Here We Go Again!

I want to start by saying that God is AMAZING!! Over the last several months I have been feeling very strongly led to work toward opening a satellite Heart To Heart office in the Bloomington/Normal, IL area. God has been revealing to me a tremendous need for H2H to help stand in the gap of services in this new area.

Oh, there are many quality counseling services in Bloomington/Normal, just not enough to meet the growing needs for counseling support. God has impressed upon my heart that we must go into this "new world" and be His ambassadors to the hurting people. I have been asking God how we can possibly do this, seeing as how we are struggling each month to cover the financial responsibilities for the Flanagan office. It just didn't seem humanly possible but yet I have felt a strong sense of urgency to make this new office a reality!

Well, guess what! It is NOT humanly, possible, but with God all things are possible! I was having a hard time thinking "outside the box" in terms of how to accomplish this God-sized assignment. I was thinking that we would have to be able to purchase our current building, which would free up $1,200/month we are paying in rent to go toward renting office space in Bloomington. Unfortunately the money was not coming in to allow us to purchase the building so I began to question if this was what Sandy wanted or was it what God wanted us to do.

Recently I was reminded by a long-time friend and colleague, Lon Alderman, about how God has worked in the past, 10 years ago June 1 of this year to be exact, to bring Heart To Heart into being. We started out in one small office in our local grain elevator. We had our first session scheduled before we had figured out where our office was going to be. Then as the ministry grew, we moved into our second location until we outgrew that space, and then moved into our current location. Lon reminded me that God could move in the very same way to begin the ministry in Bloomington! What an amazing idea!

Lon also reminded me of the Israelites as they were getting ready to cross the Jordan river, which was at flood stage. God did not stop the waters and tell His people to cross, He told them to cross and AFTER they put their feet into the water, He stopped the water so they could cross on dry ground. Could that be what He is asking us to do at H2H?

This thought of just getting down to Bloomington and not worrying about having our own building/office space has been completely oposite of what I was thinking and presents an opportunity for a HUGE leap of faith, once again. As I have begun to look for open doors for us to borrow some office space, it appears that God is opening doors for us! God is providing the dry ground for us to cross from Flanagan to Bloomington.

I already have 4 sessions scheduled in Bloomington without knowing for sure where exactly we will be meeting. I know without a doubt that God will open the doors for meeting space at the perfect time. This is exactly how H2H in Flanagan started 10 years ago and look where we are today! God has been and will continue to be faithful and blesses when we are willing to take that leap of faith, so . . . .hang on because here we go AGAIN!