Psalm 77:1 says,

I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might,
I yell at the top of my lungs.  He listens.

Wow.  He listens.  If you read the rest of this Psalm, you will see that the psalmist is in anguish.  God is apparently not acting, not intervening, not helping, not responding to urgent prayers.  And yet, He listens. Down a few verses, the psalmist says,

Once again I'll go over what God has done,
lay out on the table the ancient wonders;
I'll ponder all the things you've accomplished,
and give a long, loving look at your acts (vv. 11-12).

This, in a nutshell, has been our year.  Emotionally wrenching and difficult, and yet God has been faithful.  I have yelled and screamed and prayed and cried, feeling as if God has left me behind and forgotten me, and yet he still listens.  When I sit down and remember all the ways God has been faithful, all the ways he has provided against all odds, and all the distance that we've come with this church planting journey, I can't help but stand with the psalmist and say,

O God!  Your way is holy!
No god is great like God!
You're the God who makes things happen;
you showed everyone what you can do--
You pulled your people out of the worst kind of trouble,
rescued the children of Jacob and Joseph (vv. 13-15). 

Just a few of the ways God has been faithful to us:

• He has brought us a few great friends to come alongside us in planting Re:Church
• He has put a new tenant in our Watertown house that is paying rent on time, which pays not only our mortgage but other bills as well each month
• He allowed us to come back and spend a Sunday with our church family in Watertown, where we were blessed to not only share our story but receive the most GENEROUS love offering ever (which paid some bills that we didn't know how we could pay that month!!)
• He has helped my heart to truly settle in and feel like Ithaca is finally "home"
• He has put Ethan in a great school with a great teacher, where he can't wait to go each day!
• He has brought us a wonderful babysitter and friend in "Miss Bette"--we are SO BLESSED by her love for our children

And the list goes on.  I could sit here all day.  Please, please, continue to pray for us.  Specifically right now:

• That God will continue to give us the vision and lead us step-by-step into what's ahead (and that we will be quiet enough to listen)
• For some friendships in the works for each of us (Daniel and Amanda)
• For my seminary classes beginning in January--that I will be able to juggle everything and that our new schedule (me traveling to Rochester every Tuesday afternoon) will run smoothly

We are so blessed!  Merry Christmas!