Church and my changing views on relationships and marriage

Today was our 3 year anniversary for our little church plant here in Sarasota, Florida. We had an absolute blast and had a great picnic afterwards. I love my church; I get this natural high from being around the people in my church. It helps me wake up on Sunday mornings with something to look forward to that really recharges my batteries from the week. This comes from a couple of things I believe. First off, it comes from reconnecting with God through song and a time of communion. Secondly, I get recharged after being around people that I love and care for. My friends are the best friends anyone could ask for, and I continually thank God for this church. We made it to 3 years, which a lot of churches don't make it to so we're super thankful for that. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the future years to come. Lord, help us bring your kingdom to earth and spread it among everyone we interact with on a daily basis. There have been times of discouragement, yes, but overall it's been a phenomenal ride.

A friend of mine gave a testimony today that really touched my heart. She said she had been reading this book about a girl who gave up everything and went to Uganda at age 18 and has adopted 14 children since then. In the book, the author mentions how we just need to say 'yes' to God and He will do amazing things. Now my friend has started this play date group for moms and babies and it's going great so far. I can't wait to hear what doors God opens through this friend of mine saying yes to Him. What a great way to end a service today, hearing about that.

We start our Creek communities either this next week or the week after and will be spending 8 weeks I believe in the Tangible Kingdom primer so I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully I can have a group over here a couple of times once my place is more ready to go. My mom wants to do a lot of projects when her and Uncle Mark come down so we'll see how that all goes. My Uncle Mark is about the handiest guy I've ever known so I'm sure we'll get a lot done. I just hope he can be patient while I try to learn some new things. Anyways, back to the Creek communities. I really look forward to connecting with others and learning about what this book study will have to teach us. I read the book that it's based off of and really enjoyed it so I'm sure this will be good as well.

In other news, my views on marriage are starting to change ever so slowly. For years, I have always seen a wife as nothing more than an unnecessary burden that I simply don't need. That has changed over the past couple of weeks for some reason. I attribute it to nothing short than a work of God because my heart has been really hard in regards to women for a really long time. Now I'm realizing though, that a wife is more of a helper (as is a husband, not being sexist here at all.) They can help you get through the rough patches of life. It kind of hit me when my mom was down here and listening to her and dad talk on the phone a lot and just care for each other. I suppose it only makes sense to me that my views are changing. I'm surrounded by married couples on every side of me who have very healthy relationships. Geez, what is going on with me? What happened to the guy who was never going to get married? Another thing has happened recently that has got me rethinking the whole relationship thing. A dear friend of mine said she had to break off our friendship for a while because she was still in love with me. It hit me that I really care about this girl and maybe I'm making a mistake by letting her slip through my fingers like so many girls have in the past. I wrote her back an email about how I respect her decision but that I was really going to miss her. That has proved true over the last week or so. I don't know if that means I have feelings for her or not, but it's certainly got me wondering. Like I said, my views are changing on the relationship and marriage thing, and quite frankly it scares the crap out of me. What if I actually commit to someone and settle down with them? Does that mean all my traveling around the world ceases? Am I just being selfish to still want that? Could I still travel with someone else? I'm used to traveling solo, could I handle traveling with another person? Would they even want to? So many questions, guess I'll just wait and see what plays out.