Day Five

While the typical descriptions apply to my time at the Moody Bible Institutes pastors conference - such as very inspirational, very rewarding and very motivational - it was truly a great beginning to my sabbatical.  I received convicted directions on topics of preaching, self-awareness, encouragement, worship, church assessment and evangelism, to name a few.  God's Spirit was active, as two of the five main speakers preached from the same text, without either one knowing that was going to happen, so we heard two different lessons from the story of David and Goliath, which was already on my mind since Toby Walker shared about his favorite bible story on Presentation Sunday.  As I listened to one speaker, I wrote down a friend's name who came to mind as the speaker talked, and later that afternoon I had a text from that very same friend.  We hadn't communicated for several months, but the Spirit laid our names on each other's heart on the same day - that led to some prayers of praise and thanksgiving for both of us.  I had some good down time at the end of each day, and came home refreshed and rested.  Today, Amy and I head off to Biloxi, giving us almost five full days to be together - I look forward to sharing with her, listening to her, and enjoying this precious time together.  1 Peter 1:16 - "Be holy, because I am holy."  A key verse from the conference as we were challenged to seek the holiness of Christ.

Blessings to all!