Hello to all my readers!

Well, this is it; my Alpha Blog. My first in the world of blogging. I admit that this will stretch me some. A good stretch takes a lot of energy, some weird twist and sometimes crazy facial expressions, but when it is over, you always feel really good! I hope after you experience my blogs that you will feel something good; at least encouraged and perhaps even driven to think a little deeper.

I would call today’s snap-shot of my personal big picture, transitional. I am not in transition, but it seems that a lot of elements that surround me are.

Transition: My youngest daughter just graduated high school; about 10 more weeks home and she moves to Springfield, MO to attend Evangel University. That’s BIG! That’s my baby girl moving six hours away! I have to be honest, it’s been pretty tough on me and Mom. She is enrolled and accepted; scholarships galore (thank you Jesus!); now, dorm room shopping. We’re excited, and a little sad.

Transition: My oldest daughter graduates from Mid-America Christian University in December. She will become an elementary school teacher. We are so excited for her; and then again, I can hardly believe she could be graduating from University. Where has time gone?

Transition: I feel like the church I serve is in a transition. Two steps forward, one step back; and yet, it seems that we are on the edge of what is going to be a tremendous revival. We are praying and planning for it. We are repositioning people, hiring new staff, strategizing outreach opportunities and praying that some of the other gaps will be filled. We know that God has something big in store. Yet, I have to be honest, some of this transition has caused me some pain and some concern. It has forced me to go afraid. It has caused me to use faith that I honestly didn’t know that I had. But we are now beginning to see the pain turn to praise. Brokenness and barrenness is now turning into fruitfulness.

God will always be moving and stretching you. Don’t fight the stretch! Let God mold and make you into what He wants you to be. Have you ever stretched real big, like after you wake up in the morning, and the stretching kind of hurts? Well, God stretching you may hurt just a little, but after the brief adjustment, you are going to feel better than you have in a long while. Let God do what He wants to do in your life. You’ll be better than ever!

“Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?” God’s Decree! “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel.”  Jeremiah 18:6  THE MESSAGE

Happy Days!

Pastor Gene