Wind in my Sails

Life is good right now. I'm not entirely sure why, but it just seems like everything is working in my favor, and I continue to see how God is blessing me. My life is falling nicely into place, and I'm so glad to be able to praise God continuously for his many blessings.

For one, we finally have internet at my new house (which by the way is officially dubbed "The Asylum") which means that I can now stop worrying about how to stay up to date with the world around me. There are still a few things that need to come together before our whole system here is set up, but for now having a wireless connection set up here is a great blessing.

I've also been amazed at how things with IV have been going. We started the first Large Group with about 40 people. Then last week it jumped to 46 people. That's a crazy thing to have happen; usually the first week is by far the largest, and in later weeks there is a drop in attendance as people's schedules fill up or they move on to other things. I have never seen a Large Group get bigger than the first night. We just had our meeting this week, and I was a little discouraged because as it started we had the first few rows mostly empty. Unbeknown to me, people trickled in during the meeting, and when I looked back at the end of the night, there was a whole group of people standing in the back because they didn't have chairs to sit in. We had 54 people total. WOW! Not only is this the biggest group that UNM has seen since I've known it, it's the biggest well into the semester! God is doing cool things, and it's amazing to see Him continue to draw people in, certainly not just because of what we're doing.

And to top it all off, our landlord decided to buy us a brand new (and very nice) propane grill as a housewarming gift. Seriously, it's just like God to do some great stuff all around me and then to have something like this as icing on the cake.

All of this has really made me be thankful for the fact that we serve a God of provision. It's been coming up again and again, whether it is the Large Groups, the internet, my fundraising, or even just a kind word at a right moment. And I believe that it is also thanks to you and your prayers that these things have been happening. It's honestly hard for me sometimes to see the usefulness of prayer since there isn't a direct cause-effect relationship all the time, but I'm sure that without the prayer that you all and others have been giving toward the work of IV and just for me as well, these things would not have happened.

And so I am so grateful to you all as well for that, and hope that you will continue to remember me in your prayers throughout this year. I hope that sharing this with you will remind you that prayer is effective and essential to our success. I hope that you also will be reminded of who God is: that He is lavish in his love and takes joy in filling our cups to overflowing. Praise God!

"The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but victory rests with the LORD."
- Proverbs 21:31