Whoops... been a while

Wow, it has been a while since I posted. Please forgive me. God has been working in my life more than I could ever have imagined.
I could not say that God has commanded me to be silent. It just seems to have worked out that way. I got a gentle nudging to post so here I am.

There has certainly been a lot going on. Our church got its tent up and we have been meeting there on Sunday Mornings. The service has changed to 10:30 AM (was 9:30) due to the cold weather as we need to warm the tent up hours before starting service. Last Sunday we could see our breath as we sang! Brrr! Don't think I have seen a pastor with a beanie and gloves on while preaching the Word either!
There was a terrible forest fire near us in August. There were two huge fires that threatened the Aeneas Valley for over a month, the Tunk complex and the Northstar complex. Both were south of the valley, but from the east and west sides and were about to meet. God showed up. The firefighters were amazed that the fire would threaten the ridges that would allow the fire to overtake the valley and the flames would die down as if not allowed to go further. Many of us evacuated as the valley was on level 3 evac notice. That means get out now.
We left and gave it to God. Our travels are a story in and of themselves which I will not go into here. Let's just say that God was with us in every step, along every mile and with every situation. Praise the Lord! All is well in the valley as the fire went around the sides of us. Others were not so lucky and need our prayers and help.

Frontier Hubby (FH) and I took a break from Growth group meetings. These are discipleship meetings to help others grow into small group, home-meeting leaders. Awesome time of fellowship and learning how to incorporate God into our lives!

We are starting growth group meetings again. Just one. We said we had thought about it and a bunch of people said, "How about Thursday?" People are hungry for God and fellowship.

In the next few months, FH and I are looking to start a marriage solidarity group. It's purpose is to bring couples together stronger than ever. It is a Christ centered ministry. FH and I have experienced a tremendous leap in the strength of our marriage (it was spiraling downwards) as we have put God first and gotten some good information. This helps to mend us more and more into the oneness mentioned in the Bible. We expect the sessions to be about four months long if we meet weekly for 2-4 hours. No start date or curriculum is finalized.

There are announcements being made this Sunday at the church. Important ones. Please be there if you can. For location and other church related info, visit avefc.org.

May you find all things new in Him, Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving

Growth Group

We attend a very small frontier church (imagine that) here in Aeneas Valley. For over a year now, they have instituted a small group study based on the sermon the previous Sunday. Our group has 5 adults attending regularly. This intimate group allows for some deep discussion and vulnerability between us. The activity is very useful and there is much growth and a bonding in fellowship.
There is another small group meeting at the far end of the valley with the same basic discussions and hopefully similar outcomes. If you would like to see the video from last Sunday, we post sermons weekly on Vimeo click here.  It would be the one dated 2105-02-01, We are currently going through Mark a few verses at a time. Last Sunday was Mark 1:14-20. The church's website is at avefc.org
We had a great discussion in growth group on a question that asked if the way Jesus calls us today is any different from the way he called His disciples to become "fishers of men" and how it is different. It generally ran that there is no difference, but then nuances started showing up. There was no right or wrong answer, just discussion to see how everyone thought about it.

Before long, we ended up in a discussion about healing from God. A friend is very sick and in the hospital. We pretty much agreed that it was something we were interested in being involved in and prayed for God to show us more in this regard after praying for our friend who is 24 and has cancer. (We love you M.)
Long ago I was told a person's faith is all it takes for a healing to take place. I think there is more to it than that. God is sovereign and his will trumps all. A friend stated that the eulogy at her husband's funeral was the key to the conversion of a number of people to Christ. Although she wishes he was still here, God knew that in her husband's death, the eternal importance of salvation trumped his healing.
Still, I feel there is something I am missing and maybe part of that is my own feelings of getting in the way or fear that God won't show up. These are things for me to pray about and learn to get over myself. I think God has much more for me than I have any idea about. That is exciting!
May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ frontierChristiaLliving.blogspot.com