More to Come

Even though I graduated from college four years ago I still remember that day clearly.  We all sat in the gym which they had converted that day to be a sort of a stage for us and we listened to the president of the SGA quote Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"  I still remember the atmosphere filling with a slightly sarcastic air; we were graduating from community college, what places would we go?  We were from a tiny town in rural Maryland, what things would we see?  To be honest, not many of us had grand aspirations, most were just there to get a slightly better job and live a quiet life, not a bad thing, but really what people would we meet?  Even then her proclamation stayed with me, "Oh, the places you'll go!"  I've thought of her words many times recently, of how right she was.  Who would have expected the beauty or the wonder of the places God has graced me to go or the people he has honored me to meet?  Oh, the places I've gone!  The urban center of Cape Town with the beauty of Table Mountain and the bright blue ocean always in view.  The breathtaking Zambezi flood plain, painted in hues of blue and green and wrapped in the golden light of the rouge setting sun.  The pulsing city of Belgrade with its amazing Eastern European vibe.  Oh, the people I've met!  What an honor to meet such and amazing and eclectic group of people all over the world with a heart to see God's Kingdom come no matter the cost to themselves!  The Van Collers who gave up their lives in South Africa to speak the gospel to the hurting and unreached in Zambia.  The teachers at the VOH school in Mongu who lay down their lives everyday to see the most vulnerable children in Zambia protected and taken care of.  The pastors and members of New Horizons Church in Belgrade who fight the spiritual battle everyday for their city and their nation, who seek out the most hurting and addicted in their community rather than shying away from the pain they know that it could bring to their own lives.  The leaders at my own church in Christiansburg and all those around them who willingly lay down their lives to help anyone who asks them.  These are the people I've been privileged and honored to meet; and that's just been in the four years since I graduated from college.  And my question in this is always, "God how could you be so good?"  His answer comes softly every time I look at the words carefully pasted on my journal: But my child, just wait, there's still "More to Come."

Hope and Humility

I once heard humility defined as seeing oneself in proper perspective to God and man.  To me that fits.  What could be more humbling than knowing how desperately you need God or how much you need your fellow man?  When I see in proper perspective I see how utterly hopeless my life 
would be if it was not for God's moment by moment intervention.  This revelation brings me to my knees, sometimes it puts me on my face in tears.  But it does not end at how hopeless I would be without God; no, this perspective carries on to how much hope my life contains because God is in my life.  He has said, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  As I look at the situations and circumstances in my life, my need for grace is so apparent.  The sadness of leaving my friends and students in Zambia; the strange circumstances I found upon my return; and now the search for a job, not knowing what direction to look.  Yes, grace is what I need in this moment.  But here is my hope, that God's grace is sufficient for my every need.  That I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  That He will give me the grace I need even as I humble myself to ask for it.  That though I cannot carry on in Zambia, there is no gap left by my absence because God cares for those He loves.  Those are the thoughts that cause an inadvertent smile to begin to form on my lips even as I ponder the decisions and paths before me as well as the things that I have left behind.  And so I hope in humility that God's plans and purposes in this time will prevail.  And I hope and pray that you too find hope in whatever circumstances you find yourself in today.  God is faithful.  His love will never end.  Selah.