54 days... the time keeps counting down and as much as I try to stop life to get a handle on it... I'm no different than anyone else, and I can't... time just keeps slipping away.

I wish I could say that I've accomplished so much since my last post from 65 days, however, everything I've accomplished, while still important, hasn't helped in packing up my house.  We went to camp and had a wonderful time, but have found it hard to get into the groove of this whole moving thing. 

We've been anticipating a move for years now... and yet, as I sit on the inevitable... it somehow seems surreal...

We went to Detroit Lakes yesterday... the whole family.  We met some fabulous people with a passion to share Christ with others... no matter what.  They're excited that we're coming there... because they "get it".  They know there are people who aren't going to church... people who don't know God... people who have rejected God... and people who just haven't "fit in"... who need to be reached.

They understand that our family isn't coming in to "compete" with their churches... We're going to Detroit Lakes because there is still a need, and it takes various people to reach different kinds of people.

We also drove by the house we'll be living in from September until the end of May.  It's rented now so we couldn't show them, but they got to see where it was and make it all seem "more real".  As we drove through the city, I felt myself getting more excited... and nervous... and scared... but mostly excited because I know that while there are so many questions to be answered... HE KNOWS ALL THE ANSWERS and it's going to be great.

I've heard planting a church is similar to having a baby... the months of preparation and anticipation for the "arrival" of something new... knowing life will change, but not knowing exactly how.  As I carry our next child, I feel even closer to that comparison... waiting to see the life being created in my body, as well as the "life" the Lord is creating to be birthed in Detroit Lakes.  It's going to be an exciting year for the Verlennich Tribe!

So, today as I look around at my house and all there is to do (did you know that when packing a house to move, you STILL have to do laundry and the dishes like every other day?!), I find myself with renewed energy as I think about our future in Detroit Lakes... and the lives of people we have yet to meet... and touch with the hope of Christ.

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