The Intentional Life

Love your enemies! Pray for them that persecute you... If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Matthew 5:44,46+47 A minister at our church just finished up a 7-Sunday sermon on Matthew chapter 5. It was so convicting. This last sermon was on the last few verses in chapter 5 and I've put the ones that have convicted me the most at the top of the blog post here. Yeah, I've heard all about loving my enemies and praying for those who persecute me. I've always envisioned that as those faceless people who hate Christians who need Jesus just as much as me. Those people I have never met but I am praying for them anyways. However, this sermon pointed my thoughts in a different direction. It pointed out those unpleasant people in my life. Those people I would just rather avoid because they make me uncomfortable. Or they grate on my nerves just a bit too much. These vers...

This morning we said goodbye to some very dear friends that we have gotten to know over the last 5 years. Nathan and Rachel Mueller, and their four children, packed up their belongings and moved north to Michigan where they will be attending school to be trained to be missionaries. Their plan is to go live in the remotest parts of the world and bring the gospel story to those who have never heard of Jesus. Although this is a few years off, we are sad to have them leave even though they are currently only a state away. I cry for my kids who have become great friends with the Mueller children. Kaine and Owen are only 9 months apart, Halle and Hannah only 6 weeks, and Layla and Maddie 2 months apart. Although they are not nearly as torn up as I am over the Mueller's leaving, I am sad for them and their friendship that will now have to be carried on from a distance. We hope to have our kids be their prayer warriors, each praying specifically for the Mueller kid who...