Catching up...or trying to

So a LOT has happened since my last post. And I wish I had actually posted as it was happening, but alas, life has gotten away from me once again...

Christmas time is at hand, and what can I say?? I am still totally amazed at God. It was about a year ago that I took that last flight home from England. I was so sad a quite a wreck.

But now after a year of re-learning some my values (God, friendship, trust, community and ministry) I can honestly say that I am excited about life, and the future that lies before me.

Back in May I attended a youth retreat with the 10 and 11 year olds from our church. The retreat was a blast, but more than that, little did i know that one of the other leaders would become such a joy in my life.

Since May, she has become a friend, a wonderful partner in youth ministry on Tuesday nights, and a joy beyond description in my life. She has laughed with me, challenged me to grow, and encouraged me, and I have come to do the same for her.

I can't tell you how awesome it is, learning to communicate with someone. Honesty and speaking what's on my mind has been something i thought I was used to. But this is a whole new level.

Not only have I come into a volunteer leadership role with my church, I am now walking in a whole new level of relationship and dare I say it-at a place that I have never walked before. And God has had His hand all over this. When I first met her, i wasn't romantically attracted. I knew her brother kind of well, and over the years I knew her parents in a peripheral sense at church, but I never really got to know her until this year, and for the summer and all the times we spent with working on the video announcements at church and hanging out with mutual friends, i was never attracted at a romantic level.

But then something changed. God stepped in and spoke. And as He spoke, I felt that the curtain on our friendship had been pulled back to reveal what was in the making behind the scenes. I saw how she felt, and what God was asking me to consider. And in that moment, I was speechless. I spent the entire summer around her, feeling 100% comfortable in my own skin, and every time we spent around each other, I had a real laugh. That was part of the healing for me...just to have a friend who I was not romantically interested in and felt the freedom to laugh around and be ME was huge.

In other news, we had an awesome junior high retreat near the end of November. We had about 12 young people come along to a camp in Wisconsin (about 2 hours away from Chicago) and we had a really good time of meeting with God and building relationships. I am very excited at what God is going to do in the second half of the year. We have a really wonderful group of young people, and they have not only so much potential for leadership tomorrow, they are setting examples for the rest of us today.

In short, I am re-discovering a passion for God and His plans for my life. At the end of December i will be ending my role as part time office assistant at Vineyard Oak Park. I have a few leads on jobs, but I really want God to open the next step. We'll see where that is. Please keep praying for me :-)

Till next time,
~Paul