Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Busy Times

So the last week or so has been one of the busiest times of my life. I kept thinking that this semester was going to be a chance for me to relax as I neared the end of my college life. Well that plan didn't work out too well for me. First off, the plan was to take 4 elective classes that wouldn't be too stressful for me. Instead I signed up for what may have turned out to be the 4 hardest classes I could possibly chosen. Real smart, right? Not really. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.


Last weekend was awesome! My good friend, David Godzisz, hosted a Disciple Now for the church at which he is the youth pastor. He asked me to come for the weekend as the main speaker and brought up some good friends from Georgia to do the music (The Tim Johnson Band... awesome!!). David had ~36 students there and by the end of the weekend, we had seen 5 salvations!! How incredible is that?! God showed up in a big way!! 

But then, right off the heels of that incredible weekend, Sarah and I attended the funeral service for a truly wonderful woman, Amy Rudolph. She had been battling brain cancer for many years now, but recently, she stopped responding to treatments and passed away Thursday night. It was a great service and I am confident in the knowledge that her husband, Mike, is a man of God who understands that sometimes the Lord gives and sometimes, the Lord takes away. 

Then, sunday night, I helped another great friend, Josh McDonald lead worship for a new college bible study at NC State hosted by Apex Baptist Church (which happens to be the church that planted our church 18 years ago). It was awesome! There wasn't much expectation for a crowd, but God showed off again and we had a great crowd and a wonderful time of worship. I really hope that group takes off and I anticipate hearing great things from them in the future. 

So all of that, and now I've got to jump back into the daily grind of school. It was such a spiritually exhausting weekend, but I was so glad to be a part of everything that happened. 

Here's how you can be praying for us:
-I need a job. I've got a couple of leads, but I need something to hold me over for the next 4-6 months before I get a full-time job. 
-Sarah needs extra hours in the day. She has been revamping the logo/identity for our church for the last 3 weeks and she has been truly exhausted these last few days. In fact, last night, I think she went to bed at about 7:30. So if any of you girls out there want to whisk her away for a day or two, she would love to be away from any sort of responsibility for a while!!
-We're still seeking God's direction for after graduation. I don't know what God has in store for us, but I'm sure it's going to be big!

We love you guys!!
Ben and Sarah Niemann <><

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.


p.s.
Here's a taste of the Tim Johnson Band. This video was not shot at the D-now this past weekend. And you can't really tell, but they are more awesome because of the chick drummer. That's right, their drummer is a girl (who is awesome, by the way!). Sarah and I both love these guys and hope to get to partner with them in the ministry more often in the future!!


1 comment:

Michelle said...

Hey! Found you guys and added a link from ours. Hope that's fine. We miss you! We'll have to play Catan sometime. From the sounds of it...maybe over Christmas break?