We've Hit Our Stride

We feel like we’ve hit our stride for the first time since we’ve been in Pennsylvania. One of the prophetic words that came to us through our Bishop almost exactly six years ago was that the Lord was going to adjust our pace.

A lot has happened to bring that into our reality. Now we’re in that certain stride that you recognize as a distance runner that will carry you throughout the remainder of the race. I know it well because I used to jog almost every day in the summer heat of St. Louis, Missouri. That was back when I was only 16 and 17 years old. I would set a pace that flowed with the rhythm of my heart, lungs and legs. Often I would have a tune in my head as I ran. It was an awesome feeling.

Today, even though the body can’t do what it used to do, in the spiritual realm I feel that same way. The last few adjustments seemed like minor things, but they have become major factors. One adjustment was moving our weekly meetings from the cafeteria to the conference room that sits next door to our ministry office.

We first used it for our Breaking Free weekend with John and Kerry Shuey. The Friday evening and all day Saturday sessions were so comfortable and cozy that we decided to stay there for our Sunday gathering. Well that day was so perfect that we carried it over to meeting there for the next Sunday. That little adjustment has become a major way to set the atmosphere for a close family encounter with the Lord every week.

The other adjustment was to go back to teaching Bible basics. We are literally walking through what it means to be saved, what it means to be filled with the Spirit and what it means to be empowered to live for God. We absolutely love this. The response has been really wonderful. We have reached near capacity in just three short weeks. We only had two vacant seats in our last gathering.

The significance of that gathering was that it was on the heels of a snow storm that roared through our area on Saturday. I had to fight the thoughts that no one was going to come to the Sunday gathering following a snow storm. However, the street crews plowed the streets and roads and everything was clear by Sunday morning. Six years of experience in Harrisburg told me that cleared streets would not make any difference. Yet, we were wonderfully surprised and thankful to have a tremendous turnout. We even had a visitor.

So we’ve hit our stride. We’re meeting once a week, and connecting with everyone in some way or another throughout the week through the internet. This is just so completely different from anything we could ever have planned and it is working. It’s working because this is what the Lord wants and the WAY He wants to do it. Carol and I are just following Him.