Thursday, February 20, 2014

What Part of the Harvest is Your Responsibility?

Alejandra (lives in the work camp) and Stacy - Culiacan, Mexico

                                      
Before a crop is harvested, a great deal of work must happen.  Someone needs to prepare the soil.  Another needs to plant the seed.  Then along comes the one who will add the water.  Soon, fertilizer needs to be added to encourage growth.  And when the time is right, someone gets to harvest the fruit.  An individual's journey toward salvation is very similar.  We, as believers, have a part to play in the harvest of souls.  What part are you playing in the lives of people you encounter throughout your day?  Are you preparing the soil with kind words, planting the seed of what the Lord has done in your life, fertilizing with words of encouragement or picking the fruit when the time's right?
 
This is Alejandra.  I, along with two others, were sharing the Gospel with her at the door of her room in the work camp.  She spoke Spanish so we returned to the van to get her a CD of the Gospel in Spanish.  Upon returning to her room she handed me a huge bag of cucumbers (the crop she had been picking).  She told me that she remembered me from last year when I happened to be the one to come to her door.  She asked if I remembered that last year she gave me a bag of tomatoes (which is not a common occurrence), which I did.  We were there that day watering the seeds that had been planted the previous year.  It was a good reminder to me that the Lord has given us all a part in the harvest.  It isn't always about being the one to harvest the fruit; the Lord is asking us to be responsible for the part of the harvest he puts before us!
 

Of Course that Happened!


                             
 
Moments after boarding the airplane and getting settled into our seats both Trish and Suzanne took out their glasses and had an arm break off.  We all laughed proclaiming, "Of course that happened!"  The moment you are obedient to the Lord you need to get ready for the trials to begin.  That's why the Bible tells you to arm yourself, because you are entering a battle.  But when those trials come, know that the Lord is bigger yet, and it's always best to be IN the Lord's will, then OUT of it!  Satan worked overtime trying to detour our team from making that trip down to Culiacan (using trials much bigger than broken glasses), but guess who won....
 
Taylor, Joan, Stacy, Jonathan, Paige, Bill, Ben, Suzanne, Nate, Trish
                     
 

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Overwhelmed By What?

Wow, in the past two months our family has been through a lot, from the death of my father and Emil's grandmother to two mission teams, an outreach and a new semester in school. Like many of you, I can quickly get overwhelmed with life's craziness. But last week they played a song at church called "Overwhelmed". The lyrics were about being overwhelmed in The Lord.
This has become my theme song as I go through this season of time.  I pray it speaks to you in mighty ways.  Be overwhelmed in the Lord, instead of overwhelmed by the world!