Monday, March 15, 2010

The very last week before the end of our winter tour

Can't believe we have reached the end of our winter tour! I still remember when we had to delay our departure due to the snow back in January, now we are one week away from going back to Willmar!

This tour has been a learning tour for all of us--Learning to love when we're unlovable, learning to be patient with each other, learning to be leaders, learning to reach out, learning to be humble, learning to lead others to Christ, learning to enjoy God's blessings, and learning to become the person God created each one of us to be.

None of us is perfect, but God used each one of us to remind and show others that we don't have to be perfect before God, and there's no guilt and shame before Him. Jesus died on the cross for us so we can have life, just as Romans 8:38-39 said, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And because of that, we don't need to be perfect and we don't have to be afraid of making mistakes anymore. We have freedom to come before God and receive His love, even as imperfect human beings.

I am grateful for this long but meaningful tour. I learned so much about myself, my teammates and most importantly, God. Even though the winter tour is coming to an end, I know that we will remember this past 3 months and hopefully, remember how faithful and good our God is.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

God is so good, and his hand is upon us!!!!!!!!

I want to tell you all a little story about our trailer. About 2 weeks ago now we were leaving Bakersfield CA for a 10 hour drive to Phoenix AZ . When we arrived in Phoenix we noticed that the wheels on our tailor looked a little wonky. Upon closer inspection we discovered that the axel had actually shifter considerably. The next day we unloaded everything from the trailer and tried to take it to a repair place to find out the extent of the damage. I say try because we didn’t make it very far before calling a toe truck. When we finally got the trailer to the repair place, the repairman lifted it up to have a look, and the axel actually fell off. That alone was enough to show us that it was only by grace that we had made it that far. But the rest of the week was full of blessing after blessing. From finding a perfect replacement, to having a great place to store our stuff, the lord provided. And he always does.

It is so easy to forget how much we rely on his grace everyday. When I get out of the van after a 10 hour drive I usually say “Thank God I’m out of that van” instead of “Thank you God for brining me this far”. But when I saw that we had just ridden 10 hours on rusty threads of metal I was reminded that that trip, like all the others, wasn’t made on wheels and steel, but on grace.

I hope that today you will be reminded of how miraculous it is that you are alive. Your life is short, fragile and has nothing to do with you. And yet, God has given you another day, don’t waste it.

Thank you all for your prayer and loving support.