First Class

I just got home from my latest missions trip; this time the destination was Nicaragua.  What an amazing experience!  On the way there, 3 of the 12 members of the team were in first class and I was blessed to be one of them.  What a treat it was, or could have been for me.


Due to the weather, we were delayed a couple hours, waiting for our pilots to come from another flight.  I was hungry by the time we got off the ground so the turbulence we hit turned my stomach in very bad ways and I ended up being sick to my stomach, literally.  Thankfully I had the plastic bag from the blanket the flight attendant gave me; it came in handy.  That was it for me.  The lovely breakfast of French Toast, with grilled pineapple, a fruit cup and a croissant turned into trying to eat the French Toast, but not being successful, but the croissant was okay and stayed down.  About 80% of my breakfast stayed on the tray.  I did sleep for most of the flight so the big seats were great.  A ticket in first class not fully experienced, not fully enjoyed.


How often do we as faith followers of Christ not live life up to the full potential we have in Him? In John 10:10b Jesus tells us that "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.", but we chose to follow our own path not His.  When we follow our own path, we miss out on all the fun and exciting adventures He wants to take us on.  We also must experience the heartache that comes from our own poor choices.  


What a waste of a first class ticket, right? Nope, when a lesson is learned, when a truth is discovered, the experience is never a waste.


Can't wait to share my trip with you.  Hope your week is blessed!

All theTime in the World

Procrastination is dreadful.  It allows you to think you have all the time in the world, but when it comes down to it, if you don't get done now what needs to get done you will run out of time. This week hasn't been so much procrastination for me, but being sick and lacking the energy to get anything done results in the same thing, running out of time.  I leave in a few short hours and the packing is not quite done.

We need to value the time that we have in front of us right now and not squander it.  We have no idea what the next hour will bring yet alone tomorrow.

"Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:13-14

Let's do today, right now even, what we are able to do and then when the project is done, we can sit back and enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done. 

Okay now this is a lesson I really need to learn.  Happy Friday!

Unseen Doorway

Have you ever been going along, minding your own business, doing your own thing when all of the sudden a door of opportunity opens that you never expected? You didn't see it coming at all, it was just suddenly there, right in front of you, bidding you to enter in.  

Lately I have had a couple of unseen doors open for me.  Two doors I walked through and been pleasantly surprised at the blessings those opportunities have brought to my life. Unseen doors may also lead to challenges to make us grow more and more into the men and women of God He wants us to become.

"These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." Revelation 3:7 

This is a verse of which I need to continually remind myself while I walk this life of faith. When He opens a door, it won't close until He chooses to close it.  If He closes a door, there is nothing we can do to open it again.   Challenges will come, but times of growth and deep blessing are also on the way.  The unseen doors open to new adventures that our Abba Father wants us to experience with Him.

Do you trust Him to lead the way?  I know I do!

Dreams

Do you ever feel like your dreams are right within your grasp, yet too far away all at the same time? Do you feel like things couldn't be going any better, at the same time as they couldn't be going any worse?  That's me right now.  Everything seems to be happening all at once.  It is a little overwhelming.  Sometimes I need to press on going forward, and sometimes I need to shift into neutral so that I can regroup and prepare for what God has in store for me.  The trick is to know which to do at the exact right time.  

Opportunities have come up that I know are right for me, then stuff happens to block doing them.  It would be wonderful if open doors came without any detours.  It is in the detours that we can strengthen our faith. 

But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.  Romans 8:25 (NLT)  Doesn’t sound like fun, but I know God is in control and He will work all things out for our good and His glory.

After David was anointed to be king, He didn’t get to job right away.  As a matter of fact, he went to work for King Saul, where he would have his life threatened many times.  On numerous occasions, King Saul would attempt to take David’s life.  All of this happened to prepare David for what God had in store for him in the future.  Knowing that, and knowing that David was able to overcome, gives me strength to do my best to overcome as well.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know the One who does.  Thankfully, I trust Him with my life.

Abba Father, please take my heart, and my life in Your hands.  Hold me close to Your chest.  Don’t ever let me go.  Prepare me for what You have in store for my future.  Amen.