Take a little time to LISTEN

Another day....I seem to be pretty far behind in posting to my blog. Life in the Chance household has been pretty hectic and I seem to need more "vegging" time now days. Life seems to be rushing by at lightening speed and I am not doing a very good job of keeping up. So let's see if I can 'share' what's been happening in my 'world'.

About mid-2008 James, my other half for the past 40+ years, and I decided to make a change in where we attended worship. We began going to the Promise Center in Santa Rosa - a church that is on the move, growing and reaching out to the community. This church has been around for a number of years, but about 3 years ago a young minister and his wife came as pastor of the church and in the past 3 years there has been enormous growth in the congregation. We have a great youth department, dedicated Bible Study teachers, growing attendance in our small group ministry, and we are just beginning a bus ministry. The pastor is an excellent Bible teacher and an inspired evangelistic minister. We are baptizing new people in the name of Jesus on a weekly basis and seeing an outpouring of the Holy Ghost in our altars every service. This congregation is comprised of folks in all phases of learning to walk with God as well as those who have been in that walk for 40+ years. God is blessing us and fulfilling promises at the Promise Center.

So, we are busy working in the Kingdom and enjoying the fellowship of God!

In addition to the change in our place of worship, I have taken a new job. I moved from the position of loan officer at the credit union into the corporate office as a department supervisor. I am beginning to think I should have allowed God a little bit more time to answer my query about whether or not I should take the 'promotion'. I am on a steep learning curve with the new responsibilities and have a very short period in which to get on top of things. The good news is I will either pass or fail in a short time and the pressure will be over. The bad news is I don't exactly do well with failures and like to do all things well. So, since I jumped into the promotion without sufficient conversation with God, I am throwing myself on His Mercy and hoping He has a handle on the 'Electronic Services' department.

There is a lesson in all of this! My mom used to tell us that if something seems too good to be true...it usually isn't. Now God would say, take time to seek me in all of life's decisions and after seeking, take time to listen.

So slow down, don't be hasty in your listening and let Him make your decisions. Life seems to work better that way. Now, if I can just follow my own advice. Hmmmmmm....

Only One Life

It's been a while since I posted and in that time a lot has happened.

My nephew, Rob, passed away in his sleep while still sedated. He did not know God. His mom knows God and knows the truth but walked away from God in her youth.

Yesterday we received word that Sharon Chance, wife of Pastor Mike Chance, passed away in the early morning hours. Remember the family in prayer. They have endured a long battle with cancer and the slow dance of death, but what a wonderful thought that Sharon's dance with death is over and she is dancing with the Lord in a much better place.

God is Good - He is Faithful

His Peace is everlasting and His Arms are comforting.

He brings healing to body and soul whether in this life or dancing with Him, for when we arrive at His throne we arrive there without the pain and sorrow of life and death.

God Is Good

A week ago my nephew, Rob Fairchild Jr, had a stroke caused by a hemorrhage somewhere deep in his brain (apparently the left hemisphere since his right side is impaired). He has been in a heavily sedated sleep for the past week on a respirator and a feeding tube. Daily they bring him up to a light sleep in order to test his reflexes and he fights the tubes, succeeding in pulling them out at one time. Anyway, on one day they actually woke him up and removed the respirator for an hour or so. He appeared to recognize his parents and his siblings, turning his head toward their voices, winking at his sister and trying to pinch his brother. However, they discovered that he is unable to breathe sufficiently on his own at this time and returned him to the respirator and took him down into deep sleep again. Then on Wednesday they did surgery putting in a trache tube and a feeding portal. This evening they will wake him up and begin trying to determine the degree of permanent damage to his brain and give the family a prognosis for recovery. Please remember Rob and his loved ones as you pray, that God will grant him healing and recovery, but more importantly that He will bring them to the realization of their need for salvation. He has been near to them all week and my sister told me that she is beginning to realize that God may be trying to give them all a wake-up call.