But...

Greetings! It's VACATION... and you know what that means? Hanging out with teenagers! Yes, we will be spending much of our vacation with the youth group from our church. We started last night with the consecration bonfire. It was fun. It was cold. The fire was HOT. The fellowship was excellent! My husband gave the consecration message, and it was entitled "But..." He spoke of the 12 men going in to Canaan to spy out the land that God had promised them. They ALL came back with a good report... They agreed that the land was good, flowing with milk and honey. They were holding EVIDENCE of God's promised blessing in their hands (the huge cluster of grapes that took two strong, grown men to carry it). Then the doubters spoke the word .... BUT....

• BUT there are giants in the land
• BUT the cities are walled and fortified
• BUT we are not able to overtake them
• BUT ...

Our next task was to take a piece of paper and write down what comes after the "but" in our lives. I want to live for God BUT...

I want to do what God is speaking to my heart about, BUT...

After we wrote down our "buts", we prayed and believed God to take care of those "buts" for us, to believe that we CAN do what God is calling us to do! To trust Him with all the things written down on those papers.

Then we threw them into the fire.

It was, for me, a very powerful moment. Sometimes, we take those "buts" that we know are a very real threat to our Christian growth, and we sweep them under the carpet, because it's easier to ignore them than to deal with them. That moment forced me to acknowledge the buts and face them head on. God is good!

We are once again dealing with sickness in the house. Deliver me! Adam is trying to recover from strep, Jason injured his back, and Nick and I are battling colds. Ain't winter great?? Lysol wipes, baby! Industrial size! I'd open the windows for fresh air if it wasn't just 8 degrees outside....

Anyway, I will post often this week to keep you abreast of youth week events. We'll also be going to Montpelier with the cub scouts Monday to visit the statehouse. Cool!