Peaceful Sunday

I have been blessed with a restful Sunday afternoon! School, the new job, and the new puppy has been taking a toll on me lately. We arrived home late last night from spending the day with Micah's family for his mother's birthday, and were tuckered out. We wanted to just hit the hay when we walked in the door, so the thoughts of the dog crying and howling from her crate was not appealing. So we decided to take the chance of her messing in our bedroom and let her sleep with us. She looked tired, too, so we were only going to get about six hours of sleep anyway, so we thought she could at least make it that long. We were wrong. I awoke at 3:45 am to my lap wet with dog urine. I don't know how she did it, but she peed right on me. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy. She went outside, and Micah and I were too tired to change the sheets, so we just moved to the couches. I don't remember a whole lot from those early morning moments, but I do remember saying, "That dog will be sleeping in her crate from now on."

After sleeping for a few more hours, we arose from the living room and readied ourselves for church this morning. I think it's safe to say now that the church plant we have been attending in Bolivar is not continuing. The church support out of St. Louis withdrew without notice, so next week will be our last week. It was bittersweet this morning. Micah had feelings of, "Why are we even here? It's over." Which are understandable, but I tried to get us through with positive thoughts. Not just to make him and the church members feel better for the moment, but to really step back and see how much control we don't have. This is obviously God's will. There was a reason we went to Bolivar for the few months that we did. It changed our hearts. We now are beginning to think more missionally for the people of our community. A desire to seek out the less fortunate and non-Christ followers all around us has begun in our hearts. I am so very thankful for the community and relationships that we have built in fellowshipping with them since last year. We have learned from each other and grown spiritually from one another. Micah and I were given many opportunities to use our God-given talents to bless the Lord. We were shown a glimpse of how we can impact other peoples' lives when we feel like we don't have much extra to give. I say all this to say, I am so excited to see what the Lord has for Micah and I and the members of what was formerly known as "the Journey-Bolivar".

But back to my relaxing Sunday... I spent a few hours with some group-mates working a class project, which ended up being a lot more laid back and productive than I imagined. We then went home and cleaned up the house for company later that evening. While Micah was leading worship at an evening bible study, I did laundry (specifically, the dirty sheets and comforter from the previous;y mentioned extravaganza), watched some t.v., did some homework and took a mini nap. The dog was asleep the whole time, so I was in heaven. :)

Speaking of the puppy, I don't think she's feeling very well tonight. She was really hyper earlier this evening, then all of a sudden her ears started feeling hot and she got really sensitive. She didn't want to be picked up. She didn't want to be near Micah. She kept coming to me and cuddling up and giving me the puppy dog eyes. She didn't want to play with the cat, and she has never refused some play time in the past. We'll see how a great, uninterrupted, quiet night's sleep will do for her......we only hope.