Coming Home!

I'm so excited to be back in the office later this week and preaching this coming Sunday!  In some ways it seems like we just left and in others, it feels like we've been gone for a very long time.

We can't wait to see everyone and to be worshiping with our own church family.  I've compared it to being on vacation.  It's fun and exciting to be away but we usually can't wait to be back in our own home, sleeping in our own bed, and getting back into the routines that we are used to.  Sabbatical is both refreshing as well as a bit disorienting.

Wendy has said it feels like we're church shopping every week, yet we're not looking for a new church (Praise the Lord for that!).  It's been a blessing to have the privilege of worshiping with other churches but with each passing week, we have longed more and more to be back with our own church family.  There's truly no place like home.

I've preached the last two weekends at HRC but it has been at two different weddings, not at Sunday Worship, so it will be amazing to preach and be in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Yesterday was our last church visit as we worshiped at Covenant PCA in Holland.

We have been so grateful for this Sabbatical but look forward to finally seeing everyone this Sunday!

Our Growing Family

 Sorry it's been a while since I posted but it's been a really busy few weeks.  Another Wedding is in the books!  Micah and Abby were married on Friday and it was an amazing day and a great privilege to officiate at their ceremony.  We even had the rehearsal dinner at the farm where my mom grew up! (Woodloft Barn in Burnips).  We are looking forward to how God will use Micah and Abby to accomplish His purposes in the future.  And what a blessing to have both of our married children choose to attend HRC. I keep thinking I'm way too young to have two married children until I look in the mirror.  

And all of a sudden, we'll be back next Sunday and I'll be preaching at HRC.  I can't wait for us to be back with our own church family.

On June 8, we attended my parent's church (Faith Reformed Church in Zeeland) where they showed a professionally developed video summarizing the 40 years of missionary work they did among the Tzotzil indigenous people of Chiapas.  It's a highlight for a church to send a family into the mission field and celebrate with them over 40 years later.  

We've now attended 4 different church plants during my sabbatical.  This past Sunday we visited a good friend's church plant in Kalamazoo and then spent the day with them.  They do an excellent job of welcoming those on the fringes and intentionally serving the underprivileged within their own community.

This weekend I will officiate at another wedding at church and then it's sermon prep time for my first Sunday back on June 29.  We are so excited to no longer feel like we are church shopping each week.  For those who have done that, I now understand the feeling of displacement and inconsistency.

It's also been a rich experience to daily read through "Piercing Heaven" which is a book of Puritan  prayers and also devotionally work my way through the Psalms.

Home Projects and Family

The last few weeks has been marked by some studying, some premarital counseling, family wedding preparations and a lot of work on home improvement projects both at our home and Micah and Abby's new home.  It's hard to believe the wedding is only 11 days away!

Also, we finally decided to tear out our deck and start over since it was becoming a bit of a hazard.  We also spend time working on Micah and Abby's new house (with a serious case of poison ivy mixed in!)

I've also spent time developing a list of podcasts for people who have idle time during the day or have hours of "windshield time".  It started as a project aimed toward the men of the church but has developed into a broader list of resources, sermons and podcasts for men, family, and parenting.

We so miss our church family, yet it has been refreshing to worship with different congregations in the area, including two PCA church plants.

I will say I could get used to sharing a cup of coffee with my wife in the mornings, doing devotions together, going to church with her and actually sitting with her during the whole church service!  What a blessing... husbands, don't take that for granted!