Treasure Hunting

I thought it was cooky, and weird, and not something I would ever do. And then I did it... and my world was rocked. Pray, then write everything you hear in your head onto a piece of paper: because you have the mind of Christ, and therefore you can believe that these "clues" are from him. "hot pink, black clothes, brown hair, blue eyes, sad..." Those were my clues. I didn't know what they meant. But thats what I thought I heard God saying. So half in faith and half because I thought it couldn't hurt to play along I wrote them down. I was skeptical. I was afraid. To walk onto a street full of the kids we know, full of the kids we talk to everyday, the kids who laugh at you so easily, we were about to show them a piece of paper, describing them, a piece of prophesy. But then something amazing happened. Those clues we wrote down... they were true. Louis was wearing everything on Mike's list, and not only did we get to tell him that God loved him, and that God was thinking about him and wanted to talk to him, not only did we get to do that, but he was so freaked out by "God stalking" him, that he told everyone else. Then suddenly there were fifteen kids around us, all wanting to see the paper. All shocked. And it was incredible. Right there on that paper they saw God moving. Then I met Holly, brown hair, blue eyes, black clothes and a hot pink bag... and she was sad. I got to pray with her, and tell her about Jesus' love. I can't even describe it! How incredible to see God move so intensely. We try day after day to love on these kids but getting them to sit and listen to the gospel is hard, almost impossible, but because Angelique stepped out in faith and made us move, we got to show them Jesus. I'll never forget the looks on their faces. The shock. Andy the policeman, John in the bar with a son named Harry, Holly, Louis, James... God knew they would be there. And He sent us to reach them. The stories from that night are incredible, but we didn't do it: we just had to be available. He did the rest.

Life goes on

Stop. Look. Process... beautiful words, that I don't do much of lately. If your not careful life goes bye like a speeding train; the scenery outside may be beautiful, but you would never know. I've had the most incredible two and a half months of my life. I've seen God move in me and in this community. I've learned about His character, about community and hospitality, about living in fellowship with believers and having your own relationship with Christ at the same time. I've been challenged to step it up, to not say now I'm doing missions and now I'm just living, but to be constantly living as a missionary, that missions is my life. Now... I'm processing it all. I read in "Velvet Elvis" yesterday that "life will go on without you," that its a form of pride not to take a sabbath. Sometimes we think that if we're not constantly serving and doing it won't get done, but the truth is, thats its Christ doing, we're just the vessels, so we can trust that when he told us to rest, it was for a purpose, and He can use anyone to get the things He wants done, done. How good is it to know that life goes on without us. Of course we all have responsibilities, things we must wake up and do e v e r y d a y... and thats good, God created us to do. But not at the expense of our relationship with Him. He wants more than anything for us to be with Him, in love with Him, captivated by Him. If we don't take the time to rest in Him, He usually forces us to. Whether thats making you sick, taking your car away, losing your job, or just canceling your plans, God will do whatever He has to to get hold of you. And I'm so glad He does. How beautiful it is to stand in His presence.