It has been a couple days since my last post. So thanks for your patience; I really do have a good excuse.  Yesterday I spent the day (A couple hours actually) in Dawson.  I had lunch with my mom and picked up a trailer and a bed.  I got home late afternoon and was shot.  Today I was up at 4:45am (that’s right, IN THE MORNING, before God gets up and has coffee).  I was helping out with a pancake feed the Jackson Lions were doing.  Now I am getting ready to hit the road again.  This afternoon I head to Gustavus College in St. Peter for the SW MN Synod assembly.  I am hoping to get to a computer and update my blog this weekend, so check back and see what is up. 

But before I go I want to leave you with a thought.  It deals with the trailer I picked up yesterday.  After we loaded this small 4 foot wide trailer with a queen size box spring and mattress, we started to have some concerns.  First, this small trailer was not built for long distance traveling (Approximately 150 miles) and second, the wooden sides my dad built were bowing out because of the weight of the bed.  My mom and I were wondering if I was going to make it.  I had my doubts about this load.  So we talked to dad, hoping he would make the decision not to haul the bed, but he didn’t.  It’s weird, I make decisions all the time being a solo pastor of a small congregation, but this was a decision I did not want to make.  I am not sure why.  It was nothing big, just a matter of hauling a bed.  It was not going to affect a lot of people.  Do we haul the bed or not?  I finally said, "What the heck, I’m going for it.  If the trailer breaks; it breaks."  But as I was driving, keeping one eye on the road and one eye on the trailer, I started thinking.  In life we are often weighed down with a lot of expectations and other burdens.  We start moving slow and second guessing ourselves.  A time eventually comes when we just want someone else to make a decision (but we often don’t admit that to ourselves).  Better yet, we want someone to come along and take the burden off us without us saying anything.  Maybe we are too proud or scared to ask for help.  Maybe we have too much of a sense of responsibility that says you have to do everything yourself.  Maybe that is what I was feeling yesterday.

But God does not weigh us down beyond what we can handle.  He will certainly not let the world burden us to the point of breaking.  God will come and helps us carry the burden.  God will relieve the pressures from our souls.  God does not let Satan get the best of us by placing the burden of salvation on our hearts (God carries that load…completely, through Jesus Christ).  So next time you feel weighed down know that God is there with you.  He will help you, just ask him.  Don’t be too proud or scared; don’t be stubborn or pig-headed. God wants us to come to him.  God wants us to talk to him.  Ask him to relieve you of some of your burdens and God will give you the strength to carry it or God will carry it for you.  Turn to God and cast your burdens on him.  God will not abandon you.  God needs you.  And God loves you.  Have a wonderful weekend and take care.  Amen!