Miracles do happen...don't they?

I must confess, I am a news and sports junkie. The reason I enjoy them is because they are unpredictable. I have seen miracles take place in both of them lately.
I have been following the story of Jill Carroll who was taken hostage in Iraq. Her family went through days of despair and hopelessness and prayed for a miracle. I am sure Jill did as well. Today she has been set free. Her family received a miracle against all odds.
I love to watch "March Madness". All of the 64 teams invited to the season ending tournament to determine a national championship have the dream of winning. Yet here we are at the end of the tournament with only 4 teams left. One of those teams is George Mason University who were not considered to win. In fact 40 other teams in the tourney were ranked higher. If they can win twice more they will have overcome all the odds and be the national champs. That would be a miracle.
I don't know about you but sometimes it seems the miracles happen to someone else. I can focus on all the things that seem to big to oversome. Or I can focus on the miracles I have seen God do in my life in the past and is still able to do.
The scripture tells me nothing is impossible for God and that gives me hope. Lord knows that we need a miracle in so many areas.
Please pray for Ruth's brother Deverne as he has gone in for surgery this morning and continue to lift my brother in law Tim as he is having surgery on his second detached retina in the last eight weeks.
To quote Al Michaels of ABC sports, "Do you believe in miracles, YES!!!"

Prayer needs

I am bringing before you some immediate needs for prayer and I ask you to join with me in this.
1. My brother in law Tim had a detached retina fixed about two months ago but this morning he is headed back for surgery as it has detached again.
2. Our cat is going to have kittens in a couple of weeks and she may have complications because she is so small. She is my daughter Erins cat and this is very difficult for Erin.
3. Finances, we need a good month of April as we saw our support drop low this past month. This has occured as I have had too little time to focus on our personal support, I need to make it a priority.
4. Communication between all of us so we can truly hear what each of us is saying.
5. Healing of our physical problems as the pain continues to use up our energy.

Thanks for your prayer in advance.

Pride.... what and why

I was recently meeting with a counselor who shared something very interesting with me. He said that Christians are often the last people to use a counselor because they are worried what other people would say if they knew that person was in counseling. Isn't that interesting?
He shared that the reason people do not want to admit their need for help is because of pride, and yet the Bible says that pride comes before one falls. The truth is as Christians we often face circumstances where we do need help.
I have met so many people in the gulf who were in need of counsel for many reasons. I have met many people in the last few years of ministry who I have counseled with and who required counsel well beyond what I could offer. Today, I find myself in that same position. In need of counseling.
It has been such a challenge to deal with all of the challenges our family has faced over the last few years. I have realized that pride has stopped me from seeking the help I and we need to put into perspective all we are dealing with.
I would ask for your prayers as we begin the process of counseling as we try and find ways to better communicate and cope with our pain on many levels.
Maybe you are like me and your pride has stopped you from getting the counsel you need. I encourage you to move beyond this and begin the process of receiving help from those qualified to give it.
Comments...

Exhausted and overwhelmed

It has been some time since I last posted but I am going to get back to doing it. It has been a very crazy last three weeks. Let me try and summarize this time.
On the 22nd of February I returned to the gulf coast in order to relocate our base, to be close to the action, so to speak. God was so faithful in helping with the transition. As you can imagine, moving is not usually a fun experience but we made it through. We saw Gods favor wherever we went. We were clearly led to Bayou La Batre to set up our base.
We completed the move the end of February and then had just a few days before two teams from Canada arrived to assist in the recovery effort. It was so wonderful to have friendly faces come to help out. But it was a chaotic week. If it could go wrong it did!!! I wont go into details but it meant long hours and little sleep. Thank God for His strength and for my staff.
I flew back home on the 9th of March and had a team from Ontario arrive in Fredericton just a couple of days later. They were a great group of people who came to share Christ with people and they did. We saw one person come to Christ and two university students also showed interest in finding out more about God. In fact one of them came to church with me on Sunday night.
The reality is for me that I have been so busy that I need some down time. I need to invest in my family and put them on the front burner. I would ask for prayer for my family as we move forward. We have lots to catch up on.
We all continue to battle physically and I am feeling the weight of these issues. We are struggling financially. For instance just before heading to the gulf I had a car repair bill of $1300 and while I was away we needed to spend another $400 on the same vehicle. It was money we do not have.
Please pray for us as we keep trusting God for miracles in our family. No one ever said life would be easy, but the Bible does remind me that God is our strength and our hope.