It's on!!!

After this last week I think its safe to say that my desire to do some spiritual push-ups before this mission trip is facing some opposition. This last week went much like to the two weeks before. We still have no shower facilities, we are brushing our teeth in the kitchen sink, we pulled an all nighter and visited the ER for a 3 year old with a scratched cornea, Beth was sick, I still couldn't run because of knee pain, and I was definitely feeling overwhelmed and joyless. During a short devotion this week it occurred to me that there was no reason to let life wear me out when I serve such a big God. From this devotion I looked into the life a Sampson for some help with managing my current life challenges. A couple of key points have occurred to me so far. First, Sampson didn't realize the source of his power. When he finally revealed the secret of his strength he said it was his uncut hair. As it turns out not cutting his hair was only one of several components of his Narzarite vow and was almost the only one hadn't broken, yet God continued to give him strength. Also, Sampson did not understand the purpose of his gift. Every incident of Sampson great deeds were motivated by his selfish desires or emotional whims instead of service to the giver of the gift. So, as I move forward into this week I need to consider the source of my strength, is it in my own abilities or in the abilities of the creator of life. Also, I need to consider the purpose of my actions this week, am I motivated by selfishness or service.

Well time's up and duty calls. Please pray for a swift and decisive end to this little skirmish. Also, I did not send out my letters.

Thanks for your prayers and support

TJ

The battle continues

We have just completed another week full of anxiety, disrupted schedules, and minimal time in prayer and bible study. This week didn't involve sick children, but a remodeled bathroom, our only bathroom. The craziness of no shower or bathroom facilities combined with all the running around to find parts for the unexpected problems was and is overwhelming. Thankfully we have a very gracious neighbor who has allowed us to use her shower and sleep at her house during the week. Personally, my brain snapped on Saturday afternoon when after completing a one legged bike workout, I was holding a screaming baby who was supposed to be asleep, but woke up the second Beth left to go grocery shopping, and I received a phone call telling me that the park reservation for the 8K race we are setting up for the Caring Pregnancy Center was not made like I had thought and that we will have to change the date after two months of planning. At this point I proceed to "remodel" a toy baby carriage. I wondered where is God in my hurting up knee, crying baby, and messed up race plans. I needed God to be real because I couldn't take anymore. He did prove himself faithful because I received a call from three different people, including the directer or the CPC, saying the date we are trying to reschedule to works better. Also, Beth was able to manage the kids' baths while I was in the backyard kicking the soccer ball trying to cool down. Things aren't all roses now, we still don't have a shower, I need to get myself or someone over to the rec center to finalize the park reservations tomorrow during regular work hours, and now Beth is feeling sick, blahhhhh.

Please pray this week that I can get my support letters out and for peace in our house.

TJ

Things are really happening

The passport is here, the tickets are on reserve, and we are meeting tonight to try and finalize the roster.

This last week was quite a bit different than the last month of trying to prepare and work through this mission opportunity to Taiwan. Instead continuously thinking about the trip, I didn’t think once about the trip. Last week I mentioned how Psalm 139 really hit home for me and gave good peace of mind about the trip, this week we had physical chaos and all other thoughts were removed from my mind. Our one and half year old was up ALL night crying early in the week because of ear infections that required antibiotics, the baby developed a chest cold that required antibiotics, our 3 year old developed an ear infection and a throat infection that required antibiotics, and I messed up my knee enough that I had to stopping running and riding, requiring the family to deal with a grumpy Papa for a few days. During these hectic times of no sleep and much stress my prayer time and time spent in the bible typically drop off considerably and this week was no exception. It makes me wonder if a spiritual battle was won last week and now a new front was opened. The anxiety about the trip was removed last week, “know my anxious thoughts…and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139)”, so now the attack and distraction is physical in nature. Hmmmmm….deep thoughts, but not out of the question.

So this week I would ask you to pray that I could get back into the rhythm of bible study and prayer. Also, as things progress with the trip I will need to send out some support letters. I still feel a little uncomfortable about this since I have a job and could make it work, but I have been strongly encouraged to do so for some very good reasons. The people that I have spoken with who have participated in mission trips before and who I would consider mature Christians encourage sending out support letters to allow others to participate in this mission opportunity who can’t go, but want to contribute to the efforts of the trip. Also it was pointed out that individuals on short term mission trips are already making considerable sacrifices by giving up family vacations and enduring the exhaustion of short term travel to foreign lands.

Thanks for your prayers!
TJ