Officially Texans

Man, there is absolutely no way I could possibly bring you up to speed on everything that has taken place since our move on August 13, 2005. It's been 3 weeks full of ups and downs. I've sat down several times over the last 2 weeks to give an update on our lives, but each time, I sat and thought, and thought, and thought and could not decide what or what not to include. These have been the most packed 3 weeks of my entire life, all 24 years of it.

We moved in on a Saturday; our apartment is awesome. We love it, and the kids love it. The boys have done especially well with the move. They've adjusted unbelievably well, so praise God for that! The apartment swimming pools played a huge role in their positive transition. We met some really cool people in our building. They are our age and have 2 children who are our childrens' ages. They also have one on the way. They're searchers; searching for life in this world of death. They haven't experienced the joy that is to be found in our Father. Sovereign God has placed us in each other's lives; I pray that I'm always mindful of that and that I seek His will in all of our experiences here in Dallas. We are beginning a Bible study with our neighbors next week when they return from vacation. Pray that our study and friendship will be fruitful and pleasing to the Lord.
Life is going to be full here. After 3 weeks in Dallas, I'm working at Meadow View as an intern (working with the young married group and youth group), we've started meeting with a small group for study on Thursday nights (more about that later), we begin our study with our neighbors next week, I drive 3 hours to Austin on Monday mornings for my 2 Monday classes then spend the night for my Tuesday evening class and drive home, and so on. So we have become very very busy people. It is worth every second. I pray that God will use us here to further His Kingdom and bring His people to Him, as well as prepare us for future ministry.

The Lord is faithful; we are not.
Prayer upholds me spiritually. It gives me strength for my day. It brings me into a deeper relationship with God. The Lord acts when we pray. God has ordained a means of communication, communion, petition for us that we are so incredibly blessed to have. Unfortunately, I take that great blessing for granted. John Piper asks the question, "Would my life be described as a life devoted to prayer?" With all the change, and this is a pitiful excuse, I have been slacking in my prayer life. It's been hard to pray lately, but as Piper says so boldly, "So it's hard to pray? Join the fallen humanity club! It's hard for anybody to pray! Fight it when it's hard to pray!!!" I'm fighting. I'm fighting with all my might. By experience, I've found that the weeks that I spend more time with the Lord in prayer are my happiest weeks of all. The weeks that I spend less time with the Lord are my hardest weeks of all. Prayer strengthens us and helps sustain us. Fight it when it's hard to pray! It's impossible to be a Christian if we spend no personal time with God in prayer.

Finding others amongst the millions.
I'm really excited about another intern, Wesley, who is in his second year at Meadow View. He's an amazing man with an amazing family. He leads the Hispanic ministry at Meadow View which I sat in on 2 Wednesdays ago. I enjoyed it very much and learned a little Spanish from it as well. He and his family came over last week and Virginia, his wife, made Toquitos. Woooo!!! They were amazing!!! Everytime we get together, he and I have awesome theological conversations and heart felt personal discussions which encourage me and stimulate my desire for the Lord and doing His work. I praise God for him and his family and look forward to growing closer to them as the Lord blesses us with fellowship. Kelli and Virginia are very much alike and get along extremely well. Praise God for that also.

Tonight, we had our first small group meeting with a couple of the young married couples. It was awesome. We tossed around ideas for study and structure. The Lord has really blessed us. Kelli and I have been praying for and hoping for and desperately needing a group similar to what we had back home in Natchitoches and I believe God is forming us into that group now. Enrique and his family are amazing. We look forward to growing in a strong and deep Christ-centered relationship with these people. Like us, they are seeking the Lord's will in all things. They are genuine lovers of God. I pray that God will use them in our lives as well as ours in theirs. Likewise, Andy and Sarah are amazing. Andy is the enthusiastic youth minister at Meadow View. I sat in on his class last night, and I was really impressed. He was an awesome teacher, and the kids seem to really love him and learn from him. I was also impressed with some of the comments from some of the young people in class. It is so refreshing and encouraging to see and hear young people with a zeal for the Lord that I have only recently found. I pray that these kids continue to walk with the Lord and serve Him with all of their hearts. Back to Andy, he's a great guy with a great wife, I know that the Lord has great things in the coming years for our families. I pray that the Lord will everyday strengthen our relationships. And there are others, too many to mention.

My blog is getting long, so I'll let you get back to surfing the net. Be on your guard. The devil in prowling, but the Lord is our shield.

Continue in prayer for us.
Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Rick Harper