Wednesday, May 23, 2007

God's Provision

It is May 22nd, my job is finished and I‘m home visiting with my family for a few days because in less than two weeks I am leaving for Mexico! I can hardly believe it. I can hardly believe what has happened in my life over the last few months.

I can remember saying to my sister, Brenda, after one of my trips to Mexico that sometimes I felt like I could just give it all up and totally go for this missions thing. Wow! Be careful what you let come out of your mouth! Or sometimes have a real good listen to what is coming out of your mouth because you could be prophesying your own future—good or bad.

I have to say that since I made the decision at the first of the year to jump off the cliff and chase the lion, I have experienced the most miraculous confirmations to this decision that I have ever seen in my life. God has spoken to me over and over again through dreams, prophetic words and prayers, scriptures, and most of all, miraculous provision, beyond anything I could have imagined.

To those of you who have helped me, I am tempted to say that you will never know how much it means to me, but I hope that you will know, and that God will bless you beyond your wildest imagination. You have made a Kingdom investment that will pay dividends for many, many years to come.

There is a verse in Matthew 19:29, that talks about anyone who leaves their home or family for His name’s sake will receive a hundred times more. I can honestly say that I have experienced this verse and I haven’t even left the country yet! There is no one who can pay you back any better than God!

Monday, May 14, 2007

Can You Hear The Lion Roar?

"Are you living your life in a way that is worth telling stories about?" Yes, I know I'm starting another article with a question, but it's a good one, and one worth thinking about. This line from the book called "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson (I highly, highly recommend this book - it's a life changer) nearly jumped off the page at me, so I thought it deserved some thought.

Let me backtrack and say that back at the beginning of December, 2006 my sister, Brenda, sent me a copy of the first chapter of this book, and I can remember sitting on my couch on a snowy Saturday morning and becoming totally caught up in the story. It is taken from 2 Samuel 23, and tells the story of how a man named Benaiah chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it. Betcha didn't even know that story was in there - well, neither did I. The whole point of the chapter was that the biggest risks we face, the scariest lions, can be our greatest opportunities.

"When we don't have the guts to step out in faith and chase lions, then God is robbed of the glory that rightfully belongs to Him. Lion chasers don't let their fears or doubts keep them from doing what God has called them to do." - Mark Batterson.

I was absolutely captivated by the ideas that were being presented in this book. Little did I know why, or what I was being prepared for, because on December 13th I received an email that I believe has changed my life. It was from Tim Meyer, the missionary in Mexico that our Go Teams have worked with on several occasions, asking me if I would consider joining a team of people that he was putting together to work with him for ten weeks this summer.

I wish I could say that I immediately saw it as the God-authored divine moment that it was, but instead I have to say that I immediately dismissed the whole idea, and almost deleted the email. After all, it would no doubt be a team of high school/college age people, because no one with a full-time job could manage to take ten weeks off from their job, including myself. I would be the oldest on on the team, and besides, how could I ever come up with the amount of money that was needed to cover my expenses? I was concentrating on other decisions that I felt I needed to make as far as my future, and what my calling might be, and I barely gave the email any more thought.

But once again my sister Brenda was instrumental in causing me to stop and look at the lion that was staring back at me. (I could talk about the people who have helped me along the way to make the decisions that I have, but that's a whole other article - suffice it to say that you may think you are only sending an interesting article to someone, or just inviting them out for coffee, when in actual fact you may be one of the keys in helping someone to seize their divine moment.)

When I went home for the Christmas holidays, she kept bringing up this whole idea about Mexico, and kept encouraging me that I needed to think about it, and that it might be an opportunity that God was calling me to, and not something to just dismiss.

I could hear that lion growling at me. Was I going to chase it, or was I going to turn around and run away?

Thursday, May 3, 2007

A Taste Of Mexico- Missions Festival



Our church, Rock Church, recently held a Missions Festival, it's featured theme was "Tastes From Around The World." I had the fun of creating a booth representing Mexico. I had a great team, and it didn't take long for the food to disapear!

My team mates, starting from the left, Gwen McNeil, Me, Wendy Lee & Ashley Abbott