I am certain that God has a great sense of humor. In my mind's eye, I can see him holding his sides, getting a good belly laugh at me, and all my antics. In keeping with that perspective, I have learned to laugh at my own life when I insist that this or that could NEVER be done, then BAM...it's done. Or when I give one of those great Sarah laughs, only to find myself doing the very thing I thought was inconceivable. as a teen, I was never one to take great risks, for fear of failure, or being severely dismembered. I would always choose the "smart route"...which meant safe, familiar, and comfortable. Well, in my thirty years of being a Christian, I have learned that God rarely asks us to take the smart road. Not that God is asking us to make unintelligent choices, rather, He asks us to trust His intellect over our own. You see, we have been so tainted by the world's perspective that the things of God, the things He wants us to do, are foolishness to us. We are such logical creatures that faith has been totally thrown out the window, and when we even consider stepping out of the realm of "ordinary" we are surrounded by critics, naysayers, and people who want to have our heads examined. Let's face it, in today's world, if a man came up to us and said, "Hey, that bush over there...the one that's burning....it just spoke to me!" we would probably walk a little faster, hoping that whatever was wrong with that man was not contagious. I think that's why when God wants us to do something, we are so against the idea of doing it, rejecting even the notion of it. No one likes to look foolish, make mistakes, or be different. On a human level, we all would rather have the accolades of man over their strange looks any day. But even more than that, I desire the accolades of heaven, which are of far greater worth that anything this world has to offer. The last fourteen years, Luis and I have learned several important lessons. Here are a few off the top of my head:

Trust God over man any day-man wavers, God is our rock. ~ Believe what God says about you, not what YOU say about you (or anyone else for that matter). ~ Anything you say can and will be used against you, so best make it right, pure, lovely, etc....

So, here's our next adventure. We have been asked by the district supervisor to pastor a small Hispanic church in Greenville, SC. After much prayer and discussion with our Pastor, we accepted and we are excited! (and also a little nervous). I say that it's a Hispanic church, but to be completely accurate, it has no members. For the last few years, this church has never been able to grow for various reasons. It has never been more than 8 people strong. On the up side, we won't scare the people away! haha...but it is a great opportunity to see what it takes to start a church from the ground up. A task that is not an easy one, for sure. To learn the ins and outs, the logistics of running a church. To allow God to work through us in ways we never imagined. Our kids are just as excited as we are (which is a miracle). We have our first service on September 5, so I'll keep everyone posted on what God is doing. In the meantime, please pray for us, our family, and for God's will to be done in all that we put our hand to do.