Prayer of Saint Francis and me

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

A House, For Real?

Even just a year ago I pictured myself preparing to enter an overseas mission field right now. It's interesting what happens in the course of a year. It's been a crazy one. I could write about it for hours, but I'd rather tell you about it over coffee. One thing's for sure, a year ago I said I would never own a house. Not because I didn't think I could, but because I didn't want to be tied down to a mortgage. Debt inhibits us from going when God says go. Yet here I am in October of 2011 owning a home and not preparing to go overseas. After a long inner-struggle over what to do, it became quite clear that God was calling me to stay in West Michigan for a while. Then, to make a very long story very short, He blessed me with a mortgage free house.

Unfortunately, this house has consumed my life in the past three weeks. Moving in, and all the little projects that go with it, has been more than a full time job. In the meantime I still don't have a job and I've really lost sight of my priorities. There are three reasons why I'm here. First, God said so. Second, Tyler and Alex are here and I'd like to continue to mentor them. Third, I'm here to minister to my neighbors. I need to straighten out my priorities and get to these things. This probably means that certain projects on the house will take longer than hoped.