Almost Prepared

In 48 hours I will have completely left my little world, my daily routine, my comfort zone, and even my time zone to embark on journey sure to change my world view and my relationship with others and most importantly God. As my oldest daughter, my amazing wife, Holly, 5 others and myself fly into a foreign land most of us have only read about or seen pictures of, poverty beyond our scope of imagination, needs that are life crucial there that we take for granted as daily living here. I began today, nearly a year after starting this process of getting to go on this trip to feel anxious. The preparing has been quite a process and now that we are down to the last 48 hours of packing, learning a little Spanish, and praying for a safe trip I am left wondering what God has planned for me, will I be strong enough to endure what He has in store or being willing enough to let Him show me what needs to be done. Ephesians 2:10 says; “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Obviously H

His word says He has already prepared us so that we can walk the path He has chosen, to do the good work He has designed, but am I willing. As a drug counselor in a 12 step program one of the first things we ask of clients is, do you believe you are powerless and are ready to give up and let God do it?” I know find myself being asked that same question, and I believe I can truly answer, I can’t, He can, I’ll let Him. As we get ready for this journey I just ask my family and friends for prayers of safety and that we all leave with open hearts ready for full growth. I do not underestimate the hardships we may endure over the next week and I fully expect there to be many, I can only hope that as James 1:2-4 tells us we should consider our trials, our hardships pure joy as our faith is tested we shall grow in perseverance and begin to fully mature. How amazing would it be to fully mature in the eyes of God. To our friends and family I pray we come back changed in a way that shows the pure salt and light of Christ in our lives and it affects you lovingly and to the Dominican Republic Mission Team from New Life, 2013, God Speed.  

Losing myself

I have made a decision to change my life. This includes changing what and when I eat, when I go to bed and get up, how I treat my friends, family, and wife, how often I pray, and how much time I spend in God’s word. Over the last several days I have been inspired to do so and I know that this is the Holy Spirit telling me it is time, time to reset and reboot mind, body, and soul. So what’s the plan?

Well it starts by detoxing just like I ask people to do when they come see me at work. For the next 10 days Holly and I will fast, living only on juice from fruits and vegetables. This will not be an easy task for me, I dislike veggies and love meat but we are told in Mark 9:23 "‘if you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes." This fast will help detox and restart the body. I plan on pairing this with walking, swimming, and light workouts at the gym.

It has been said by many that if you detox the body the mind will follow, allowing you to think more clearly, balance emotions more rationally, and feel less depressed or anxious. I also intend to feed my mind with God’s word, useful information about mission work, and healthy readings. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Seems like a pretty good reason to spend some time looking at it.

Proper rest will also help the cycle of rebooting happen. Going to bed earlier, getting up a little earlier is not only healthier but also increases metabolism. Plus God commands us to rest so that we are capable of doing the good work He asks us to do. Matthew 28:11-13 says “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Sounds like a good plan to me.

And finally I will do my best to change my attitude, treating others with kindness, respect, and love. I consciously do so already but sometimes when out in the world trying to be nice and kind I use up the energy I need to be superman for my family. They end up getting what is left of me instead of the best of me. 1Timothy 3:2 says “now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, and able to teach.” I would love to be these things all the time as I want to be the strong leader of this home and in our community, showing people God’s amazing transformative love.

Finally I know that all of this will take lots of prayer and even more faith. But I looked in the Bible and it seems faith can do anything if put in the right place, Jesus. Matthew 17:20 shows us this example, He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Jesus says we can tell a mountain to get out of our way and it will. This is what I need because those of you who have seen me lately know that I am the size of a mountain. I am ready to take this journey, a journey with my wife, my family, all of you, and most importantly my God.