Today I loaded my kids in the mini-van and got onto I-71. As they watched The Ballad of Little Joe, there were moments when I seriously considered not taking the exit on my directions and continuing south through Columbus and Cincinnati, through Kentucky and Tennessee and finally over the Mississippi. I was tempted to keep going across the rice fields of eatern Arkansas and get my children and I back where my heart aches to be.

I didn't. I took the exit and instead saw mid-Ohio until I got to Lewis Center. Y ou see, this blog has helped me form a new friendship. Several months ago a had a comment posted from a total stranger. I wrote her, she wrote me back. Over the course of things, we discovered a common connections: I was moving back to Ohio and she lived near Columbus. She has provided so much encouragement throughout the process of our move, but a few weeks ago, I found out she and her family are now moving to Nashville. So with not much time left in the same state, we visited their church today.

What a blessing it was. I felt immediately embraced and welcomed. I felt surrounded by a group of Christians who were striving to spread the message of God and to strengthen the faith of those who were already there. And elder kept the babies in the nursery during church!! I needed the encouragement I got this morning. Thank you, Alum Creek, for the love you poured on me today.

I pray God's blessings and strength on David and Suzie Estes as their family moves to Tennessee and takes on a difficult ministry, but one that has the potential to reach young people who may have no other exposure to the message of Christ. I pray the house they are buying without seeing it is a place where their family can find rest and where God's love can be shown. I pray that a friendship created ver the Internet can grow and grow over the Internet. I pray I can be an encouragement to her as she has been to me.