Do you remember your first job? 

Recently our 13 year old got his first job-  A dog sitter. 

Here he is with MacBeth on their way to the dog groomers.  Not only is he able to earn some money, but also learn responsibility in the real world.  One of the MANY assets of living in an apartment complex that allows pets-  a big need for dog walkers during the day.

Something is new…   Things are changing,    and our hearts are deepening for Christ.

Many of you ask us:

What is God doing in Etown?  What is happening with the Ministry there?  How is the church?  Is it growing? Are lots of people getting saved? 

And although these are great questions,     And    I am sure that your heart has been burning with anticipation for us to share the Great and Glorious things that God is doing here;

I must confess and warn you  :  IT MAY BE DIFFICULT TO SEE

2 Corinthians 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

There is such a trend for us as leaders to count the success of our church by how many we are converting to faith, or how many followers we have, or how great our tithe is that comes in, or how many organizations we can support,  how many bible studies we offer, or  how ACTIVE our attendees are we are during the week.  We get into “things” and forget about the true “thing”.  We base our “what is God doing” questions on what we can visibly see. 

Don’t get me wrong there are questions that we must ask ourselves like:

is our church healthy

are they growing in their faith and knowledge of the word

are they being used by God

do we have enough support coming in to continue to pay the bills

But…the Lord keeps reminding us that even though He did call us out here to plant a church

(which we have and are doing) it is so much more than CHURCH…itself, it goes deeper than that. 

It is about us…you…what He is doing inside of  you, inside of us, the things that you cannot actually see.

It is about where He will take you to accomplish His will for your life.  What He will bring you through, how He can use it to change you, mold you, teach you, if we allow Him to.  If we can surrender to Him, allow Him to take us wherever it may be, do whatever He is asking of us, (don’t think that I went without kicking at times), and all the while realizing HE LOVES us, and everything He does… Is for our good. 

Can He take me to a place I did not want to go, give us a burden that seems to difficult to bear, and show us the most incredible things about himself through it all.  And bring us into a deeper love than we have ever experienced. 

ABSOLUTELY!

As I asked the Lord to give Us something to describe what He is doing here in Etown with the fellowship, and with our lives, all I could come up with is this…..

We are falling deeper in love with this amazing God. 

It is a stillness and closeness that we have yet to master.

It is something deep, something inside that cannot be seen.

He is working on us…changing us…changing us all….   and that is good.

                                                                                      Psalm 145:5

They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

Charlene

 

 

I am sure that most of you have seen or heard about our huge ice storm that hit Kentucky last week…read this

It started last Tuesday with some crazy rain, the temps were so low that the rain began to freeze, and everything was covered with ice.  Josh and I went out on a walk with Diego on the trail behind the house, this is what it looked like:

Diego wondering if it is safe down there?

Here you can see the whole tree limb covered in ice..

It was so gorgeous, the only way I could describe the beauty is that it was like the chronicles of Narnia, everything was sparkling, crystallized and beautiful.  I have never seen anything like it before.  I was in awe…speechless at the beauty and handiwork of God.

Icicles were hanging everywhere..

Freeman Lake-  we really get to see all of the seasons here

we spent Wednesday and Thursday cooped up in the house, it was freezing and very dangerous outside.  People were loosing power from the electrical wires freezing and trees were falling down everywhere from the weight of the ice.  Schools were out and businesses were closed.  Finally Friday it warmed up a bit… it took me an hour and a half to chip  the ice off  the front window of the car.  The kids and I took our neighbor Patti out with us to the store and run some errands, and Josh was able to work half day.  Our friend Krista spent two nights  at our house because she didn’t have any power.  We were able to do some sledding with the kids but it was very icy and dangerous (that did not stop us but we did end up popping the raft that we were using. 

 

Saturday it finally warmed up to the 40’s I got some incredible pictures before everything melted

 

 

I still am in awe of God’s handiwork, and even through the difficulties and inconveniences that the storm brought, I feel so lucky to get to see this stuff…. wow! 

Job 37:1  My heart pounds as I think of this.  It leaps within me!

verse 5  God’s voice is glorious in the thunder.  We cannot comprehend the greatness of his power.

Vs 6 he directs the snow to fall on the earth and and tells the rain to pour down.  EVERYONE STOPS WORKING at such a time so they can recognize His power.

Vs. 10 God’s breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.

There were many effects of damage from the storm-  power outages, water conditions, roads closed, businesses closed, no work, and NO SCHOOL.  PRAY FOR ME…. we are going on day 7 tomorrow of all the kids being home. 

here are some of the pictures of the trees broken from the ice- 

 

 

In January Josh started a new job, he will still be reading meters; but with a new company.  He was hired on with TRUE CHECK working alongside of Kentucky Utilities.  This company is a lot bigger and has more benefits to offer. We are thanking the Lord for his provision and for new opportunities to reach out in the community

Sorry guys (especially you Aimee) about being late with the posts for the 1st of the month, things have been CRAZY.

But I posted 7 new posts- so check them out! 

Check back in February… we will have an update on:

Josh’s new job, and

the NEW VISION for EMMAUS COMMUNITY

Thanks for the prayers and let us know how you are doing?