A Hug from Jesus

Warning!  This post may be a little sappy.

This post is not going to be very long, mainly because it's 10:26pm and my wife told me to get to bed!  Many of you who follow this blog know that the last several months have been a struggle for me personally.  There's not just one reason for it (at least I don't think there is), but I've been somewhat discouraged.

Well, God's grace sure is sweet.  Quite a few months back, before the hard times were rolling, Pastor Duane from First Baptist Charlotte called and asked me to preach their revival services in April.  I jumped at the opportunity.  But then he and the church invited my whole family to come along.  And to make things better, their Director of Missions (Frio River Association) connected us with a FREE little cabin on the Frio River for 4 days.

I'm not gonna lie, back when all this was set-up I did not know the how much I was going to need the trip.  But now, I realize the entire experience was a BIG bear hug from my Lord, Savior and best friend King Jesus.  Just a few of the highlights of the hug...

-Day #1 I went to sleep at 7:45pm (thank you wife).  I did not wake up until 8:30am the next morning.  Did I mention I followed that up with 2 naps that day!

-Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... just our family of four.  God has given us a love and a passion to surround ourselves with people.  A few days with just the four of us was a hug from Jesus I didn't know I needed.

-Our families bent over backward to give us rest and went out of their way to come and visit with us for a few sweet hours.  Thank you family.

-First Baptist Charlotte.   I cannot even begin to express how Jesus used this precious church to touch our souls and refresh our hearts.  The hospitality of Pastor Duane and his wife Sharon was exactly what we needed to experience.  The willingness of a church that is filled with folks old enough to be my grand parents were gracious to allow this passionate young preacher to share my heart and the Word of God with them.  The tender love and words of wisdom from Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, the 87 year old couple who modeled for us the kind of people we want to be when we're, well, 87.  And the list could go on and on.

Thanks Jesus for the hug.  And thank you all for your prayers.