God's Faithfulness

We had a great time at the Brethren National Conference.  2 things happened while we were there that has me excited about where God has us going. 1st, Beth got a job with Axia College on Friday.  She will be teaching classes online so she will be able to stay home with Maggie and work at the same time.  We have been praying for online classes for her for a while now.  God's timing is impeccable. 2nd, while at the conference the Executive Director of the denomination laid out the new vision for the denomination.  What excited me about the vision is that they are beginning to steer the whole denomination toward a missional paradigm.  If that doesn't make since to you, I am sure you can google "missional" and get a million pages on the subject, but the short of it is..."To be missional is to align one's life with the redemptive mission of Jesus in the world."  Missionaries to other countries are not the only one on a mission...all believers are called to be a part of God's mission.  You may think this sounds like a 'no-brainer', but this kind of thinking changes the focus of a church.  From what I have gathered about the Brethren church as a whole is that they have been inwardly focused.  A new day is here and we must become outwardly focused.  If people believe they are on a "mission from God" (Blues Brothers reference intended!), it will change the way they live their lives! Again, God's timing is impeccable.  I was excited about my visit to the church in Florida back in February because they were thinking along these same lines.  When we did not get that Job, we were disappointed.  But the reality is that God is good and He knew what He was doing when burdened the hearts of the Brethren national leadership and He knew that I was going to be a part of the west coast arm of the movement.  That thought is exciting and intimidating at the same time.  I am sure that Joshua 1:9 will be ringing in my ears a lot!