Sermon

Hey Everyone! I have so much to blog about and so little time! I can't believe that it is already Thanksgiving. Jacob and I only have a few weeks left in Michigan and are spending all our spare time with friends and family. Jacob had the opportunity to preach a sermon for a Sunday evening service at Tyrone Covenant. We are so thankful that he had this opportunity to preach and to have fellowship with this congregation. We are so blessed to have so many individuals praying for us and giving us such great opportunities. Here is the sermon Jacob preached for all those interested. It lasts about 30mins and is perfect to listen to while peeling potatoes, or baking some pies.

                                               Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Blessings

Earlier this week I read this blog post from Passionate Homemaking. In case you don't want to read it, her post was all about gratitude and how we are to be grateful for what we already have. Being grateful for what I already have has been a struggle for me over the past year. I have the habit of always looking for the next thing, whether that be researching for the "much needed" new computer that we have to get NOW cause its a good price, to focusing on my wants when we move. There are days when I am very thankful for all that I have been given, but there are a lot more days when I go if only I had ______.  In our consumer society it is hard to give things away, let alone be content with what you have. being inspired by Passionate Homemaking I am going to write down 1-5 items a day that I am thankful for. I started with a few on Tuesday, forgot yesterday and plan to have some more by today. The goal would be to get 1000 different things that I am grateful for. 

1. Sunrise as I drive to work
2. E saying "but Miss. Amy we have fun w/ you". (in reference to be moving away)
3. Jacob's employment currently and in St. Louis
4. Close Family/Support
5. Housing in St. Louis

Past Week!

We had a great time visiting St. Louis last week!! We were able to spend 4 whole days together and enjoy learning more about our future home. We found an apartment that we will move into the Monday after Christmas. It is wonderful!! I am sorry I was unable to post last week but we were quite busy with our St. Louis list of to dues. Today has been catch-up and laundry day and getting back into a normal schedule. Thank you for all your prayers and support for our upcoming move.

October Newsletter

Here is our October Newsletter that we email out once a month. If you are interested in receiving our monthly newsletter (with more information) please let us know.

           Internship

          This past month Jacob taught the adult Sunday school at our church. The topic was very fresh and relevant in Jacob’s mind as he had just taken a seminary class on Christian Ethics in July. This was a wonderful opportunity to learn how to teach.

Yet another wonderful and exciting opportunity to learn and grow arose with Jacob being included in the worship service at Christ Church in Grand Rapids. The worship service was focused on celebrating the reformation and Jacob got to preach the first of three homilies. The focus of this homily was the concept of Sola Scriptura (God’s Word Alone). You can listen to Jacob’s Sermon by going to the following link: http://www.christchurchgr.org/sermons.html  

Seminary

Within the last month much has happened on the seminary front. It is truly hard to say what the biggest and most exciting news is with so much going on! Praise God that Covenant has awarded Jacob a 25% scholarship for the spring semester! This is truly a blessed answer to many prayers.

On top of this wonderful news about receiving a scholarship, Jacob earned a B+ on his Ancient and Medieval Church History class! This was very encouraging as Jacob usually does not perform well on tests.

For that very same class students are required either to write a paper or make a time-line showing at least 100 of the most important dates in church history. Of course with the help of wonderful Amy, Jacob has been able to create a game teaching about Church history! The game cards look amazing, the game board looks amazing and the game is very fun to play!

Reformation Sunday!

I am working on a post about the conference we attended on Saturday but in the mean time thought I'd share this with you. This is the link to the homily Jacob preached at Christ Church on Reformation Sunday, the 31st. It is the entire service so you need to skip ahead a bit, but don't go to far! Jacob is the first homily which is on Sola Scriptura. Enjoy!


http://www.christchurchgr.org/sermons.html

Reformation Celebrations!!

This past weekend was scheduled full of Reformation fun! Saturday we attended a conference on reformation family living in the 21st century, with speakers Dr. Beeke, and Dr. Murray. We learned so much and made some great new friends. Sunday Jacob preached a homily at another local church and read scripture at a Sunday night service at yet another church. We had such a great and busy weekend. I will expand more on the weekend this week. Stay Tuned...

Fear

Fear. "An emotional response to a perceived threat", according to wiki.

Fear was something I always imagined little children to have. It is common for children to fear bees, sleeping, monsters, etc, but I never thought fear was apart of adult life. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe fear isn't apart of most adults lives, but it is apart of mine. I would say I am much like a child myself with fears of bees, the dark, allergies and spiders.  I try not to think about these fears or live in them but there are some days I can't get these fears out of my mind. One of the biggest fears I have is being alone. I HATE being alone. I have learned to be alone during the "normal" work hours, 7am-5pm, but I don't like it at all. I have learned to be ok with working alone in a house with 2 little boys, but I don't like it all the time. Another huge fear I have that I am still learning to cope with is fear of tornadoes. I have no idea why I am scared of this. I have never been in a tornado or known anyone who was in a bad one, and yet this is a huge fear of mine. Learning to conquer this fear is huge to me! Living in Michigan there aren't many tornadoes or tornado warnings but there seem to be A LOT of watches. Some of you might be laughing at me but that is ok.

This blog is to share who Jacob and I really are as individuals going into the ministry, and these fears are a huge part of me (although they shouldn't be). Anyways.. I know that these are just watches and I shouldn't be worried but a watch means a warning could come.. and that's what is scary. The anticipating, not knowing, wondering, the lack of control I have over the issue. I don't know if there will be a tornado or when it will occur. I can watch the radar all I want but i still won't know.

Fear of a tornado is a very good analogy to the main fear of my life, the unknown. I hate not knowing and not being able to plan. I have been working on placing everything in God's hands and have done pretty good with the big things (i.e. moving, seminary, marriage). But am continually working on the day to day worries.  I know this will be a continual sturggle and pray that one day I may be able to be rid of certain fears that I have.

Meanwhile, I have been resting and meditating on Psalm 46:1-3

     "God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling"

Rest assured that God is always with us and we have nothing to fear. If you are like me and have many "adult" fears please stay strong and lean heavily on God our father who is always with us and has everything planned. Just like little children rely on their parents for their health, safety, and planning we to are to rely SOLELY on Christ our Heavenly Father. 




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