A lot has happened. I have my first W&D set. Ricky and Karlyn have been to Trinidad and back. I changed Eunice’s brakes. The family is eating our tradition Income Tax Meal together this Saturday. Photo albums will be coming soon.

Josh

Let’s see… I really should be using RememberTheMilk.com to keep these things in order and just getting things done when I need to do them…
Okay now… I needed to write the final word on our trip to Wisconsin (but that was back in August); I need to write an update on what is happening in our lives (I guess Josh already gave more of that info); my friend Meredith Hines with lukemia as a teenager should have an entry (check out the blogsite) ; I want to write about a father’s place (especially as we face this time in our lives)….

OH, Hello!!! So glad to have you reading this. As you can see I was just thinking. Amazing what slips by without getting done and other things appear to take priority (yeah, like… okay, not like. I guess I can see (but sometimes so easily ignore) a priority when I see one).

Well, this just came up at one of those rare times I really do have time to write on the blog. I asked Ricky tonight what he had been learning about God from God. He shared some thoughts on concerns he had been discussing about what is really a believer’s priorities to center around. This made me consider okay, where do I go from here in my spiritual life. Like Ricky said so often though we may ‘try’ to break out of the “I’ve been a Christian a long time, I know the answers, I love Christ (I say I do), and I am living for Him” complacency and just struggle with, okay, what am I suppose to be doing? Where do I go from here? As he shared some of the discussion he has had some of his thoughts stirred a basic outline for me to consider.

The ultimate purpose of my life as a believer is to glorify God; not myself, not my family, not my church, not my pastor, not the great apostle Paul or Peter, God alone. From God’s omniscience God says in Isaiah 44 (about other gods), I know no other. Yet some say salvation, salvation is the thing; or discipleship, discipleship is the thing. True, these are commanded in Scripture by Christ himself. But there are other things. How do we bridge from salvation to God’s glory. What are some of the signs along the way that tell me I am following the right path?

Here is an outline that maybe such a discussion may be based upon.

Ultimate – God’s glory (this is always true whether a believer or not, or where you are in your life as a believer)

Penult (as we may view our ‘progression’ in time) – God’s rewards (what does He base His rewards upon – 1) the very purposes He gives the five crowns in judgment; 2) that which is done that He ascribes the words – Well done, Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these you have done it unto Me).

Antepenult – God’s first (the first and greatest command is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might; the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; first love – see Revelation 2:1-7)

These three basically start at the top and work their way backward as being goals to consider. But we may also work from the rudiments up too.

Salvation – that point a person comes to where they come to understand these truths:
1. God is God; God is Creator; God is Holy; God is the Almighty Omnipotent One
2. Man was created in God’s image and God’s likeness by God’s design; man forsook the truth that God had given, disobeyed, and went his own way; this cause immediate spiritual separation from God and spiritual death (physical death came later); man can never in and of himself regain, rebuild, re-establish, reconcile himself to God; man is lost and banned from God forever in this state of spiritual death; man is in this state an enemy of God
3. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came in the flesh, Emmanuel – GOD WITH US, lived a perfect, holy life; was delivered by envious men to die (physically), but Christ, the Annointed Messiah, gave Himself to die in man’s place – in the place of all mankind – those dead, those living (at that time), and anyone who would ever live after that (including me); He took man’s sin in His own body as He was crucified upon a cross, man’s cruel effort to make a tree from a tree; He died in my place for my sin; my debt is paid
4. Christ’s payment for man’s sin debt is that only payment that the Just Almighty Holy God will accept; man must accept it as a gift – not give money to help pay (what a slap in the face of Jesus Christ who paid the price in full); not be immersed in water to wash away that shortcoming, that sin (same slap in the face); not doing anything ‘good’, NOTHING; realize that man cannot pay the debt (nor even help seeing man’s best works are as leperous rags before God); only turning from any effort of man’s own (that is very well known as sin), only turning to and accepting God’s forgiveness through the payment of the blood of Christ as God’s free gift of reconciliation – the only way to God’s glory

After salvation – after faith, add to your faith, follow the building built on the foundation of faith (2 Peter 1 faith > virtue > knowlege > temperance > patience > godliness > brotherly kindness > charity — facinating that godliness is not at the top; that virtue – excellence of character and making a right relationship with men is the first to be established before knowledge even – who knows what we might learn in such a discussion).

