If you haven’t been to see the new movie Courageous, you are missing out. It is hilarious and tragic and moving. Warning to men – I didn’t see one guy around me that didn’t cry at least once. I plan to buy it on BluRay when it comes out on video.

After a lot of hard work we finally have a website for our Church. It is still a work in progress, but is coming together nicely. Check it out at Venturechurchny.com

We’re trying not to think about the fact that it is snowing and almost April…

After braving the snow for a brief snowball fight, we decided to make a snowman in the back of Carl’s truck so that we and our neighbors could enjoy some humor…  His face says it all.

The trail down. Such amazing blue skies and glistening snow! I’m glad for my boots!

Walking along the creek…

This is the creek… frozen solid in most places.

Distant icicles…

A closer shot

And standing next to them…

The creek peaks through in places… sometimes in just the size of a fist, sometimes in pretty slits like this

I love the way the ice makes cool shapes

The frozen waterfall. Thicker this time than the last time I was here, but you can still
hear the water rushing behind it. So cool.   

The waterfall, unfrozen:

Enjoying my new favorite thinking tree…

The trail home.

So, as late as it is: here is our documented adventure!

A barn and a field full of trees: Perfection!

These are some of the best moments in life, in marriage!

Carl the lumberjack. In his grandfather’s coat… the coat that started it all…

I have picked out our tree for next year.  All I need now is a 20 foot ceiling… at least…

This one will have to do for now..

Charlie Brown’s Tree

So, as the title proclaims, we begin our first bible study tonight!! We are anticipating between 5-9 total attendance.

For this first study, Carl will share our values and vision for what we are doing here in this community. He will also give an overview of the book of Ephesians. This will start a 5-7 week study of Ephesians.

Ephesians is one of Carl’s favorite books. The book packs a lot of topics in just a few short pages: The character of God, God’s grace and love for us, what Christ accomplished for us by His death on the cross, how to live well in this crazy world, and so much more. We are looking forward to some great questions and conversations.

I (Mary), particularly, am looking forward to refreshing my perspective of who God is. I get so caught up in the daily grind in life that I begin to loose sight of who He is and how He affects my daily life. I forget to rely on Him. The daily grind tempts me to view Him as either absent or unloving. Carl has a unique knack of making the Bible very relevent to our daily lives. I am looking forward to the next several weeks and am sure I will have many questions of my own.

My friend, Lydia, spontaneously drove 5 hours to my house on Tuesday to join me in my crazy little excursion. After an early 3 1/2 hour drive, our first stop was to meet with some friends of ours, Olga & Slava Tymchenko. They took us to a delightful and authentic french patisserie in Nyack, NY for coffee and a snack.

     Lydia & I at the Patisserie

Olga & Slava. This is a fun Ukrainian couple that Carl and I met at a church planting conference. They pastor a Russian speaking church on Long Island (NYC) and are seeking to plant a church in the Manhatten area. It was so fun to reconnect with them and hear how their plant is progressing.

The Girls

After our patisserie adventure, Lydia and I headed down to Manhatten for a brief 3 hour exploration party. We visited Little Italy and had pizza and pear torte. Yum!!

After this wonderful taste of Manhatten, we headed back to Nyack to check out the open house for the Nyack Graduate School of Counseling. Then it was back in the car for the 3 1/2 hour trip back home.

~Whew~

Several years ago, a friend told me that my God was too small. This was not speaking anything against God, or Christianity, but rather my concept of Him. I box God into my plans, my views, my ideals. I think we all do this to an extent, as God is bigger than our little minds can contain. But it is highly irritating when God doesn’t conform to my expectations of Him. I’m especially irked when He doesn’t conform to the ideals of my current favorite church or Christian community. Can you relate? Perhaps I’m treading on dangerous ground. We all think our ideals are the way things should be. So what do I mean when I say God doesn’t conform to the way things should be? I mean, He’s God, and perfect… so He will not violate the ideals I understand, right? Well, that’s what irritates me… because God is God. He is perfect. And it is often my ideals, my favorite church’s or body of believer’s ideals that don’t conform to Him. We box Him in with these ideals. I think that is why Proverbs 21:2 says “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes.” I think it could also say every group’s ways seems right in their own eyes.  I cannot tell you how many bandwagons I have jumped on only to have God kick me off of them. And I have to admit to myself that I boxed God in again.

