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I woke up this morning and confessed to the Lord, "I don't know what to do today. I literally have nothing I have to do."  So I spent the morning in his presence - in prayer, Bible reading, meditation and silence, plus some personal worship time on the guitar and piano. Just lingering. Allowing it all to take as much time as possible.  In the afternoon, I went on a walk and talked to him some more. "Lord, on days like these, I don't feel like I accomplish very much." "Yes, but I do," he seemed to reply like a gentle whisper to my soul, like a thought or a word that came from somewhere beyond my own inclinations.  "I'm just not doing very much," I said with a hint of regret and restlessness.  "But I am," came his soft reply.  I smiled and knew it was true. I slowed down my steps, which are habitually accustomed to always being in a hurry.  It is on the days when I do the least that the Lord does the most. 

The phone conversation I had with my Burkina teammate was important, just not necessarily easy. It was filled with words like "terrorism", "safety", and "emergency precautions". We talked together about out safety as team, what the recent events means for us living in Burkina, and how we can be best prepared. We decided that we will be attending a special training for missionaries who live in dangerous places. I've never considered myself to be one of those, but I guess that changed about a week ago.  At the end of the conversation, I had a to-do list that included:  Get security training - Attend special missionary training on safety and emergency procedures  Write a will Talk with team about security protocols  Harden our security   Evaluate activities  Evacuation plan; funds    Appoint a power of attorney  Not exactly every twenty-four year old's average checklist. Then Geoffrey added one more piece of advice, one more item on th...

"I'm supposed to be on a plane right now," I  wrote in my journal yesterday afternoon.  "It's funny how just a few days ago I had so many conflicting emotions about leaving, and now that I'm here - sitting on my couch instead of a plane - all I want to do is go. Go with all my heart. All the fears I had and the reasons I didn't want to go now seem so irrelevant."  It is interesting what changed it all. A terrorist attack and the loss of an amazing missionary who lived out Jesus' love and who has gained his victory.  Funny how evil people think they are winning when they do absolutely stupid and senseless stuff like this, but what they have done is given Mike his ultimate reward and goal in life. "To live is Christ and to die is gain." Well done, Mike, good and faithful servant.  In light of all this, I should be more afraid to go, but I'm actually less afraid. Something about tragedy, loss, and grief makes you think about eternal th...

"So are you ready to go back?"  That's the question of the day everyday for the past little while. It's probably just the easiest and most obvious thing to ask me at this point, but I still have to give my answer based on if I think the person is trying to simply make conversation or if they really want to know. If they are just kindly making conversation, I answer them truthfully and say, "Yes, I am ready." Its true; I am. But for the sake of these few moments, I am going to assume that you really want to know. So my answer might be a little longer.  Having a heart in two places is a hard  blessing. I want to go back to Burkina with a fire in my bones, but I don't want to leave my home of twenty four years. I know God has led me to a season of life in Africa, and I embrace that joyfully yet with hesitation because it's hard to say goodbye to America. Every moment I am in Burkina, I am missing the ones I love in the United States. Yet every moment I ...

I don't do this too often, but today, instead of reading what I have written, you should probably read this from S.D. smith titled "Marginal Faith: You Probably Should Be Doing Less."  http://www.sdsmith.net/2016/01/12/marginal-faith-you-probably-should-be-doing-less/

"Have you ever been on a mission?" I asked the class of elementary students, and their hands shot up in the air.  "A space mission!"  "A spy mission!"  And several other answers that go right along with all of our childhood imaginations.  "What does it mean to be on a mission?" I inquired next, and hands shot up into the air again as they gave their best answers. "To have a goal." "Something to accomplish."  "Something you will do everything you can to achieve."  I smiled at their responses and continued, "What if I told you that God is on a mission? Because he is! Can you believe that?" I picked up my Bible and explained, "This book is the story of God's mission in the world since the beginning of time. It's one long, cotinuous story, and it all comes to a conclusion at the end in Revelation." Everyone turned to Revelation 7:9-11 and we read.  After this I looked, and there before me was ...

3 locations.  2 cities.  1 gathering.  That was the tag line for this year's Passion 2016. In two arenas in Atlanta and one arena in Houston, forty thousand college-aged students and young adults (ages 18-25) all gathered for one name. And it wasn't the name of Chris Tomlin, Louis Giglio, John Piper, or David Crowder...they were all there for the same one name, too.  I love Passion. The first year I went, I said it was going to be a one time thing. I loved it, but I said it would be a "one and done." But when the next year rolled around, I couldn't help but sign up again. And again. "Third time's charm, and that's enough," I said, but then ended up going a fourth time. This year, my fifth.  Maybe it's the energetic atmosphere of a stadium packed full of young people. Maybe it's those moments when you feel the bass of the band shaking the floor. Maybe it's the moments when all instruments back out and the voices fill the room like a ch...

With the close of 2015 and the start of a new year, I am so reflective on the faithfulness, great power, and tender care of our Father. Praising Him for 2015 - my best, craziest, hardest, and most wonderful, year yet - and looking forward to what he has in store for 2016.  It's wonderful to think that he is not bound by time like we are.  We need resolutions and new goals  at the beginning of a new year to help us remember to do what we have forgotten is important, but God doesn't need to do that. He didn't forget anything about you this past year, nor did he fail to do something for you that he was supposed to do. The start of 2016 is just like the end of 2015 in his eyes; He's still same sovereign God with the same beautiful purposes for our lives, never failing and always at work.  He is just as interested in working in us today as yesterday and the days to come. While we get enthused by resolutions and fresh starts, he is continuing just as ever-faithfully t...

I gazed out the window at the blanket of snow, perfectly smooth and untouched. It was beautiful with the moon shining down on it and the dark mountains towering in the distance like a shelter for the snow. Tomorrow morning the sun would rise again and turn those mountains pink with the morning glow before rising high in the sky to make for another warm day of winter snow skiing. But tonight, all was calm after a big meal, and my body was tired from the exertion of a play day in the powder. I snuggled up in my warm bed with a down-stuffed comforter and looked out that big window, so thankful yet feeling a pang of sadness at the same time.  Whitney hopped in the twin bed next to mine in the loft of the mountain mansion where we were staying, and I spoke softly to her. "Do you feel spoiled here?"  She has been climbing mountains and adventuring out in the wilderness for the past few months in mountain training school. She is used to sleeping in a sleeping bag on a pad in the mid...