Awesome God...

So the other night the team heading out to Uganda in June got together for some grub, fellowship and prayer. It was simply amazing. Our God is so amazing. To be able to sit and talk of drums, red balloons and "being still" was just what we needed! This trip is going to be unlike any other for the entire team. God is moving and orchestrating so masterfully all we can do is step back in awe. It is a joy to see how God is doing this and it is with great expectation and excitement that we look forward to everything HE is going to do while we are in Africa. The Lord has revealed to Priscilla and I that we need to simply "Be still and Know that He is God, that He will be exalted among the nations, that it is Him that will be exalted in all the earth." Psalm 46.10 emphasis mine. When it comes down to it and all is said and done that is our goal that wherever we go or wherever we are we would simply be still and know that He is God and that we would always exalt Him!!!

Curve Balls...

Just when you think everything is as it should be: it seems life winds up and launches a screaming curve ball right at you, no where to run, no where to hide from the scathing speed the curve ball must be faced! Actually there is one place to turn, to Him! It is in times of greatest testing that I find myself most amazed at how great God is at giving me the grace needed to get through the curve balls of this life. It is easy to trust Him when all is well and as it should be, when His blessings are easily evidenced in my life; but will I trust Him when things are most hectic, seemingly spinning out of control, when every bone in my body wants to take control, lead the fight, exact justice or just plain do it my way. Will I fall on Him in my weakest moments and allow Him to show Himself strong on my behalf? Will I become the bat that He can use to knock the wild curve balls this life throws out of the park? Will I seek refuge in Him? Will I believe that He will do all that He says and has said He will do? "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4.15-16 and again in 10.23 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." Yes our God is faithful, remember that truth today as you face the "curve balls" of this life.

One Foot in Front of the Other...

"Human Pin Cushion" that is what you can call us these days! We thought there was a lot to do getting ready for a trip such as this thenwe learned about all the shots. WOW! The Lord has really been working in great ways, His provision is right on time, His guidance is perfect, and His strength is so greatly needed and all the while His grace is abundant. He is totally in control and we are loving it. Thanks be to our God who is great and greatly to be praised. "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord." Proverbs 21.30 We are so grateful that it is the Lord who is directing our steps!

Busy, busy, busy...

Okay, so like is it just me or is this month really crazy busy?! Work seems to be imploding: trying to get ready for my absence, hire a part time position, do my job and manage the men, its like totally wild. Home is equally wild and crazy: two graduations to attend and one graduation party to help plan, planning and prepping for the trip to Uganda, a wedding to attend, estate business in Espanola and many things that will not even come to mind right now!!! So on top of the "flutterbys" my head is now spinning. If ever I wanted to yell, "Calgon take me away" it would pretty much be now. I asked Priscilla last night, "if we were not going to Africa would it still be so crazy busy?" We concluded, "maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't." Seems to me taking a trip of this nature adds a certain level of urgency/craziness to ones life. You know I could not even imagine trying to do something like this with out the Lord. I would have no where to turn for solace were it not for Him. Psalm 37.4-5 "Delight yourself also in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass."

Right on Shcedule, His Shcedule...

Well we finally got our itinerary, yahoo!!! Next week we go for our shots and anti malaria pills, booooooo!!! Not pleasant but necessary. It seems like only yesterday we were talking about possibly going to Uganda and today we are super close to being there live and in person. I just can't get over how great and awesome our God is. You know for all our planning and scheduling it has really been cool to see how He is pulling all this together, the support letters, time off from work, the side jobs for extra funds, the prayer warriors shrouding us in sweet prayer, the whole thing has been the Lord!!! I must admit there is something electrifying about stepping out and just going not knowing what the Lord has in store or exactly what to expect once you get there. "This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it-the Lord is His name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things that you do not know.'" Jeremiah 33.2-3

Blessed or a Blessing???

Have you ever been on your way to do a job or to teach somewhere or maybe to do a home/hospital visit and on the way you think to your self, "I am going to be such a blessing" or on the flip maybe you think, "this is going to be such a blessing for me." Well this past weekend I found myself thinking the latter. Here I was heading out to a moving job thinking about how the Lord had blessed me with some extra funds for our trip to Uganda coming up in June, when in reality the real blessing was for them.

Turns out that as we moved and shared with one another bits and pieces of who I used to be came up and before long without realizing or trying I had ministered to to a sister in the Lord who really needed to hear that our God changes lives!!! That in Christ there is hope for the hopeless!!! That even when all seems lost our God is able!!! This dear sister needed to hear how God had changed me, yeah me who had been a drug addict for nearly eighteen years. Why did she need to hear this? Because if God could do that for me then He could also do it for her wayward loved one too!!! She needed a simple reminder that our God saves!!!

So when it was all said and done I was blessed and a blessing, can I tell you our God is Great!!