Coming to the Still Waters

  Furloughs are for walking!  I need to walk for my physical and mental health.  I try to walk wherever I am so I made it around a section while we were in Illinois and snapped this shot of the fields ready for planting.  Physically it helps me because I have always struggled with my weight but it also helps me mentally as I think and pray through things.  I try not to listen to anything like music or podcasts so I can commit more time to prayer when I think of a situation or name God brings to my mind. This furlough also involved the wedding of our last child (3rd in line of 4) to walk the aisle.  Ben and Faith asked me to officiate and I was pleased to do so.  It was a small family wedding with a simple reception that fit Ben and Faith to a tee.  We are so happy for them! We used this family gathering to also be our 2 year family reunion.  We found some cabins that fit the bill for each family and also a common meeting area for meals.  We went to a children's museum; hiking; fish

I really do want to see as many of these Sundays as possible.  Why?  Because it means a local church is at its best by being God's discipleship making machine to the world.  When we gather as brothers and sisters in Christ to love God and each other then the atmosphere is set for Great Commission work to happen. This was the transition/receiving/installation service at Weymouth Community Church in Ohio.  It was Sunday, May 1st, 2022 and the last one I was apart of was on Sunday, January 10, 2021 at the Machias Valley Baptist Church in Maine.  The Scriptures used by me were the same, 2 Timothy 4:1-8 and Titus 2:11-15, but the story was different that found us at this point.  I enjoy telling the story because it allows us again to say and sing, "Behold Our God!" At the end of this blog post I will post my part of the service and then Pastor Chris' part of the service.  You will hear the Scripture and the story and then you will hear Pastor Chris' first words to the