So, how was your week?

In the past, Paula and I have enjoyed listening to "A Prarie Home Companion" on the radio. Every week, the host would tell long, rambling stories about an imaginary place in central Minnesota that would always begin with pretty much the same way with a comment about his hometown. Well, it been a great week here at ILC, our hometown (of the moment). We have just completed our extended quiet times with the Lord. On Saturdays we spend about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours alone with God working on our relationship with Him. This morning, for example, I spent a lot of time looking at Bible verses and talking with Him about the words we use to describe Him; I spent time finding verses that include "Bless the Lord" and I spent time confessing several attitudes I have held onto for far too long. By that time, I had spent nearly the entire time I had planned to spend with the Lord . . . but God. I spent a long time in prayer for my supervisors and teammates.

Our week was filled to almost overflowing with adminstrative things. We had sessions on payroll and taxes and our personality types and how to work as a team. We learned that our first term on the field "could be challenging." We even had interviews about how we can use our spiritual gifts and and the way God made us to work better on a team. In our small group, we have been practicing how we can relate stories to life and God with the folks we will encounter on the field as a means of bringing God to them and them to faith in God.

We learned a lot about faith and praying without ceasing during the final class of the week. This particular session was longer than several of our other sessions combined. All of the presenters during this last class were caring, knowledgable and passionate about what they were presenting. Their varied use of different learning and teaching styles easily made their class one of the best we have had. We had 2 practical tests as a group during the class. One was sort of a pre test and the other was a post test. The results of the post test validated not only that we had we had remained awake during the class but that we had REALLY learned the material
;~{b)

Please Pray for us from 2 Timothy 1:6-9:

Pray that Paula and I will fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave us for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. Pray that we will never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. Pray that with the strength God gives us, that we will be prepared to suffer, if necessary, for the sake of the Good News. Pray that we will live a holy life for which God saved us and to which God called us; not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time—to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.

Stay tuned to this channel for our next exciting episode.