Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30

First of all, Saturday was our first snow fall of the year. Although they called for 4 inches we got about a 1/4 inch ;) Welcome to Washington! And of course, we choose to do a month's worth of grocery shopping at Costco during the first snow of the season. Crazy! So I'm definitely thankful for the wonderful cashier that got us in and out of line very quickly :) I'm also thankful for the opportunity of running into my freshman basketball coach(It is so crazy to think that that was 8 years ago!) and her family. I might now be able to work an extra day as a personal aide to her son with downs syndrome. It would be a wonderful opportunity! Now for Sunday! Today was a great day! Started off with church and then a visit from our grandparents! I'm a Sunday School teacher on Sunday mornings during the service, but on a every-other-week schedule. This week I was able to sit in church and God just really spoke to me through the sermon! So blessed! The sermon was from Mark 8-The healing of the blind man at Bethsaida. Here is the story: "Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. 24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” 25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly." I particularly love verses 22-23. Here the blind man is brought to Jesus by his friends for a healing touch. But in verse 23, he received a touch he did not expect. Instead, of being healed in an instant, Jesus took the man's hand and led him out of town. I love this so much! Instead of just healing the man on the spot, Jesus leads him by the hand. This took an incredible amount of trust for the blind man. Recently, I have felt a lot like this blind man. Unsure of God's leading and of His plans, but the Lord has not chosen to cure my unknowing but to gently lead me out by the hand. This verse puts a beautiful picture in my mind of Jesus taking my hand(yes, me the blind man) and gently leading me out. Not leading me out to all the answers, but leading me out to press more into Him. I also love that Jesus didn't choose to heal him completely the first time, but required Him to push in further to Him in order to see clearly. It's only when Jesus made him look up that his vision was restored and he saw clearly! I'm so thankful for the Lord's gentle leading! Even when it's not what we expect, it only causes us to press into Him deeper, look into His face, and see clearly!