Amongst that growth I just mentioned there begins to appear the fruits (evidences) of the Spirit of God in our lives. Galatians 5:22,23 – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance – no law agin it (hmm – have I been in the south to long?).

I would suggest the next (an final) point (in this suggested outline) is where these two paths join – our conversation (not the yakkity yak version, but what our lives tell others about what is going on inside us – every action (in Proverbs we learn that even the wink of an eye may be for evil or good; in Matthew 7 where we are warned not to judge (condemn) we are also made aware that resultant fruit is obvious – a little child may observe and often speak most honestly of what they observe – of a man’s conversation. Our conversation when these two meet should most obviously be the testimony of Christ in our lives as our Redeemer, our Saviour, our Lord, our Master, our King – God with us.

Anyway, that is my take. People may bring in superficial (but none the less real) elements which are not those for which Christ will reward a crown or say, Well done thou good and faithful servant; Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these you have done it unto me.

Christ gave Peter a perspective on this when tax collectors had asked Peter – Doesn’t your master pay taxes? (Check out Matthew 17:24-27) Consider in reading this the believer’s relationship to God.

I believe this takes on a new meaning of asking, What does God want in my life as a living priority that will make itself manifest or evident that the least observant child will blurt out in innocence and unmitigated honesty.

I must be on my way now. I hope this may have sparked results that do not say – Thank you, I have learned something; but say rather, There is something I must do now.

Wow! It’s been a while since we wrote anything…so I am writing something.

Here are some things that are coming up soon…

- October 13: Pumpkin Festival – Pumpkintown, SC

- October 31: Reformation Day (Any church picnic this year at GBC?)

Packers are not doing so hot this year so far…well, I suppose that is not new…but GO PACKERS anyway!!!

This past Labor Day Ricky, Eunice, Hannah, and I went to Crowders Mountain to go climbing. Pictures will be up soon. It was awesome!

School is back in session for me. I am taking 12 credits.

I am hoping to move this winter. I found a house to rent on Highway 14. It is only 2 minutes from work and about 20 minutes from NGU.

Well, hopefully, I will be able to get into the swing of things soon. Love you all (family).

Josh

PS-Mommy, I need to sign my car over into my name this month so I can get my own insurance. Love you.

PS #2 -We seriously need to find a different theme for this page. If you google “WordPress themes” and find something good, let me know. This one seems big, bulky, and …. stuff. Thanks

The title to this post completely describes what God has done in my life. Over the last many years the Lord has been preparing me for this wonderful time. It is true, you are not mistaken, the picture is my boyfriend, Cameron Gaudet. WAHOOO!!!!!!! If you can’t tell I am VERY excited about this. I will give you a brief summary of our story that God has written.
About two years ago the showed me the verse Psalm 127:1 – “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it…” It was then that I purposed in my heart to wait for whoever wanted me to marry and that I wanted God to build the relationship whenever the time came. A few months after that the Lord lead me make a list of qualities of the guy that I wanted to live the rest of my life with. I was pretty detailed. I gave it to the Lord and just waited and prayed for Him to lead.
This last school year brought about many changes in my life. I started a new extension in Plainfield, WI. It was a complete step of faith to even go to this church. I knew I wanted to be challenged in the Lord though, so I took that step of faith. I can say that God blesses when we take Him at His Word. I noticed Cameron that first weekend, but I didn’t want to pursue anything. I fought it for a little while and then a friend told me to just let the Lord be sovereign in the situation. I was so nervous. As the weekends went on the Lord showed me different qualities in Cameron that only God knew about that I wanted in a future husband. I became more and more surprised by God’s grace and sovereignty as the year continued on. This whole time I didn’t feel like I could say anything because I wanted him to pursue me, so I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. It was quite a trying time, but the Lord kept telling me that He was building this and I was supposed to just trust Him. He kept me completely dependant on Him. Every break of the school year I spent there. His family has become like a family away from home. Their home is a place of rest on the weekends away from school. His dad is the pastor the church (First Baptist Church). Both parents challenge me so much in the Lord, they truly care about the souls of people.
Cameron wrote a letter to my dad and asked to court me with the intension of marriage. My dad wrote him a letter back saying that we could begin a courtship relationship. He asked me to begin a courtship relationship on July 27, 2007, and I said, “I would love to.”
Many of you are wondering “What is a courtship relationship?” Well, it is for the purity of the couple. Basically, this kind of a relationship is where two families come together, not just the guy and the girl on their own thing. My parents have spent that last few days here in Plainfield for their 30th Anniversary trip. There have been much talking between Cameron and my parents. Both parents have agreed that God is leading in this relationship, and we are continuing on by faith to follow the Lord (to marriage ) God is sooooooooooo GOOD!!!!!! We are having a absolute BLAST together already.
Please pray for us as I will be traveling for Northland in the fall. It will be soooo hard to be apart, but I am confident that God will do great and mighty things as we grow together across the miles. I will, Lord willing, be finishing at Northland in the spring. WAHOOO!!!!!! Only God knows what the future holds for us, but I know that we will have so much fun serving the Lord together.:)
Please pray and spread the news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is doing great things!!!!

