OK, so it turns out that God knew what he was doing all along. (who would have guessed?) Alora didn’t have another ear infection, it was just a cold, which she has so graciously passed on to Heather and myself as proof. So she isn’t one of those luck three percent after all.
It is really strange how God has to get a hold of you sometimes. Last Sunday night after our, soon to be, regular poker game, my wife began to tell me about some of the conversations she and the ladies had while the men were playing. She and Mel (One of our pastor’s wives) were talking about Wildlife (the youth ministry) and the direction things had been going. Mel made the point that I needed to do what I do best and not to try to emulate some of the other styles I had been trying. I didn’t even realize I was doing that but in retrospect I guess I was.
If my wife had said this to me I may have been able to shrug it off, and apparently I wasn’t hearing God say it myself so I had to have it this way. I am glad for people who care enough about you to say what you need to hear and not always what you want to hear. This past Sunday I was able to really be myself again and although I hadn’t realized that I wasn’t being me before, I could certainly see it now, and it feels so right to be back. The great thing is I am not the only one who noticed the difference. Several of my students and leaders made comments to the effect. I am so glad for a God who doesn’t give up when you get out of line.
So I am reading this book “The Charismatic Century” (Than you Mr. Harvey) about the history or the Pentecostal or Charismatic church, which is all relatively new to me. It is very interesting to find out where your culture comes from and the struggles of the people that have come before you. The one thing that has bound all pentecostals together, despite all of their other differences and disagreements, is a strong belief in the power of the Holy Spirit to act in the life of a believer.
I suppose I need to ask myself in this situation, where has that belief gone in my own life? I still believe in the power of God’s spirit in theory but I don’t live with a consistent expectation of his power in my life. Maybe it is one of those fluxations people go through in life. You don’t even realize you are going a certain direction until you are a good deal off your intended direction. Well, after a good deal of time in prayer I am changing my direction.
We found out today that our daughter is one of the 3% of kids who still get ear infection after they have tubes but in their ears. It is a terribly frustrating experience. Please continue to pray with us as we try to figure out what to do. We can at least use ear drops to clean out the infection now instead of filling her with antibiotics but she HATES them so it has been a bit of a struggle.
