I’m BAAAAACK!

Not that I should expect you to care.  I think my last post was November 21st.  Very sad.  I’m a hack…very NOT like my friend Laurie.  She might ignore her blog for a week or so and feel like she’s committed a mortal sin.  But she’s really got something to offer.  She is an exceptionally gifted writer and a godly woman whose blog serves countless ladies with a wonderfully rich diet of the gospel.  No one would miss my mundane posts.  At the same time, I feel convicted at having ignored it.  I guess if there is even a scrap of anything in my life that can serve someone, particularly where it pertains to God’s faithfulness, I simply must share.

So I’m back.  For better or worse.  Setting aside time out of my busy day to blog about…my busy day.  Boring? Yes.  But still a continual testimony of God’s mercy toward me.

My husband and I just returned from a marriage retreat entitled “Marriage and the Mercy of God”.  What an excellent time!  The messages (1 by Dave Harvey, 2 by Paul Tripp, and 1 by Aron Osborne) were all so encouraging and faith-building.  You can download them if you want by going to www.mercy4marriage.org.  Whether your marriages are rocky or sound, or anywhere in between, these messages will breathe fresh life and faith into them.  

This retreat was a wonderful reminder of the need to extend mercy to one another, just as God has extended infinite mercy toward us.  We each married sinners, right?  Having skillful pastors open up what mercy looks like in marriage was very timely for us.  Thankfully we have a good marriage.  But it’s not perfect.  We sin against each other every day and need God’s example of mercy toward us to deal with each other’s weaknesses.  Such rich teaching–what a blessing!

Besides the great teachings we received, we simply had a blast being there.  It was one of those conferences that will stick in our minds as having been done really well.  Not a detail was left unattended.  And thankfully there was more time in the schedule to actually apply the stuff being discussed in the messages.  Though the last marriage retreat there was wonderfully done, a big “oops” was that it was too brief and had a very full schedule.  It fell under the category of “too much of a good thing”.  But this one was just right (as though I’m somehow qualified to judge).  An added bonus was that we got to see our dear friends from Brooklyn who were also attending.  Other familiar faces blessed us as well. Fun times.

We had a bit of a drive to get there (from Akron, Ohio to Hershey, PA).  It should’ve taken 5-1/2 hours or so to get there and it took us 7.  The ride home was even longer.  Amazingly it took us about 8 or 9 hours to get home.  Of course that includes sitting down for a dinner meal (but we ate lunch on the way out so it should have been similar).  I won’t mention any names about who had to go to the bathroom every 1/2 hour or so but you know who you are  Many “road trip moments” occurred which will be fun memories for us and the couple we rode with (our Sr. Pastor & his wife).

So, to wrap this up (because I’ve rambled on a bit), I’ll summarize:  1) I’m committed to being faithful with my blog; 2) you should consider getting the messages from the marriage conference; and 3) don’t go on a road trip with anyone who has a weak bladder. 

One other fun thing you should do: look up “The Don’t Song” by Johnny & Chachi on YouTube.  They played it at the conference and we laughed and laughed.

It’s good to be back.  I pray God will shape my words and thoughts so that they are a reflection of His continual kindness and mercy to me.