Garfield has returned!

So, be truthful. How many of you knew that as soon as I got a new cat that Garfield would come home? Yeah...my hubby knew this too. So now I have 2 cats, which is fine with me because I love them!

Paul will be home from the Navy to visit for a week starting on Wednesday the 29th. I'm very excited about this! We still have Jason's friend staying with us, but he is going to Colorado in a day or two to visit his family and to scout things out there. I think that he is thinking that having his house burn down and getting laid off from his job in the same month might be some kind of sign from God that he needs to "get out of Dodge". Hmmm, maybe so.

Henry and I have submitted all of his information to the Connections Academy and are just waiting for the shipment of his books and computer. Hopefully I will have him out of school by Thanksgiving at the latest.

Stephi and Randy are laying laminate flooring in there house this week. I can't wait to see how it turns out. It will definitely be a GREAT improvement over the crappy carpet that came will the house... lots of stains on light beige carpet is gross!

Work is pretty much the same... actually better. They have trained some new people to be in charge... so I don't have to do it as often, which is good. I was starting to get tired of doing it all the time. It is nice to actually be a nurse. Makes me remember why I went to nursing school... I was starting to forget.

Last, but not least, I am becoming an official member of Copper Hills Church! I went to a class this past Thursday to learn more about the church and I am signing the pledge on Sunday. If you are all wondering about the Summit, they voted to dissolve last week and they donated their remaining assets to a few different causes. Pastor Scott was offered a full time ministry position at Copper Hills and I've started seeing a few more Summit folks at Copper Hills.

Life goes on.

The End

I went to the Summit tonight since I had the night off. I knew that Scott was going to resign and I wanted to be there and I wanted to see my Summit friends again. But I wish I would have just stayed home. It was like witnessing an extended resuscitation on a dying person or like watching an autopsy. It was hard to be there and I didn't feel like I belonged there anymore. One of the people from the Summit/New Life task force even asked me why I was there (since I have been going to Copper Hills for a month now). I said I was there to visit my friends, but I felt like saying "I don't know".

The truth is that I really don't belong there anymore. I no longer have a vested interest in the Summit. Copper Hills is truly my home now and I think going there tonight showed me that. So I guess it wasn't really a waste. I just felt so bad watching this small group of believers that I once counted as family. They are just trying so hard to keep this group together and I think that the tighter they hold on, the more it moves out of their grasp. Please pray for them.

A Fun Day

I had so much fun yesterday. Stephi and Ehten came by with lunch and afterwards we went to Linens N Things and then to Ross.

We found a shower curtain that matches the tile in her master bath perfectly! Then we went to Ross and I found a great pair of Naturalizer shoes for work. I can't wait to try them tonight. Maybe they will keep my knees from hurting so much. We'll see.

Henry even got his Nintendo 64 in the mail and got it hooked up. Fun!

My wonderful day ended in the most wonderful way. Church! It was a great service. Pastor Scott lead worship and Pastor Brad gave the message. I beautiful mix. I hope that everyone can see how good this will be for us.

This Sunday will be the last Sunday that I will work. Next month I work every Thursday except one. So for me, anyhow, this is a done deal. I will be moving on to Copper Hills next month regardless of how the vote goes. But I move forward with a full heart because of God's Spirit in me. Through this trial I am learning to trust more in God and less in people. God is faithful. He does not change. I'm not sure which friends will be coming and which will not, but I am sure that God "who began the good work within (me), will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. - Phil 1:6

... our struggle is not against a human opponent

I visited Copper Hills Church on Sunday. It was great! Everybody was so friendly and I recognized lots of people. Some had visited our church a few weeks ago and some were actually from the Summit and were visiting to check it out like me.

The message was from Ephesians 6:10-17, the armor of God. It was so timely. It reminded me that the troubles that we have in this world are from Satan and we need to remember that he is the enemy. He wants us to lose focus of that. He wants us to take our eyes off Jesus and concentrate on the problems around us. But if we do that, then we will not be able to stand against the evil one.

I Survived!

Well, I got through it! I gave my testimony last night at church. I was so nervous. I couldn't get my voice to stop shaking and my mouth even went dry, but I persevered and somehow made it through.

I wasn't sure exactly what I would say, after all if you've read my faith journey (all 9 long posts of it) then you know that I had to really shorten it. Pastor Scott even threatened me with 'the hook' if I went too long. Now, I didn't time myself, but it must have been somewhere close to the 5 minute mark because I wasn't dragged off the stage. I prayed about it a lot this week and I figure that I must have said what God wanted me to say... I'm not sure I even remember exactly what I did say. But it must have been OK because a bunch of people came up to me afterwards and said that they enjoyed hearing it. God is good. Who would have ever thought that anything I ever did would bring glory to God?!

Many others shared their testimonies too (some from The Summit and some from Copper Hills) and I never get tired of hearing how God works in the lives of His children. We even got to hear from Pastor Brad and he told a wonderful story of how his summer sabbatical has given him refreshment of his spirit and how he has learned and grown even closer to God.

I would have to say, though, that my favorite part of the night was meeting my brothers and sisters from Copper Hills and realizing that as Christians, no matter where we go we are part of one great and wondrous family. The family of the Living God!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! - 1 John 3:1

...sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Thursday night at church was very interesting. If I haven't said so yet, all the comments that you all left for me really helped me. And I could tell that you all have been sending prayers up for me. I went to church Thursday with a positive attitude - that God's will would be done.

Our pastor opened with a song and then a reading from Isaiah 35. Our pastor and the pastor from the other church spoke to us and then took the time to answer all the questions that we had. Towards the end our pastor really opened up and shared his feelings about all this with us. And I could feel how he has been carrying a burden for us on his shoulders and in his heart. That's what I needed to hear. I knew right then that we could trust him to do the right thing for our little group of believers.

So I went to work that night and changed my work schedule so I could have Sunday nights off. Thursday night church will soon be a thing of the past. I have no doubts that this is what God has planned for us.