Overwhelmed with Joy
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 I began praying last April that the Lord would give me a word or theme for 2018. A word that would give me resolve in difficult times, a word that would motivate me to run my race well, a word that would encourage me. In December, I found myself daily pouring over Psalm 37. As I put it to memory, a word jumped off the page at me, and the day after that word came to light, it also flashed across the screen in large letters at a church plant we happened to be visiting. This particular Sunday I was feeling a bit out of my element and a bit emotional, like I was on the verge of tears, not because of sadness, but because my heart was full. God had recently called Mark and I to plant a church in Ridgefield, Washington. It was so hard to step away from all we had at First Baptist Church, Longview. It was our second Sunday since st