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It’s been an exciting and affirming adventure this week. Last Sunday concluded nearly eight years of ministry in Baytown. Memorial is a good place with a lot of great and wonderful people. I’m thankful our paths intersected for the journey. On Monday, we loaded our two cars with remaining personal belongings and headed east. Angie and I traveled in the Beetle. Jo, Chris, and Lily, the Labradoodle took the Jeep. Hattiesburg was our Monday night stop. We ended our second day in Knoxville. On day three, Mechanicville was the destination. After 21 ½ hours of driving, we arrived at our new home (approximately 4:30 p.m.).

Here’s where the trip becomes intriguing. Angie and I were traveling down the road when she receives a text from a friend. The text merely read there’d been an earthquake in Virginia. An earthquake, really? My initial response was one of doubt, which soon turned to belief following a Google news search. Many thoughts now rolled through our minds. Was anyone hurt? What was the magnitude of the damage? How was the church – people are always there for something? You can only image the number of texts and calls we received – folks from Texas and Virginia. Earthquakes are very rare in the region and for many it was a first experience. In fact, early Thursday morning there was an aftershock. Actually, I didn’t feel it. I guess I was too tired to be “shaken” out of a deep sleep.

I’m sitting in the living room window seat of the new house as I’m writing this. A technician is cleaning the upstairs’ carpet at 9:52 p.m. The furniture arrives Friday. I’m wondering about what my new yet to be met neighbors are thinking about the noise in our front yard. I’m watching the weather reports like many other Virginia residents. A hurricane is on its way up the east coast and we’ll receive some of Irene’s wind and rain. Thought I left Texas to get away from the hurricanes? Well, I guess not. It’s hard to believe that two significant natural events transpired the week of our arrival. It makes you think.

To be perfectly open, I do my best not to allow adversity to distract me. I’m confident in God’s call and I’m confident in the future God has for Cool Spring. Sure it causes one to ask, “What is God doing here?” But, this is the way I look at it. Here’s how I’m going to interpret the earthquake: God is getting ready to shake some things up a bit. That’s not a bad thing; in fact it’s a rather exciting thing. Sometimes God’s best work takes place when He moves us out of our comfort zone. Here’s how I’m going to interpret the storm: God is getting ready to blow a fresh wind through this place. That’s not a bad thing either; it’s part of the adventure of being on mission with God. My perspective on this whole week is that God is most definitely at work. I can’t wait to join in!