sleep patterns

I haven't slept well since the end of April. This is usually one area of my life where I can count on some consistency, but that has not been the case for the last several weeks. My counselor suggested that it might be time to look into an over the counter sleep aid and I'm willing to admit that she might be right. Really though, I just hate the idea of having to take medication and so I'm dragging my feet. Would you pray that I would be given sound advice as I explore this option and that I would begin to sleep through the night soon?

fog

I feel really burdened to share with you all some specific ways that you can be praying right now. In the midst of sorting through my own hurt I have heard very clearly that I am to continue to pray for Paul and invite others to do so as well. A couple of people who were praying yesterday had a strong sense that he is experiencing a lot of confusion right now. Would you join us in praying that God's voice would cut through all of that for him?

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope.
Zechariah 9:12a

dreams

God is demonstrating his love for me in the most tangible ways. Within a couple of hours of sending out my update email on Friday, which included a prayer request for housing, I found a place to live beginning at the end of July! I will be sharing this charming, two bedroom, brick bungalow with my friend Amanda. I met Amanda seven years ago during the CityLights Urban Plunge over a spring break and I am really looking forward to living with her. I've harbored a not-so-secret dream of living in a brick house with real hardwood floors and space in the backyard for a garden for awhile now. Would you believe that this house is exactly that? It is! Talk about divine provision and an unexpected gift.

There it is: my new home! The lighting is not the best since we're about to experience a thunderstorm, but you get the general idea.

Interestingly enough, this house is located just a block down the street from the duplex where I lived during my first year in St. Louis. I don't have a clear sense of what God is up to, but I don't think it's an accident that I am returning to the beginning of so many things at once, even down to the street where I spent my first year on staff.

I am praying that every day that I spend in this little house of dreams will serve as a reminder for me that my Father knows the deepest desires of my heart. Truly he knows how to give good, good gifts to his children.

care

I am confident in just a few things these days, but one of them is that my Father sees me and he knows what I need. That is enough for today.