There are those times in life where you have to slow down, right? O.K. I guess this is one of them. Now that I have effectively been rendered immobile, I probably should finish this blog!!! I never finished the story, actually the best part of the story. The next post will reflect how God blessed our step of Faith through so many answered prayers along the way.

Remember, the purpose of this blog is to encourage all of you that you can step out of the boat. There has never been a more difficult decision in my life; one that severely effected my family, and yet He took care of us and we see His plan in all of this. We are on the other side now and it is truly amazing to see what He had in store for us. The more important concept to wrestle with is - what would have happened if we didn't listen and submit to the will of God?

I ruptured my Achilles tendon on my right leg on April 15th in our first church softball game. While it is a little uncomfortable (I can't walk without my foot falling off) the hardest thing is to be immobile. I had surgery on April 24th and it looks to be mid July before I am out of a cast. This has given me a lot of time to pray and think and dwell on all that God has been doing in my midst. I was blessed to take my bride overseas for an eight day vacation to Rome, Florence, and Venice (don't worry - we wont be able to afford that again!) and yet that time still didn't help to really transition in my mind and my ministry from how I have served in Youth Ministry for the past couple of decades. Still missing our friends and church in Santa Clarita, adjusting to the new town, learning about the wonderful people in our church and figuring out what it means to be the Pastor of a small church left my head spinning. This injury is a blessing in disguise I guess in that I haven't been able to involve myself in too many things and that has given me plenty of time to meditate, study, pray and talk on the phone! I am learning much about what it means to be a shepherd. God is shaping me and that is a great challenge.

check out the next post where I will spend time sharing exactly all the ways that the Lord answered prayer and the journey that we traveled to get where we are. God bless you and if you would respond to the post I would love to know how you are encouraged by steps of faith.

Your servant,

P.J. (that's what they call me in the North - Stands for Pastor Jer)