New Life

Since the last time I wrote, the Republican contest became no contest at all and Barack Obama rolled over Hillary Clinton in state after state. Whoda thunk it?

During that time, we also experienced Valentine's Day, where Stacey, Sarah, and I enjoyed sharing Snoopy valentines and peppermint patties with lovely patrons at our favorite watering hole. It got so slow in there later into the night that we numbered among the 15 faithful at the bar. It was fun, however, since the band played whatever we wanted to hear. We stayed later than ever, partly because it was enjoyable, and partly out of guilt over removing 20% of the pub's occupants at one time. A major blow. :)

ALSO...I drove to Buffalo for the first time in ages to be there while Gabby delivered her sweet little boy. I played helper for a few days to keep the house and dogs in decent order until she and Elijah Jacob made their way home. He came into the world at 20 inches & 8lbs 2oz at 6:36am on February 17th. I was sleeping then. Figures.

My godson is a rock star. Can't you tell already?

Vote

I was voter #145 at the Beechwood Knoll School. Go vote.

The Battle is Real

An evening out with a believing friend to read and study the Bible with a Guinness on the table was never meant to turn into anything more than that. But it has.

Over the last 3 weeks, a partner in ministry and I have been spending Thursday evenings at an unassuming Irish pub in the city. The energy of studying the Word in that place has been electric and that vibe seems to have primed the pump of some faith-focused conversations with "random" people. We are building a relationship with our waiter Zach, who only works at the place on Thursday nights. We are getting to know the great cover band that plays there as a regular gig--they want us to sing with them!

This past week, my friend met a girl at the retail store where she works, and they bonded over a shared area code from a former state. She just moved to Boston after Thanksgiving and doesn't really know many people yet. They began talking about faith and my friend invited her to come to study/hang/talk with us on Thursday at the usual locale. When my friend and I arrived there last night, Zach told us he received an email that day from a friend that he met at training for his day job. Apparently his friend's girlfriend was planning on meeting up with 2 girls at that very pub. It didn't take much of a leap to figure out that we were those girls. WOW! I was really floored by that 'coincidence'...God was confirming His call for us to be at this place.

The girl was never able to make it last night, but it was the first time my friend and I prayed outloud in the bar. We both had the sense that we needed to do that. I'm really glad that we had since a couple of things happened to show us that the enemy isn't really pleased about our mission. My friend went outside to chat with the aforementioned girl on the phone since it was too loud in there. She was accosted by some inebriated guys outside the place. Then, I got asked to dance (which also happened last week)...but this time it was different. I felt weird about it because the guy was an obviously big-money master of the universe. A devil dressed in a well-tailored suit, complete with initials embroidered on his sleeve. Definitely good looking and as it turned out, definitely married. I didn't realize this right away, but when I did I wanted to vomit. I couldn't wait for the song to end and to get the heck out of there. I was pretty shaken...enough to pray with my friend when we got to the T stop.

After I repeatedly called on the Lord for truth to overcome lies, I realized these direct attacks were not an accident. It's not a mistake that I never get a second glance from guys (especially when I am not giving a rip about my appearance) until we're in a place specifically to bring Light there. I am so much more aware now of the battle at hand...and that my friend and I need more prayer covering than we can provide on our own. There's something big beginning to shift that we just seemed to stumble over. Lord, provide us believers to be in faithful in interceding on our behalf every week on Thursday nights. It's just not an option to be without it anymore.