Revival

We had a fantastic weekend. Our home church held a revival, and we were able to attend all four services. Anyone who knows anything about our schedule knows what a miracle that is. Between Jesse's work and playing on Sunday mornings, it was absolutely God who allowed us to be fully present for these meetings. We were so excited to get to be able to participate in a whole weekend of activities. It was very much needed, too.

I didn't realize how tired we get serving. Or, how tired I get, anyway. We sit in with Mom and the kids on Wednesday night, and we play on Sunday mornings, and even though we're in service for the preaching then, I'm tired, physically tired, from waking up early and getting ready and then practicing for an hour and a half. By the time preaching starts, I'm mostly just listening, not actively participating. It was awesome to just have a couple of days where no one was depending on us for any portion of the service, where we didn't have to do anything but sit and soak it up. We did, and it was amazing. So refreshing. I felt that way after the tornado, too, those first few Sundays especially. We were so tired, physically, emotionally, spiritually, that coming together in God's house, worshiping together, just being able to rest in Him, it really gave me the strength I needed to continue.

This weekend, though...we are praying through some things, but we are so excited about the message God has brought to us. Oh, how lazy we are, how often we pass up opportunities to share about Jesus. I'm not bold. I've never been bold, and it's hard for me to share Jesus. I hate that about myself, but I am working on it. It shouldn't be so hard. After all, most people know within 5 minutes about my illness. Why then can't I tell them about the One who sustains me through it? Pray for us as we seek God concerning this. It isn't that we don't want to be bold. It's just...well, we're maybe a little chicken.

Another thing I long for is that I won't even NEED to tell people about Jesus. I will, of course, but I want so much for my life to be so that people can look at me and just KNOW what's important in my life, the reason I'm different. I pray that I am different, that it's not something I have to try so much at.

I want to work on learning Scripture. I want to be the kind of girl who can quote passages off the top of her head. My mom and my MIL can both do this. They barely need their Bibles in church. So, if you have any tips for really absorbing Scripture in this way, I'd LOVE to hear them.

Oh, how we long for more of Jesus. How we long for Him to consume our every thought, our every breath. We want our lives to be purposeful, to be about helping further God's kingdom, not about ourselves. More than anything, we want that. When the tornado hit, I began praying for revival. Not extra church meetings, real spiritual awakening. I know that personally, I have seen some of that, but we are praying that this is the beginning of a fire that spreads through our community, our state, our nation, our world. Oh, grant it, Lord Jesus. Let it start here.