Have you ever heard God speaking to you, and just KNEW it was Him, but you didn't respond? (I'm fairly certain that's a run-on sentence, but I'm so tired right now that I really don't care. Anyone who does care can feel free to send me a corrected version of my sentence and I'll edit my blog. Really. I will. I'm fully aware that in the time it took me to write this I could have made sure my sentence was correct. Again. That would take brain power. Which I really don't care to give right now.)

Anyway. What was I talking about? Oh yeah. Me ignoring God.

I'm reminded of the story of the guy who was stranded on the roof of his house as rising flood waters surrounded him. He prayed for God to save him, but turned down the very people God sent into his life to save him. First a guy in a small boat comes, then a guy in a bigger boat, & then a guy in a helicopter. Each time, he turned down their help saying, "No thanks, God's going to rescue me". As the flood waters nearly overtook him, he cried out to God, "I prayed for you to save me! I thought you were a God of miracles!" God looks down on him from heaven & says, "Look! I sent you 2 boats & a helicopter! What more do you want?"

Sometimes God is so blaringly obvious, that we overlook it thinking it CAN'T be God. I mean, doesn't He part waters & heal the blind & stuff? God doesn't deal in the obvious, common everyday things! Except He does. Everyday. And many times we dismiss Him because it's not big enough or bold enough. God hasn't sent us a personal letter declaring that this word is from Him therefore it can't be.

Except I think He did. It's called the Bible. In there, God promises to provide for all of our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. Needs. Aren't those common? Normal? Everyday? Sometimes might we expect God to provide for those needs in common ways? Like a job? Or a meal from a friend when we're sick? The normal. The common. The everyday.

What is a need? I think a big need for all of us as Christians is fellowshiping with like-minded believers. You know, church. We've been going to a fairly big church in this area. We haven't really made it a point to get involved. The kids go to the kid's church, but beyond that, we're not really involved. And we want to be, but this church is just too big. It's also far away. The 20 minute drive isn't bad on a good day, but add in a Michigan winter day & it's a recipe for us missing church...a LOT...in the winter; especially when some of the worst storms like to come on the weekend. We've been praying for something smaller, something that meets our needs more, something closer to home.

On several different occasions one or the other (or both) of us has had someone recommend a particular church in town. It's a relatively new church (around 2 yrs I'm guessing), but it's got what we're looking for. Up to this point, we've taken recommendations to try that church as just people inviting us to join THEIR church. The problem with that theory is that only 2 of the people who recommended that church actually go to that church. The others have just heard of it & thought it sounded like the right fit for us. Today, a 5th person recommended that church to me. She & her family actually attend that church. But she's the 5th person in about 2 months to recommend that church. Considering that we've only been in town for about 1/2 of those 2 months, that's a fairly high ratio.

I'm thinking we should finally take the boat God's offering us & try this church. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's not God, but what if it is...and we choose not to listen? We're looking for a new church anyway so I think we should give this one a try. I have a sneaking feeling that we're going to really like this church. Maybe it's just me...or maybe it's the fact that God's sent 5 people in as many weeks to tell us about THIS church...and ONLY this church. Did I mention that NO OTHER church has been recommended to us BUT this one. Yeah. We'll be going this next Sunday.

Amy