Still a No Show

So...It has been thirteen weeks now and we are still waiting for our I-171H to arrive. We have contacted USCIS who said we should get it "in a couple of weeks" that was about four weeks ago. We have been told that there is just one person processing the forms and this seems to be the problem. We have contacted our Congressman in hopes that he can help us move things along. We have found ourselves getting discouraged and frustrated in this time and reminding ourselves that it is all according to God's timing and his sovereign will for our lives. Please pray that we will continue to think right and ultimately see God glorified through it all. We have been enjoying the Spring here in Indiana. It is the first time in several years that we have really had a Spring. We have been passing the time by planting garden, tending flower beds, getting mowers ready, preparing a new trampoline and yesterday we added five new members to the family..some baby chickens. The wee lad (our youngest son) has taken a particular liking to the chicks and is enjoying them tremendously.
I wanted to suggest a book that I have been given recently. My dearest friend, who serves as an Elder with me in our church, gave me an excellent book, The Pastor -His Qualifications and Duties by Hezekiah Harvey. This book was originally published in 1879 by the American Baptist Publication Society and was reprinted in 1982 by Backus Publishers. It is currently not in print but can be found on the Internet for sale at different sights. I highly recommend this book for pastors. I have found that the book is so very relevant for our own day and time, proving once again that there is nothing new under the sun. This is the first paragraph on the section under preaching and in particular, exposition;
"This method of preaching has of late years gone into disuse, partly because success in it is really difficult to attain, and partly because, the Bible having ceased to be the chief reading of the churches, the popular interest in exposition has decreased; but when rightly followed it has advantages, both to minister and people, beyond those of any other form of preaching"
I had the opportunity to share these words and some more from the book with our congregation last Sunday. We were celebrating the occasion of our vocational Elder ending our study in Romans, a study that lasted five years. We wanted to be sure that our people did not see it as a mere novelty, or something trivial, or even burdensome that we had spent five years in study of one book. We wanted them to understand what a rare thing it is in today's pulpit to have the kind of Christ centered, expository preaching that we have in our fellowship. We are blessed beyond measure in this way.