last update before departure
This is it. I leave for Liberia in 5 days. This Saturday at 5pm EST I will be on a plane headed across the Atlantic Ocean fulfilling a calling that was placed on my life nearly 2 1/2 years ago. Many of you know that my prayer life used to be "okay, Lord, I'll do anything and go anywhere...except for Africa." I'm so thankful He intervened and helped me get out of my own way to see plans for my life that I love the best, but in my head I thought I would hate. How boring and uneventful I feel my life would be had He not intervened and helped me to get over the mind set that I knew what was best for my life.
Since school has been out I have began to re-read IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY for the 3rd time. You could say I like the book ;-) These are just a few things that have jumped out to me this time around:
"I'm concerned that the church that has turned into a bunker where we seek shelter when we're actually called to storm the gates of hell."
"The alternative to fear is boredom."
"Our biggest problems can be traced back to an inadequate understanding of who God is."
"[Jesus] didn't try to avoid situations where the odds were against him. Lion chasers know God is bigger and more powerful than any problem they face in this world. They thrive in the toughest circumstances because they know that impossible odds set the stage for amazing miracles. That is how God reveals his glory--and how He blesses you in ways you never could have imagined."
"So why do we assume that what we pray for is always what's best for us? If we could see what God sees, we would pray very different prayers."
And lastly..."Many of our prayers are misguided. We pray for comfort instead of character. We pray for an easy way out instead of the strength to make it through. We pray for no pain, when the result would be no gain. We pray that God will keep us out of pits and away from lions. But if God answered our prayers, it would rob us of our greatest opportunities."
I want to be a "lion chaser" of sorts. Not with real lions, of course, but in life in general. I want to tackle impossible odds and life a life worth telling stories about as I age.
Keep up with my team's blog here: http://weliberia.blogspot.com/
And also, a final prayer request: we have just found out that one of my teammates, Matt Elsberry, will be leading a Crown Financial teaching day to the Minister of Finance of Liberia along with a few other of the nation's leaders. We have seen this lady in documentaries of the current President and Liberian Government, and now we get to serve her and share Godly financial principles so that the nation may thrive! Crazy big, huh?
I am excited to write when I get back and share the stories I can only imagine await for me.
Peace.
Posted in: on Monday, December 22, 2008 at at 11:50 AM
