Something I wrote to our PIR group

We are greatly blessed by the PIR team that the church has put together for us.  We met yesterday afternoon, and this morning one of the team members wrote a very encouraging email.  Here is how I replied, and I thought I would post this here for those of you who want to know more how to pray for us.  It was a typical Monday morning today:

I woke up this morning with the blob of fear/anxiety/discouragement ready to descend upon my heart once again.  Uncharacteristically, I went down and told Priscilla, and we prayed together briefly (Priscilla couldn't pray out loud without coughing, aagh, so her prayer was very brief).  God has kept the blob at bay, PTL.  

In my prayer time I read Psalm 81, which says at one point: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.  Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."  God has delivered us from slavery to sin, through the cross.  He promises to fill us.  Thought of the hymn: "Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring."  (The psalm goes on to bemoan that "my people did not listen to my voice."  Alas.)
 I do not think I have ever been in a place where daily, even moment by moment, I experience my need for Christ.  It is not a comfortable place.  My Valley of Vision prayer went like this:
 When thou wouldst guide me I control myself
When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself
When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself
When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself
When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will
When I should study, love, honor, trust thee, I serve myself;
I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself...
Convince me that I cannot be my own God, to make myself happy,
Nor my own Christ, to restore my joy
Nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, rule me.

Thanks for engaging, and do pray for us, as we will for you.  God is good, and he is sovereign, and he is wise.  O for grace to trust him more.

PIR Update

It is now more than four months since my resignation.  In that time Priscilla and I have spent countless hours talking with people, all kinds of people; we have received a lot of compassion, sound counsel, as well as reprimand (not a bad thing) along the way.  A lot of wise people have spoken into our lives to our good benefit.

And now the PIR program has kicked in, the program we are engaged in at our “refuge church.”  Presently the center of that is meeting with three couples from the church who walk through and process with us the last few months, as well as consider what is wise going forward. 

Already Priscilla and I are very grateful we took this step.  As painful as it was and still is to leave behind friends at the church I served, we have been blessed to move to our refuge church (our children do not yet feel that blessing to the same degree, but we trust they will in time).  At the first PIR meeting the three couples told us their stories; at our second meeting this past Sunday Priscilla and I began to tell our respective stories.  At our next meeting we get down to a difficult part: the events surrounding my resignation.  Our meetings have been bathed in the “grace that is greater than all our sin.”  We need that, both for ourselves and to extend to others.  By the way, the material that PIR Ministries put together is excellent.

On another front, after considering many options, it seemed the best way to make a living going forward was through electrical work.  So I am in the process (and with the state bureaucracy, it is a process!) of setting up an electrical business.  That is a skill I learned during college vacations, and have kept up with over the years.  We are praying for enough contacts to keep busy.  Of course, I am always open to other jobs that utilize my other skills (I’m on LinkedIn; you can find me there).  Priscilla is also considering working outside the home, which has other decisions (especially schooling) attached to it.

How can you help?  If you live within shouting distance of Reading, PA, and need something electrical done, or know someone who does, give me a call.  You can also contribute directly to our PIR program by sending a contribution designated “PIR” to Community Evangelical Free Church, 52 S. Brick Lane, Elverson, PA 19520; all donations are tax-deductible.

Above all, please pray for us.  We continue to have a lot of decisions to make, and need wisdom.  Pray for us beginning with Ephesians 1:17ff., wisdom to know the immeasurable greatness of God in the gospel; and the (more situational) wisdom of James 1:5, which God gives generously and without reproach to those who ask (isn’t that a powerful verse!).

Thanks for caring enough to read this.  Drop a line and let us know how we can pray for you, too.