This flu is the worst.

So we all have a touch of this flu that is going around. Some of us worse than others. Caleb had it really bad. Glen is now really bad, and he has to preach in 10 hours. I don't know how God is going to work that out, but I know that he will. Thank goodness that I asked Glen to finish all prep before things got really bad for him. He has been in bed all day. I suppose that is the best that I can do for him right now.

Bryan's surgery went well, I guess. As well as can be expected for having one of his vertebrae removed. As part of his issues, the docs seem to feel that this will help with all of the other stuff that has plagued him for years. He is in a lot of pain, and has a scar running vertically down the back of his head, as well as staples closing the holes made by the halo they put him in to perform the operation. We are hoping that he will be home tomorrow. Please keep his family in prayer.

I have been looking for a study series to start for the ladies of our church. I have been really seeking that God will lead me to the right materials. I know that I could make anything work, but this new organization for Wednesday night, where the ladies will be meeting together weekly to do their own study; I want it to be a God thing for our church. While we are still small, to build our ladies.

In my recent trips, I have had the pleasure of visiting some LARGE churches. I have felt that we need to minister to the women that we have while we are still small enough to be effective in their lives. Not that I think there aren't huge benefits to large churches, because I think that some things are so much easier in a big church. I have been wondering how someone who has been out of church, how do they really get connected to the body of Christ in large churches? Some could attend for weeks before anyone really knows that they are there. There has to be a really big want to on that persons part to feel like they are an integral part of the larger body.

This has been a theme in our home. The extended body. The idea that some get caught up in building our individual "mini-kingdoms". It isn't what God wanted for his people. He isn't coming back for a baptist bride, or a catholic bride, or a pentecostal bride. He is coming back for his bride (singular); the one without spot or wrinkle. Part of this realization, is that we need to take the time to focus on what unifies us, and not the small differences that cause us to "build" fences.

While the world is ready to embrace the New Age answers being thrown around today, we have to stand firm with the brothers and sisters that are journeying with us. Even when the "name tag" they wear is different than the one that we do. There are too many false teachings that are easier to swallow. I believe that God is calling us to unity. A unity in the body that surpasses the name on the sign out front.

This post allows me some self-examination. That we can focus on something else beside our issues. When we get caught up in keeping score of the heartaches, or trials that we have faced, we are walking with our eyes on our own feet, instead being sure that our footsteps match the ones that Christ himself has prepared for us.

Thanks for listening!
^j^