God's Provision

Do you ever feel like it's so hot and humid you can barely think?  That's how it's been around here.  We either sit inside with the windows and curtains closed, running the 3 window a.c. units we have, and trying not to move so we don't sweat any more than we have to...or we go quickly out to the car and crank the a.c. until we aren't melting, and go from one air conditioned place to another just to keep my brain partly functioning.  I don't know why I feel like my brain is full of mud when it's hot!?  It doesn't look like there's any scheduled reprieve coming within the 10-day forecast, either.  Although...Jeremy and I were commenting the other day how it would seem glorious if we were sitting on a sandy beach looking over clear blue ocean in these same temperature conditions.  Interesting.  Although, on the beach, utter laziness and lack of deep thinking seems acceptable.  Ha!


Well, while we've been thinking about how to stay cool, we've also been praying and working on PoC launch team projects.  Over the weekend PoC held a yard sale fundraiser.  Many families donated items, and we had more "stuff" than we could sell.  The five of us helped set up Thursday night in the heat.  Honestly, going through other people's dusty "junk" in 100-degree humid conditions doesn't seem like it would be fun, but we were joyful in our work.  It is fun to work with our friends, and it is fun to work for our church, and most of all it is fun to work for the Lord--no matter what that looks like!

We left the sale site about 10pm Thursday, and Jeremy was back there before 6am Friday to help finish setup.  Basically, only large items were priced, and everything else was sold for $.50.  Sunday night at our launch team meeting, Lorrie told about how God urged her to pray continually through the sale...sometimes she prayed to raise $100 in an hour, sometimes something else specific, and God answered each of her prayer requests above and beyond throughout the sale.  As she came forward to talk about the sale, she asked for 19 people to trust her and give her $.50 from their pocket right then during the meeting.  After people finished coming forward, she thanked them for trusting her, and announced that as of that moment we had raised $1401.75 from the sale!  We're praising God for every cent!

Last Sunday night, Kim testified during our worship service about how God has provided for their family during this time where they stepped out in faith to obey God's calling to plant a church.  While PoC is already a self-supporting church, obviously Pastor Todd took a big financial risk for his family to do this, and his salary is not what it was before.  But, as he and Kim are quick to tell anyone, God has been providing generously for them and they've not wanted for anything.  Last week a large check came from friends who stipulated they could use it either for their family needs or for the church plant.  They prayed about it, and God told them it was to be used for the church.  Then their refrigerator broke.  Not fixable.  Died.  They didn't have money to buy an expensive new refrigerator, so they prayed and asked God what to do.  They still felt that check was for church needs, and continued to trust that God would provide for the refrigerator somehow. Well, as they were cleaning and going through their basement work space to find items to donate to the church yard sale, they found an envelope tucked in a corner.  In the envelop was $887 cash.  Now, who could even try to say that is not God's provision!? Glory to God!!

Our church plant process is full of these stories of God answering prayer, providing, blessing.  It is hard work, yes, but so worth it!  (Our prayer director, Celia, has written more about in her most recent blog post too.)  At the same time we are working hard to obey God's calling, the devil is working hard to try and stop us.  He is a deceiver, and he tries to discourage us and make us tired, but we won't have it!  We are determined to lift high the name of Jesus!  We are a church grounded in prayer, and committed to studying God's word and remaining in His presence!

This week, a few of our families made the decision to pull back from the launch team.  None of them made the decision easily or without prayer, so it is okay.  They all are still friends of PoC, but have heard from the Lord and cannot be as involved as they feel is needed, or that God needs them more somewhere else right now.  We are grateful for the help they gave, and pray God will continue to work through them in the places he has called them.

To that end, I have been asked to be PoC's new Administrative Assistant.  I feel God is calling me to meet that need in our church, so I am excited to accept the responsibilities.  I will attend my first staff meeting today!

Another story of God's blessing in our church happened this week...A family who is expecting a baby found out recently that the baby has hydrocephalus--water pockets on his brain--which causes concern for the need of a C-section at delivery and a great danger to the baby.  Upon this diagnosis, doctors predicted that baby would need surgery after being delivered.  PoC has been praying for this wonderful family and their unborn baby, pleading with God to heal him before he is born.  Yesterday, they returned for their last ultrasound before delivery and found that one of the water pockets has actually decreased  in size, and the other has not grown.  Baby's head was ahead of growth schedule before, but had not increased in size since the last ultrasound.  Their specialist now thinks momma will be able to deliver naturally and that baby may not even need surgery!!  They immediate sent an email to the whole church launch team asking us to join them in praising God for what he has done!  And we do!!

"... And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." 

- 2 Corinthians 4: 15 - 18  NLT