Influences November 17, 2007

Over the past week, I’ve been thinking about influences and people who have influenced my life in some way or another.  The reason I’ve been thinking about that this week is because I had the opportunity to hear two of those people speak this week.

One of those is Katherine Paterson.  She is an alum of King College and the author of several well-known children’s books.  I first heard of Paterson when I was a freshman at King.  She came to campus and did a book signing and lecture.  She came back again to speak at my college graduation.

Since I was an English major interested in writing and teaching and books, I hung on every word of her graduation speech.  I remember writing about it in my journal at that time.  Here’s a snippet of what I wrote ten years ago:

Katherine Paterson’s speech was wonderful also.  She said the we were “children of hope” who could bring hope to those children in the world who have no hope.

 The other person I heard speak this was Louis Giglio.  He is the founder of the Passion conferences.  He was on tour with Chris Tomlin who had a concert in Johnson City.  I first heard of Louis Giglio when I was in Columbia, SC.  He spoke at a retreat for the college ministry I was part of in graduate school.

That retreat happened to fall on the weekend after I interviewed for my first job at Midlands Technical College.  He spoke about finding God’s will for your life which was a timely message for me then.  I’m sure I journaled about it, but I can’t find that journal this morning.  I think I first heard this prinicple from Louis:  God’s will for your life is to lead you to things that are for our good and for His glory.

I’m sure Louis Giglio stated that much more eloquently than I just did.  But the point of these two words of wisdom from these two people is that I was reminded this week of one, how deeply those two ideas have become a deeply ingrained part of who I am and what I believe about God and following His will for my life.

The second reminder was just that God is faithful to lead and guide and shape us.  I also had the opportunity this week to hear life stories from people in my community group at some women at church during this month’s Titus 2 fellowship.  Whether it’s famous people or the everyday people we meet in life, God uses those people to provide words of encouragement at just the right times.

During this week of Thanksgiving, I’m thankful again for the influences that God has placed in my life and for the faithfulness of those people to follow God’s leadership.

 

 

Team Profiles: Michelle November 17, 2007

I am so excited that my friend, Michelle, is going to be part of this trip. I have been in a community group with Michelle for the last four years, but don’t really feel like I got to know her well until this past Spring over a long lunch at Macallistair’s where we bonded over what women down through the ages have bonded over: men.After a couple hours of our tales of woe and heartache, I began to see what I had missed about Michelle all these years, her amazing heart. Michelle has lived with a physical disability for all of her life. And probably like a lot people do, I don’t think I saw past the disability to see the real Michelle. Michelle has an amazing ability to connect with children of all ages and this great desire for people to know how special they are to God.

Michelle has had a heart for missions for a long time and has desired to go on mission trips before, but hasn’t because of medical concerns. It’s been really great to see Michelle step forward in faith and to watch how God has provided for all of her needs and concerns on this trip. I can’t wait to see how God will use Michelle with the kids in Tegucigalpa.

New Music: The Wailin’ Jennys November 12, 2007

Thanks to iTunes, I just discoverd The Wailin’ Jennys. They have these amazing harmonies and great lyrics. I downloaded a few of their songs, but had not really listened to them until this morning on my way to church. I found myself listening to “Heaven When We’re Home” over and over. I don’t know what the Jennys believe, but I love it when a “secular” song can make me want to praise God.
There are days when the longing for Heaven and home and the perfection of that future hope are very real. As I was listening to this song this morning, I found my myself praising God that even though there are twists and turns in life, that I do know in the end that Heaven will be home. “But now Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7.

From “Heaven When We’re Home”

It’s a long and rugged road
and we don’t know where it’s headed
But we know it’s going to get us where we’re going
And when we find what we’re looking for
we’ll drop these bags and search no more
‘Cuz it’s going to feel like heaven when we’re home
It’s going to feel like heaven when we’re home

There’s no such thing as perfect,
and if there is we’ll find it when we’re good and dead
Trust me I’ve been looking
bu tonight I think I’ll go and take a bath instead
And then maybe I’ll walk a while
and feel the earth beneath me
They say if you stop looking
it doesn’t matter if you find it
And whose to say that even if I did
it’s what I’m really looking for

It’s a long and rugged road
and we don’t now where it’s headed
But we know it’s going to get us where we’re going
And when we find what we’re looking for
we’ll drop these bags and search no more
‘Cuz it’s going to feel like heaven when we’re home
It’s going to feel like heaven when we’re home

Mission Trip Planning Lesson #1 November 10, 2007

Get rid of your expectations.

This is the third trip I’ve lead and probably the ninth short-term mission trip I’ve been on.  Every time I go in with expectations about how things will turn out.  I kind of feel like God plays poker with my expectations: “I see that expectation for everything to go as planned, and I raise it by a missed airplane flight.”

Of course God doesn’t play games with us.  His desires are to make us holy and glorify his name in all the earth.  Every time as a team we’ve prayed and made plans for what we’ll do, where we’ll stay, how we’ll get there.  And every time, those plans have been rearranged in some way.  Whether it’s a bus breaking down before we even get of town, missing every planned flight, or finishing a project in the middle of the trip and trying to come up with something else to do for the next 3 days, in short-term missions (as in life) things don’t always go as planned.

Does that mean we stop planning?  No.  It just means that I’m learning (notice the present verb tense–the learning is ongoing) to let go and hold loosely to those plans and expectations.  For a somewhat anal, slightly type-A librarian, likes-to-have- everything-in-neat-categories, strong J on the Myers-Briggs kind of person like myself, it presents a challenge.  My tendency is to wonder why my plans are not working out.  But, God is changing that outlook instead to be, “I wonder what God will do next?”  It’s an exciting, adventuresome place to be.

I’m reminded of Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”

My prayer for myself and all of us is just that:  that I will trust God with my heart and my plans and that my heart would be pliable enough for God to direct it however he pleases.

Prayer Requests November 8, 2007

We’re in the thick of planning for Honduras.  As it turns out, flying during the Christmas season is really expensive.  We’re trying to find the cheapest fares and be the best stewards of our time and resources.  Please be praying that we’ll make good, wise decisions as we plan over the next few days and weeks.