Part of the fun of church planting is challenging the status quo. We get to ask ourselves, Is this relevant? Just because it’s always been done, doesn’t mean it needs to continue. Because it’s not about us. It’s not about our denomination. It’s about God. It’s about His kingdom. And we recognize that God works beyond the walls of our churches and our programs and our boxes. Church planting recognizes that God is at work across many churches and many denominations to draw people to Himself. He uses that which is imperfect, which is every one of us and every church and denomination if we are honest, to accomplish His plans.

A couple of days ago I became aware of another way I box God in. It is what started this whole train of thought. I was driving and happened to pop in a cd of favorites I created years ago. The first song came on and I immediately felt tears prick my eyes. In a way that only certain songs can do for me, I was transported back to a time when the lyrics of that song perfectly described my heart. Tears welled up because there was something God and I needed to work through. At that stage of my life God directed me to a place that did much to wound me, and wound the tender sincerity of my walk with Him. The song reminded me of what I had lost, of what I had not fully regained after so many years. And so I got to voice that question which is the privilege of every child: “WHY!?!”  Why would you lead me there knowing it would wound me? As I prayed and shared my honest feelings of bitterness to God, the answer came to me quickly as I realized what I was asking. I had created a box that said that God could only lead me to places that would never hurt me, places that were perfect. After all, He is perfect and His leading is perfect so where He leads should be perfect too, right? ha! I realized how idealistic and unrealistic that is. For there is no place, no program, no person that is perfect and will not both benefit and hurt me in some way or another. You’d think I would have learned that having been married for almost five years . hehe. And I know that in most contexts but for whatever reason I had boxed God in on this context. But as I was able to look past my unreal expectations, I was able to see why God led me there. And for the first time I could see His hand weaving throughout the last ten years of my life. There were things I learned there that were vital for me to learn. Things I needed for the future. Leading me there was the beginning of and the preparation for the next stages of my life.  And the things that wounded me did not destroy me. The wounding actually helped to break me of some naivety that was mixed into my sincerity. It provoked me to test the bandwagons I was jumping on a little more thoroughly, taught me to question the ideals people are selling, and helped me to create the foundation of logically thinking through my belief systems. And I wouldn’t trade in those lessons.

I have purchased my first set of cute boots. They are my new best friends! They are simple gray with black buttons up the side. I wear them with my skinny jeans. I pretty much wear nothing else. They keep the snow out surprisingly well and have the most delightful fuzzy insides. I continue to take hikes in the snow. I think I love these hikes the most of all, because no one is around. The quietness is enchanting. The only sound is the tinkling of ice-covered branches rustling in the wind. No sounds of little furry friends. It’s like the world has paused. And it has. I typically find some bulky evergreen and nestle myself on the first few limbs and close my eyes. Every muscle relaxes as I slowly breathe in the crisp snow filled air. There is always the faintest scent of pine in the air. It is absolutely heavenly. I feel the closest to God in these moments, more at home, and more myself than at any other time.

There is a hike to a waterfall not five minutes from our apartment. I went there for the first time in winter last week. The waterfall was frozen solid on the outside, as was the creek. Yet the water was still flowing behind the shell of ice. I could just see the movement of the water behind the rough textured formations. I could still hear the water’s gentle flow. It was one of the most enchanting things. As I climbed the trail above the falls my eyes fell on massive icicles at least three times my size. The emerged from a steep cliff-like hill and ended in the creek above the falls. I made my way in and around the frozen creek until I was standing next to one of these icicles. It was a cool feeling to stand next to it, to lay my hand on it and trace the water paths in it. I promise pictures to come! 

Hot chocolate has been a staple part of our diet. We have been using our own chocolate, made fresh from the bean. It is so good! Carl and I have been perfecting our ability to create and hand craft chocolate and truffles. I am now going to be teaching classes on truffle making at the Front and Center kitchen store in Owego, a local town around here. It is fun to have such a yummy skill!

I have not convinced my neighbors to build a snowman with me yet, but I am sure I will try soon. ha! We have, however, had some really great times with our neighbors. We hosted a game night for all of us to get to know each other better and survive the winter. It went really well! We have some really fun people in our apartment complex. It has been a joy to get to know them better. We are planning on hosting more game nights and other events like it. There’s nothing like hibernating with new friends!