God giveth and sometimes giveth some more

I wanted to praise the Lord, He is so good. We were blessed greatly this week by some folks who visited the Sunday Morning Bible Study last week. They thought we needed some couches to make the coffee shop more inviting... Here is what the Lord provided thru them





As I said in my last post, God has been stretching us way beyond anything we though we could endure. He has also been faithful to go thru every contortion with us. We are blown away by the grace and patience He shows and by the provision. Praise the Lord!

Does God give us more than we can handle?

This last 30 days has been very tumultuous for us. We have been as close to quitting the ministry as we have ever come and seen the wonderful blessing of our God. 2 Cor 1:8-11 says:

For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many. NKJV

If anything describes how I was feeling this last month, it was that. Though I am sure our experiences were nothing compared to the stress and anxiety Paul and his friends must have been feeling when he wrote this. Still, I am thankful that God allowed it, for I know the truth now; and I know from experience how to live thru a difficult time.

As I shared with a few close friends about what was going on I heard over and over "Don't worry, God will not give us more than we can handle." I even quoted that to myself and to God as I prayed. One morning I heard God tell me "Is that what I said?" So I had to go scrambling back to the Word and check it out. Actually 1 Cor 10:13 says:

13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. NKJV

DOh! It said that God will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I am able. With a little more research I found that there is no promise anywhere in scripture that says God will not give us more than we can handle. Which makes sense because If He only gave us situations we could handle, we would never turn to Him. God uses the overwhelming things to drive us to the end of ourselves and into His arms.

Here are a few links, that say this much better than I can. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/indexqid=20071204203240AAIyoTn
http://wadeallen.blogspot.com/2008/01/more-than-i-can-handle.html
http://myderbe.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/giving-us-more-than-we-can-handle/

Its nice to know God was teaching me thru my trial... He is to be praised!

Genesis 19 links

We are going thru Genesis on Sunday morning and last week we talked about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. As promised here are some of the links I found that discuss some of the more recent archeological research on the possible locations of the five cities of the Plains that were destroyed in Genesis 19:

http://www.pinkoski.com/content/view/20/35/
http://www.wyattmuseum.com/cities-of-the-plain-02.htm
http://anchorstone.com/Sodom-Gomorrah/
http://www.bibleplus.org/discoveries/sodomfound.htm

And the award for the worst blogger of 2008 goes too...

Wow, what an honor it is to recieve this highly coveted award, I would like to thank my... what? I am out of time? (wanders off the stage...)

My task today is to catch everyone up on the many things we have been up too since Oct 3rd.

Where to begin...

For those who are interested in what life is like as a bi-vocational Pastor/Coffee Shop owner. I wake up at 4am, take a shower and head to the coffee shop and open up. I like to go in early so I can get some good quiet time, some mornings I get more than others before the caffeine fiends start showing up. Business is pretty steady until about 10:30 or so, after that I do paperwork, pay bills, order stuff, sneak some studying in or play a game. Business picks back up at about 2:30 or so and is somewhat steady until close. Denise is also busy, she shops for me, does a bunch of publishing, comes and covers for me on some days to give me a break, bakes, participates in Ladies Bible study, keeps house and helps Rebekah with homeschooling. We have Bible study on Wednesday Night, so its a long day, but the fellowship is always very refreshing. Saturday we are open 8am to 2pm so I get a few hours off in the afternoon, we can either flake off or do things around the house. Sunday is my Favorite day, we get to worship and have Bible study in the mornings until about 11am. Then its home for lunch and a nap. Denise usually scraps with friends at the shop in the afternoon and I go hang out with Sam and watch football or play games with some of the other guys. We hang out together in the evenings and get to bed early to start the process over again early Monday morning.

Speaking of the Bible Study, we have finally moved it into the Coffee Shop. Our landlord Max is such a great guy, he has allowed us to use some of the un-rented suites behind us for Sunday School at no charge. Praise the Lord!

One of the sadder aspects of ministering in a military town is that people come and go alot. Even though our little Bible study is only a few months old we have already had to say goodbye to Gareth and Irma Burkinshaw. The Burkinshaw's had a very harried October as they completed the CH-47 (Chinook) course, Renewed their wedding vows on the beach in Destin, FL and packed for a move to the frozen wastes of Ft. Drum, NY. We will miss the good times we enjoyed with them worshipping and fellowshipping for the few months they were here. Keep Gareth in your prayers, he will be deploying to Iraq soon, leaving Irma to brave the bitter New York Winter. Stay Warm Irma!

Gareth, Irm and Avah

I asked do ya? They said they did, everyone cheered and then we ate :)

A common site, senior citizens on the beach in Florida

While we said goodbye to one couple also said hello to our son Nathan. In November, Nate moved down to be with us in Enterprise. While the circumstances of his move south weren't the best, we missed him terribly and its wonderful to have that "whole" feeling as a family again. We are getting the full effect of that wholeness with four of us crammed into a 2 bedroom townhouse. Though it was suggested, we didn't banish Nate to the garage. Instead he has claimed the Living Room as his bedroom. This required me to move my computer upstairs and squeeze in between all Denise's crafting stuff. We are adjusting in that uniquely Lane way to being around one another again. Nate is making new friends at Enterprise High School and is looking forward to a second Varsity Soccer season in the spring.

I think that covers the big stuff, I keep telling myself I will be more diligent about keeping you all up to date.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, God is doing some wild and sometimes scary things in our lives these days. It's not easy here, but when my eyes close and my heart settles in those few moments before I drop off to sleep I know He is with us and continuing the work He started. I will praise Him for His greatness, I will lift up His name as the only wise God who sees the end and knows the best way to get there. Our desire is to walk more closely and live more fully in the center of His will and work here in Enterprise. In this we will not be moved.