved into 2012. If the last 69 years is any indication, this future will be even better than we had expected!  My response is still, "God is good - all the time!" and  "All the time - God is good!"  That does not mean it will be easy.  "God give us strength to finish this race well."