a view on success

Success, I've learned, has little to do with the performance of God's will. Sometimes we fail because of our own stupidity or shortsightedness, and we must learn lessons from our own mistakes. Sometimes we fail because of someone else's failure, or because there was too much rain or too little rain. In these cases, there are no corrective lessons to be learned.

Success is not an automatic consequence of obedience. "A righteous man falls seven times and rises again" (Proverbs 24:16). Saint and sinner alike must take their lumps and go on to the next risk. But for the believer there is one guarantee. We have a dependable God who made a trustworthy commitment that no matter what happens -- success or failure -- he will use it for ultimate good.

Robert D. Lupton, THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM: CELEBRATING THE GOSPEL IN URBAN AMERICA

Full Time Ministry

Bill's officially full time starting tomorrow w/ the church. What a trip. On paper, we totally look like crap & yet, we feel now's the time. We're going to be stretched betond belief over the next few months as God takes us to a deeper level of faith & trust. Keep us in prayer...

Contentment

Honestly, I don't know what my problem is. I am rarely content. I think in almost every circumstance I could find something else that could be tweeked and then made "perfect." I seriously don't know what my problem is. My thing right now is absolute dissatisfaction with my house. I'm sick of it and I want to move. No particular reason. I just think that somewhere else would be better.

I sometimes wonder what is it about my past that makes me so critical. And if it's just part of my personality, how annoying that God used those ingredients in my recipe!