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."

Our Omaha trip, 2011

We have been back almost a full week now and it is about time I wrote about our trip to celebrate Zac's 3rd birthday. You know that I have had a problem with travel for many years now. As a result, I seldom leave the Black Hills area. With my blood pressure medicine working and my low-carb/exercise diet, I have been having much more success going to Rapid City so I decided to try a trip across the state. Armed with much prayer support, we started out on a Thursday morning and immediately felt a peace and relaxation that I have not felt in a long time - even on Friday as we traveled the Interstate with its high speed limits! That is a real miracle and I thank God for His care of us and our friends and family for their prayers and thoughts in our behalf.

Our whole week there was a fun and relaxing time. It was cold and snowy and one whole day Katy and Scott stayed home and we played lots of games, all of which I lost. We got to play with Zac a lot and we watched his Toy Story movies many times, which turned out to be a great joy! He calls them his "Woody Buzz-Lighter" movies and he has the Woody doll and the Buzz Lightyear (sp?) and keeps them with him almost constantly. He is so cute and smart, of course.

The church we attended there was Avery Presbyterian Church in Bellevue and it was a wonderful experience. The people are very friendly, the music to my liking, the sermons good, and we went out to eat afterwards! What's not to like? Two memorable things from the service on February 6th were a new understanding of the term "Blessed" in the Sermon on the Mount, and an admonition in the Kids moments that we have everything inside of us that we need to be happy (God and His strength and joy). The final song that day was, "Here I am, Lord," and this song has always blessed me and spurred me on to renewed ministry. I have also heard Him calling in the night and want to be led by Him and to hold His people in my hands! Also on that Sunday, I finished a book by Phyllis Whitney and one section, in particular, helped set the stage for our return trip. She says, "You have the strength in yourself that you have always had. A strength that is greater now than when you were young. Accept and listen. Accept what your spirit already knows. If ordeal lies ahead, you will meet it, face it without faltering. The power you need is within you always. Use it."

So our return trip was as fine as the trip out had been. On Monday night we got about 4 inches of snow in Oshkosh, where we spent the night. But we had so much visiting and remembering to do with these old friends of ours that to be snowed in would only have been a delight! However, the roads were cleared and we got back on Tuesday without stress, and with a few bucks in our pocket! God is so good! My final thought is about the UPS truck that we saw in every town we went through. We like our Sully in Custer and seeing that truck every time we turned around just made it seem like home - like a comfort food. Just another way our Father watched over us and made our way pleasant!