Life Unexpected

I'm amazed that Mary said yes.  I found myself sitting in church this morning wondering if I would have done the same.  Would I have said yes?  If the angel would have appeared in my bedroom at the age of 14 or 15, would I have had the courage to say yes?  I want to say I would, but the reality is, even at 37 years of age, "saying yes" to God is sometimes like taking this blind leap of faith in hopes that in the end a parachute will appear (as our Pastor described it to us this morning).  I guess that's what really strikes me most about Mary.  She didn't just say yes.  She said it with a confidence.  She said it as though she knew a little about this God who could do the impossible. Sometimes I wish that the things that God asked us to do felt a little more like jumping off the first step and a little less like jumping out of an airplane...wondering if the parachute really works. Last Thursday, Nate and I found ourselves on a conference ca...

The past 8 months of my life have seemed to move faster than I can keep up.  I don't know if there are shorter hours in the day when you live in New England, but it has certainly felt that way since we moved here.  Moving is hard work (see my blog post on  Transitions ).  You're constantly working on forming new relationships, establishing yourself wherever you go, jumping into everything, and if you are like me, you tend to live life fuller than full so you don't miss a beat.  You experience a million emotions and just when you think you have them under control, something reminds you that you don't!  Moving kind of flips your world upside down for a bit. That being said, I have epically failed at blogging these past several months.  Seriously...if I were in a blogging class I would have an "F" right now.  So here is my feeble attempt to fill in the gap and catch you up on life, ministry, and the endless Sawtelle adventures. The Move:  ...