Greetings from Austin Street

Happy Tuesday!  All is well here at 811.  What a wonderful day! First the weather was amazing. Next a sweet young couple, the best man a Travis’ and Sarah’s wedding and his lovely wife delivered a beautiful healthy, perfect son. And finally to end our day, we met our nephew who lives in North Carolina at the airport for a brief time. We had dinner from Jason’s Deli on top of luggage overturned luggage crates used as a table, eating in the floor and catching up as quickly as possible before his connecting flight. It was a wonderful day! Please pray for this new little family and for a safe flight for our nephew as he heads for Seattle.

Dear God, whatever I can do to deepen my life in you is a great and rich blessing. I ask you to help me understand scripture more, to increase my prayer life, to help others and to worship with my whole being.  Thank you for this new little life in Ryder Watson.  Help his Mom and Dad to teach him and be taught by you how to be his parents. As they learn to love this little one may their love for each other increase and may they find a new and renewed awareness of your presence in their lives. Thank you Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

One of my favorite moves is Evan Almighty.  It is a modern day story of Noah.  Noah’s (Evan’s) family leaves him due to the pressure of the ark being built over 28 lots in their neighborhood. God played by Morgan Freeman shows up at the diner where Evan’s wife and sons have stopped for dinner. In their conversation God makes some pretty powerful theological statements. God (Morgan Freeman) tells Mrs. Noah that when you ask for patience God does not zap you with patience. God gives you something in which you learn patience.  I you ask God to bring you closer together as a family God does not zap you with loving, caring thoughts about your family. God puts you on a journey that will cause the closeness of your family to be forever bonded.  Neither of these things happens quickly, but slowly and over a period of time. 

When we ask for spiritual growth we need to help that growth along with God guiding us along the way. We can only grow spiritually as far as we are willing to work in the spiritual areas of prayer, worship, service and study. When we put these acts of piety into our lives we grow spiritually because this is how we learn about God. When we nurture these acts of prayer, service, study and worship God will flourish them in our lives and our relationship with God grows.  When we put these disciplines into practice in our daily lives the choices we make and the goals we set become well defined in the will of God. Determined intentionality, disciplined practice is a vital to our spiritual growth and growing in relationship with God.

“Jesus said, ‘My Father has never stopped working, and that is why I keep on working.”

John 5: 17

Take joy in the journey praying as you go. Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene