The Intentional Life

Psalm 91:3-6 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. Faithfulness. The theme of our September.  Despite the many snares, arrows, and darkness that Satan threw our way, God remained faithful as our Protector, Comforter, and Guide. There were certainly low points: adjusting to having no alternates, just as the house filled up to capacity with 7 residents dealing with hospitalizations with one of our residents a resident running away from campus mourning the sudden death of my cousin Michael But the Lord is faithful, and promises not to give us more than we can bear.  Between the valleys there were highpoints.  Moments ...

"I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land.  I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn't have to destroy the land..."  Ezekiel 22:30 I came across this verse the other day as I was doing my morning devotional.  It stood out to me as I noticed the words "stand in the gap."  I have heard a few people use this phrase when speaking about foster care or adoption and I have always thought it was a way of describing how a person would stand in the gap that is created when a child is found without a home or parents.  But as I read it in this context here, it gave me a whole new perspective of standing in the gap.  Maybe you all have been clued in before now and I am the last to come across this, but I'll share what I have discovered anyway. My Life Application Study Bible has an excerpt at the bottom that helped clarify for me: " The wall spoken of here is not made of stones but...

August was exhausting.  By the end of the month, I felt like we had crammed about 8 weeks into the 4 supposed weeks that made up August.  I'm not sure what made it that way but I have a few theories: -Auction Week -post-vacation recovery (yeah, no one's feeling sorry for me on that one!) - sending our oldest offspring off to Kindergarten -bringing 3 new residents into our house in a span of 8 days -saying goodbye to our alternate houseparents as they leave Gateway for greener different pasture I think it was a combo of all those things.  I am actually kinda fatigued thinking back through it all.  But, I'm thankful that God built in nighttime so that our bodies can at least stop for a few hours and recharge (though, sometimes those hours are fewer than others!) Despite the exhausting circumstances, I managed to take a few pics of some of the events of August. I'm ready for September to bring us a bit more gentle of a schedule. ...

Our apartment, our little haven (this spot is off limits to residents).  Down the hall is 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. OK, I thought I would make a post up about this for all those family members of mine who live a ways a way and don't know all the nuts and bolts of what we do from day to day here at Gateway.  I have thought about doing a post about a typical day for awhile but always had the thought that it's going to come off a bit arrogant - who really wants to know what I do all day?  But in the end, I am deciding to do it most of all for me to look back on some day.  Because someday this will all be past and I am going to think I was pretty crazy to be doing all this.  But blessed, oh so very, crazily blessed. 6:45AM  Wake up.  Roll out of bed.  Instant regret for not going to bed earlier. Get dressed and do about a 10 minute prayer and devotion time.  Paul heads out in the house to get breakfast for the residents and send them o...