Sunday afternoon thoughts

Our apartment is just right for us. We love it. Maybe it's just because it's our first place we can call our own, and not because our apartment is something really special, but either way it seems like a good fit. We're having a lot of fun figuring out how to make it homey and creative and be a picture of our distinct flavors. This weekend we finally finished up painting all of our mis-matched furniture so that they all some what go together. :) We've used up almost all of our Target giftcards from the wedding and we're scheming on an Ikea trip in the not so distant future.

On another note, in the time it took me to write that paragraph above, 7 horse and buggies drove by our apartment.

Yep, that's normal life out here for us. Just yesterday we passed one on a somewhat busy highway and Jake, while driving, stared at it as long as he could and said "I don't think this will ever get old to me." It is neat. We live in such a unique area that I took for granted all my life. (Buggy #8 and #9 just passed) I also feel like God is doing something so uniquely packaged for this area. Since coming back I've heard a number of stories of Mennonite and Amish prayer meetings being encountered by the Holy Spirit and having all of the chains of legalism broken off of them. One guy who is really involved at Gateway and whom I've always seen as someone very led by the Spirit told us his story last weekend. He grew up in Iowa as a strict Mennonite (for example, for his 16th birthday he was given his own buggy rather than a car). As he got older he was so restless with the lifestyle he was in and he was hungry for more. He left the Mennonite community at first out of rebellion. He moved to Lancaster county, mostly for the comfort of being around a similar culture as the one he grew up in, but God had some other things in mind. An opportunity came up to go overseas on a mission trip with other Mennonites and he decided to go. During that time he was so ministered to by the lifestyle and faith of the local believers who he was supposed to be aiding and encouraging. On that trip one of the girls, (who I ended up doing the internship with) told him about Gateway house of prayer and encouraged him to spend some time there processing the things he saw and what God was doing in his heart. Well, to make a long story short God rocked his world and showed up! He ended up doing one of the internships at Gateway and has been a firey, spirit-filled believer ever since! I feel so strongly that an abundance of testimonies similar to this one are going to spring up all over this region as God opens the eyes of a devoted but deceived group of people (deceived in the area of making their lifestyle a rule rather than a choice which leads to worship). Gateway is committed to praying for regional transformation and revival and I believe that as the Saints join together in travailing and interceding we will see an outpouring of the Spirit in a region that has been dominated by a preoccupation with religion and works. Oh God, let it be so! (buggy #10 and #11)