Words of Blessing - HCOC

Long time since my last post. Crazy!

The power of the spoken word is amazing. I feel compelled to bless others through my words more regularly. Stumbling across some powerful written prayers recently, I desire to spend more time writing out prayers and blessings. I start with a blessing for our congregation at Huntsville Church of Christ. It is one that mimics the blessing Isaac made over Jacob in Genesis 27:27-29.

"Wow! What an amazingly gracious and forgiving people who truly know how much the Lord has forgiven them!

May the Lord work his powerful character among you all and bountifully increase the number of His people.

May whole communities come to you to learn about and participate in the Lord's work.

May all kinds of people find in you a love so great and abundant that all receive the blessing of life with God Almighty.

May you take advantage of the Lord's blessing you and actively pursue greater understanding of Him.

May He sustain you and protect you always."

Wrestle God

I am excited about the semester! Who knows what plans the Lord is about to unfold? My prayer is that I have the courage to empower students to experience God in powerful ways. I pray that God move in such a way that when looking back one cannot help but say, "That was God!"

Tomorrow we begin our semi-leadership retreat. I say "semi-" because I haven't advertised it as a leadership retreat at all. This retreat is a small step toward one of my major goals this year: to develop a team of students committed to lead other students closer to God's heart! This will take a major investment of my time and energy.

I have even considered not doing the discipleship group for this year in an effort to streamline some of my time and energy. This is the time that I wrestle with God in what to choose. Where do I spend my time? What good, wholesome things do I choose not to do? What will have God's blessing? What should I avoid? What do I teach? Dare I say, like Jacob, "I will not let you go unless you bless me?" We will see.