As some of you know, we've been shopping for a church for over a year (I've lost track of how long now...). I can't even remember when our old church closed, but no matter how many places we've been since, we still refer to it as the old church. There are so many really great churches in this area, so this quest has been daunting, but not completely discouraging. This week and last, the kids and I re-visited a small local church at their request. We attended this one for most of the summer last year, and may in the end be the one we stick with. We had a plan to visit each of the churches for a month or so, but agreed not to make a commitment until we had a chance to visit several.

If nothing else in all of this, I've seen God at work in every one of the churches we visited, large, small, traditional or non-denominational. People are worshipping, loving one another, doing God's work -- it makes me so proud to be a part of the Body of Christ. This, I find, is different than what I would be left to believe if I bought into everything I read or heard on the radio. I am relieved, and blessed by what we have found. I have been making a point of linking when possible to churches that I have visited, or that are visited by people who have blessed me in some way. You will see them on my sidebar.

No matter what might be said of any of these churches, what they do speaks volumes more than what is said. I remember reading a study of Isaiah 52, where the writer pointed out that it is not "how beautiful is the mouth of the person bringing the good news, nor how beautiful the eyes that saw the good news, but rather how beautiful the feet that actually took action and brought the good news. Buechner states, "If you want to know who you really are, as distinct from who you like to think you are, keep an eye on where your feet take you."

Lord, I pray that you will make me a woman of action. I am often an observer, but not often enough a participant. Help me be your hands and feet in this world. Help me to bring You with me wherever my feet take me.

I am moved once again by the verse from Isaiah 52, "7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

God Reigns, my brothers and sisters in Christ. He is in control. May you have a week full of evidence of His grace :). Here's Psalm 8 for your reading pleasure.

1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!