Dear Friends,

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog. Life here does not get any slower. It has been an adventful week here in Ky. Anna started a one morning per week mothers day out program this past Wednesday and enjoyed it. Two other 3 year olds attend with her. Here are some pictures from her first day.

Anna also routinely likes to dress up in her dress-up clothes. Here she is posing.

This week I got called from our old church that a dear lady, Dot Thurman, died of cancer. I went back on Monday to be a part of her funeral. The Spirit was very presence in the service. Driving there it felt like I had never left the area. It was good to see folks from the church and hear how well they were doing with their new pastor.

This week I have been in Theology of Ministry class. It has been excellent!. Here are some of the key ideas:

• Ministry is not something we do; it is something we enter into what God is already doing. The ministry of Jesus has not ceased but continues through his body. Our challenge in ministry is not to ask God to bless what we are doing but to be a part of what God is blessing and moving around the world. There is a difference between doing things for God and doing what God tells us to do.
• We do ministry not for a congregation but to the Father, through the Spirit for the sake of the world. We do what God wants us to do but not necessarily what the congregation wants from us.
• Mission is not something we do, it is something that began with creation that we join with. Therefore when we serve Christ by ministering to the world, we join the saints around the world as they minister.

This class goes on to next week and as I look to the month ahead, there is much. I take it day by day but am enjoying every day. God bless