Home for the Holidays

This year is Christmas with my family in PA. Paul and I attended church Sunday morning and after quickly packing the car and eating left over beef stew, we hit the road with our dog Ernie for the 12 hour trip.

When we left SC it was a beautiful sunny blue sky day in the low 50s. It was hard to believe that we would be driving thru snowy terrain, but in just a few hours we were in a winter wonderland. Washington DC had been hit hard and the roads were not well plowed. Three lane roads had only the middle lane cleared and the two side lanes were only half cleared. We saw cars in the most unusual positions due to the snow. It was a constant reminder to us that we needed to drive slow and pray often. We had people praying for us and by God's grace, Paul and I arrived in PA at 2am Monday morning.

Our visit has been very relaxing and fun so far. We had dinner with our old bible study and had a great time catching up with old friends. It was wonderful to hang out with them and in a lot of ways it felt just like old times. We laughed and ate well Monday night. Tuesday we spent the morning with our friends Peter and Rebbecca and their three children and at night we visited our friends Skot and Becca and their dog Elvis. We also skyped with my sister Sarah and her husband Will.

Many conversations have revolved around church this week and it's amazing how no matter if you are in Italy, South Carolina or Pennsylvania, some things are always the same. The church is full of sinful people and every church has it's quarks and things we would like to change about it. But in every circumstance we are called to be godly people. That might look different depending on where we live and therefore we are encouraged to pray for God's wisdom. I have been memorizing and meditating on this verse lately and I think it has been quite fitting with all the 'church' conversations we've been having:

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14)

I am encouraged to remember that through all the 'church' stuff, the good, the bad and the ugly, the important thing to remember is that God had brought salvation, and that he wants his people to be single minded, focused on glorifying himself by being godly. I might not always be able to change the church, but I can change my attitude towards it. Let me live a godly life.

Granite and "cousin Ernie from the south" have provided hours of entertainment for the whole family. We hope you enjoy the pictures.