On Sunday we did some packing and final planning for the trip. As we ate lunch, some of my teammates shared how they have been tested with sickness and family member's sickness as they have prepared for the trip. Personally, I feel like the enemy has been trying to discourage my hope in Christ particularly as I reflected back on my story and shared that story with my team at our retreat in January. It seems like since then, I have dealt with some confusion and doubt about God's plans for me. Thankfully, the Lord led me back to one of my favorite devotional books, "Abiding in Christ" by Andrew Murray. This little book is a classic and has reminded me of the power that comes in trusting the Lord's grace and faithfulness to keep me in Christ. May I be given a whole lot of grace to remember this Truth as I seek to serve Him next week.
Here are a few pictures from our packing event.
Our fearless leaders supervise Mary Rose fitting a cot into a duffle bag.
Jason and Whitney attempt to reach the 49 lb weight limit with their carry on suitcase.
Jason is anticipating sleeping on the cot that he is holding in less than a week.
I am just randomly throwing things in my duffle.
The team at our Blue Ridge retreat in January.
Reflection on our story is crucial. It is hard work and requires time and stillness. But the deeper work can bring rest. I am thankful for the story's of the people that I get to serve with in Haiti. We all have brokenness and poverty, and these elements of human life come across in different ways in each of our stories. But we also know the Healer and the Giver of Life. As our landscape turns to the poverty of a new country, may we all be reminded of the chaos and destruction in our selves and in our relationships. May we look to the Savior and who loves us each individually more than we could possibly imagine. May we take with us those moments with our Redeemer and Healer to Haiti and may He use us to spread healing, joy and encouragement to the people we encounter.
Here is how you can pray for me and my team this week..."that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." Luke 1:74-75
Here are a couple of my favorite quotes about personal story.
“Every life tells a story, through words and actions and choices, through our homes and our children, through our clothes and dishes and perfume. We each play a character in a grand drama, and every stage direction matters. We tell our stories, and we let God’s story be told through our stories. We hide and we seek, and we lose ourselves in the best possible way and find things around us and inside ourselves that we never expected. We tell God’s story as we live and discover our own. We know that God is a storyteller. He’s a mad scientist and a father and a magician and certainly, he’s a storyteller. And I don’t know if there’s anything better in the world than when we lay ourselves wide open and let his story become our story, when we screw up our fists and our courage and start to tell the truest, best stories we know, which are always God’s stories.”
Cold Tangerines Shauna Niequist p 137
“The basic structure of a good story – A character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.”
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years Donald Miller p 48.
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