Well, here we are again – several days later. We have had an exciting time since arriving in Wisconsin on Tuesday. After staying at Kuhlman’s on Tuesday night we went to the Chalet Restaurant for our noon meal. As in our dating days we bought one dinner and split it. We then toured Maranatha Baptist Bible College to see how the grounds have changed since we last had opportunity to walk on campus.

Leaving Watertown behind we took the route of Highway 26 to Highway 16 to Portage. From there we went straight north on I-39 to Plainfield, WI arriving about 5:20 PM. It was very exciting (in particular Andrea). We met immediately Jennifer and her sister, the neighbor girls, that were helping Andrea with something special. We finally had the opportunity to meet Pastor Tom Gaudet, his wife Gail, Cameron (just ask Andrea!!!!), Micah, and Keenan. There was one young lady, Annie, and three young gentlemen around too – Micah, Tyler, and Gavin – the first two who have been working in the church here.

After a great supper we went to church at First Baptist Church. After the time of testimony of answered prayers and a time of prayer, there was a birthday and anniversary reception downstairs. The birthday was a young lady Megan who turned 20 this week and for our 30th anniversary.

Thursday morning I had a job interview at 8:30 AM in Stevens Point (commonly referred to as ‘Point’). It was a very good interview, but they have other interviews and times out of the office so I should hear back in 2-3 weeks. On the way back I drove past a piece of land I had seen on the real estate listings. It very apparently was already purchased as a housetrailer was behind the house and trees had been cut back. Much of the rest of the day was spent in conversation with Cameron and then Pastor Tom and his wife. In the evening Pastor, Cameron, Andrea, Micah, Keenan, Tyler, and I took a walk to the grocery store for ice cream. Jennifer’s mother and family were there. On the way back we looked at a couple of houses, one which appeared to be somewhat abandoned and the other was for sale. Once we returned home we watched the video we brought, But We See Jesus. The Riendeau’s were able to stay for most of the presentation.

Friday morning Pastor Tom and I went to a nursing home in Point (very near where I had my interview) where he preached to 20 – 30 residents and a couple workers. We arrived back home in time to eat. Cameron and I gave a lady from Guatemala a ride home. She had stopped by for some food. Once we returned the Gaudets and the Blahas that were present took a drive to Knapp, WI (very close to Minneapolis/St Paul) where we helped celebrate the Gaudet’s eldest son’s (Nick) son’s third birthday. It was on a dairy farm and parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, a great uncle and aunt, were all gathered to celebrate. Andrea and I had the great priviledge to ride a SideHiller. After all the celebration we drove the three hours back home.

This morning after sleeping in a little Lois and I spent time in discussion about God’s leading about moving to Plainfield. It was very good. We realized that if any changes need to be made in our lives they were needed whether we moved here or not. We are still looking to what God is going to do. Once we came down stairs we had a great time talking with Pastor and Gail and Andrea. It covered a lot of ground leading up to Andrea and Cameron beginning their courtship. So far the rest of the day has been conversation and this opportunity to review open jobs, houses for sale, and making this post.

Hopefully soon I will share more than a diary of our trip. There are specific exciting parts of life here I look forward to telling – all in an entry by itself. And pictures – yes pictures, but not yet. Until later…