The Big Move Down South

Earlier today I was browsing around for a church to go to. I came across one so far, Ekklesia. I don't know much about it so I'm going to look into it a little. If you happen to be reading this blog and have some churches that you know in Eugene that you think I should look into, by all means leave a comment.

So I am moving down south. Not the deep south, but two hours south of Portland. My car is all packed, and I am set and ready to go. I was surprised that everything fits in the car, it's so packed that I can't see outside the rear mirror... so pray that I will have a safe journey.

I'm excited, nervous, with all sorts of mix emotions that you normally get when you wait in anticipation of something great. I feel like a little boy on Christmas Eve, who can't sleep and is sitting there counting the seconds down, until he can open his presents the next day. In my case, my present is the drive down where the next stage of this journey begins.

Over the Labor Day weekend I went to the annual Northwest Vietnamese Christian Conference (a conference of churches from various denominations across the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Canada). The passage that set the tone for the conference was Romans 8:28-30:

²⁸And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

The reason that I am sharing this passage with you is that it was really affirming for me. How amazing is it that when we as people love Him, and by loving him, trusting in him, that he will use "all things" that happens in our lives, not "somethings" but "in all things God works for the good..." I just want to leave this post on that thought for everyone who is reading this; just to remember that God will transforms all things in our lives, whether it was a positive or negative experience for the good.