OnFire #156 Settling the New Colony

June 24 2008

Hi Folks:

This Sunday is our last Sunday of service in Shelburne. After the morning worship we’ll hook up the camper to begin the journey to Moncton. On my Facebook I’ve compared our trips  to Star Trek away missions. This time we actually start our new colony of Dennis’ on the planet Moncton.

Here is our new information. 456 Salisbury Rd. Moncton E1E 1B5. onfireletter@gmail.com will be the email I keep. Our phone number will be 506-382-1481.

I’m going to continue writing OnFire. I will, however, take a break for a few weeks as we take some vacation and unpack. I’ll be back in a few weeks.

Blessings,

Troy

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Mark and I went to the store the other day and picked up a few things for the next couple of days. Nothing special, but something we could fire on the barbeque.

We arrived home and I showed Jan my purchases. “What are you going to cook them on?” she asked. I started to laugh when I understood her question. The barbeque is in Moncton, and we are here.

Everything we do these days seems to be a reminder that our time left in Shelburne is short. In fact, I woke the other day from a dream where I was sorting the stuff we have left to take with us.

I’ve been thinking about journeys lately. It seems appropriate since we’re making our own journey to Moncton shortly. Plus, I’ve been on the canoe trip, and I’m reading “Lord of the Rings.”

Journey marks our life in all sorts of ways right now, even in the spiritual realm. We’ve been called from this place to go to another place, and along with that there are all sorts of challenges to our faith also.

There are unknowns in this new place. Nothing that will stop me from making the journey, but they cross my mind from time to time. How will a bigger church affect our family life? I can meet the job description, but what about the unwritten expectations? Will the boys fit into their new schools?

I hesitate to write these things. I’m supposed to be the one with faith, and not everyone wants to hear about our secret fears. I remember the words of a local tree trimmer. After climbing to the top of a 70 foot-tall beast he yelled down, “Do you know what my father would say if he saw me up here? He’d say, ‘Suck it up, princess.’”

The journey of faith always involves fear of some kind. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be faith.

But faith is about believing that it is better to go with God than it is to stay where we are. For us this actually involves moving physically this time, but it doesn’t always. In a hundred different ways God calls me to something different than what I am right now, and I must trust Him that the end result will be better than what I know presently.

And so we’ll make our journey to Moncton. We leave behind many good friends and we thank God for the many blessings we’ve had here. We look forward to the blessings of the future and we step in faith.

I hope this helps. Be OnFire.

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. To be added to or removed from the ON FIRE list contact him at onfireletter@gmail.com  Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com This letter published June 24, 2008.