Blog

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve.englund/Nicaragua508

Nellie’s Cave Park Shelter at 5pm. People with last names A-P bring salad or side dish, and Q-Z dessert. nlcf will provide drinks, meat and paper products.

Sorry for the posting pause. It was a long computer-less weekend: Saturday in my garden, Sabbath lunch with old friends from LA, a 6th wedding anniversary dinner for free, and a 4th Indie movie (Spielberg had me until the Tarzan monkey scene). Monday again in the garden at my granddad’s was a moment that transcended just about any experience I’ve had to date: At 93, my granddad is not planting as much these springs, so I put some pumpkin and squash seedlings in next to his strawberries. The earth was fresh, the air was perfect, and my girls were exploring the endless world of these miraculous 3 acres—just as I did 25 years ago, just as my mom had 55 years ago, just as her mom had 85 years ago! I retired to the hammock with Hayli on my stomach and we both fell asleep for what seemed like hours. If heaven is not much more than that, I won’t be disappointed. My gratitude to God for his blessing is beyond expression.

Watching Evan Almighty (slow Sunday afternoon), I started thinking about my faith. When I first became a Christian, I wanted to change the world. There is nothing wrong with this desire but over the years I realized God wanted me to make an impact in my little piece of the world and THEN he MAY give me something bigger to accomplish. It is often easier to focus on the bigger acts of faith (such as a mission trip) as they are more glamorous. The day to day acts of faith are often more difficult as it is harder to reach out to someone you see on a daily basis. It can be awkward to maintain a relationship with a co-worker or neighbor if you are rejected. Another issue with day to day faith is recognizing the opportunity. I am so focused on my goals that I sometimes miss an opportunity. Keys for me:

1. Look for areas in my daily walk where I can “live my faith”.
2. Pray for the courage to act when presented with an opportunity.

Jeanette from cellphone in Wilmington, NC: I purchased The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen (one of my fav. authors) yesterday at a used bookstore in downtown Wilmington. I sat on the back deck overlooking the ocean to read for a moment and I didn’t have to go further than the introduction to be reminded of the faith journey. Nouwen writes in response to his journey while writing The Wounded Healer ‘Any new insight which suggested an answer led me to many new questions, which remained unanswered. But I wanted at least to prevent the temptation of not entering any doors at all out of fear of the closed ones.’ These two sentences freshly reminded me that it is all too easy to not step out in faith for fear of the unknown but taking those steps to open those doors can lead to an unbelievable journey that otherwise you would have never experienced.

Just to clarify, that’s “start the day with worship”, not Youtube. Why was it only moments after thanking God for life and asking him to bless the day did I find myself watching the worst fights scenes ever put on film? (Trust me, they are baaaaad.) I can’t even begin to retrace my steps, but it only illustrates that each action on this faith challenge is met by an equal and opposite flesh reaction. In hindsight, my morning reading of David’s final words of wisdom to Solomon in 1 Kings 2 contained a lot of Kung Fu style vengeance. I prayed for understanding of this God who esteemed a man so violent and promiscuous as David. If his grace is enough for that guy, it’s enough for me.

Today I’m thinking I should pray for our church’s world travelers. As you may know, or knew but forgot, there is currently a team of nlcf’ers in Nicaragua. Today is the day that if you’re going to get the runs, you’re getting them today. Pray for that and for safety on the dangerous roads, the spiders, the snakes, and that the Nicaraguans would have ears to hear about Jesus. Another trip in progress is Wilmington: a lot of prep is going on right now to start up LT on Monday, pray for patience and efficiency in all the staff. Later this summer is a trip Kati and I are taking to Ukraine. I just got a newsletter from Almaz, our sister church, about the orphanage where we will be loving some kids and fixing up their nasty outhouse.

Today’s morning devotion was a family affair. All three of my girls and I piled into our bed and sang all the Jesus songs we could think of: What A Friend We Have in Jesus, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, Jesus Loves Me, I Am So Glad That Jesus Loves Me, Green Boy Push Me Over, etc. (Haven’t heard that last one? It’s a Hayli and Kati Williams original.) I immediately noticed how much it lifted all our spirits to put worship and family first rather than the labors of the day. I won’t be able to make it through this challenge alone.

Leadership Community Slideshow

Richmond Church Plant