This morning I was in John 10, in preparation for preaching
at a nursing home tomorrow afternoon. There,
in v. 3 Jesus “calls his sheep by name and leads them out… he goes before them,
and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”
Jesus goes before his sheep.
He doesn’t send them on ahead of him, nor does he send them places where
he hasn’t gone, to see how they will fare; to intervene only if they get in
trouble. No, he goes before his sheep;
and they follow him. So that his sheep only
go places where he has already been.
Our family has gone places since our last post here. We sold our house in Mount Pleasant, and have
moved back to where it all began—at least for Priscilla! We have moved into the house where Priscilla
grew up.
It was a long process to get here, and we weren’t quite sure
we ever would. Last winter Priscilla’s
sister, who inherited the house, made plans to move out of state. Prior to that we had prayerfully determined
that it would be best for us to move closer to our PIR (Pastor-in-residence)
church, (1) so that we could become more involved there, and (2) to make it
easier for us to “start over,” as it were, in a new place. For that we needed a place, and this opened
up that possibility. Yes, it needs some
renovation, and some TLC—but that would give me (Wendell) employment when the
electrical work is slow.
So in May we put our house on the market, intending to move
in time for the new school year. By July
no firm offer had come; we decided it was not going to sell, and began to make
plans to stay there for this school year.
A day or two later, we had an offer on the house that looked very
viable. The kicker was: we had to
install a new septic system at our house.
Through a great deal of uncertainty and a fair amount of
expense (some of you followed that with our ever-changing moving dates!) we
finally arrived at the move on September 10!
The children were two weeks into the new school year (for those two
weeks we drove them 35 minutes to their new school every day), but God brought
us here.
It is impossible for us to exaggerate how much the body of Christ
meant to us in the move, and the time leading up to the move. Brothers and sisters prayed us through it all,
then chipped in to clean the new house and pack up the old; leading up to the
moving day when so many helped us move.
We were blessed beyond measure by the kindness of all. If you were there—thank you!
We are getting settled in, and are hopeful that we can begin
in earnest the second part of the PIR program (see previous posts): getting
back into ministry activities, and taking steps toward future ministry, all bathed in prayer.
As one friend and mentor has repeatedly said, no matter what
you end up doing, God wants your heart: that is the goal, to offer your heart
to him, “promptly and sincerely.” (John Calvin).
So we journey on with the PIR program, Lord-willing focusing
less on the details of the move, and more on ministry opportunities and
service.
Finally, in addition to your prayers, let me make one more
request: with the move and all that stuff, we are a little behind in
income. The PIR program is supported by your
investment in us, and so we ask for your support. You may make tax-deductible contributions
designated for “PIR” to “Community Evangelical Free Church,” at 52 S Brick Ln.,
Elverson, PA 19520.
We are so grateful for Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Unbelievably marvelous, he laid down his life
for his sheep, for the sinful likes of us.
Love beyond degree, the hymn writer says truly.
