Here is the challenge of the week…taken from the book TrueFaced (which is a great book I might add)

The challenge of the week is to no longer define myself by the sin I commit or is committed against me but rather by who God declares me to be.  When we do that, doesn’t everything change?  I think it does and by keeping this thought in my head all week long I am excited to see what is going to happen.  It is so easy to define ourselves by the stuff we do or get done against us that we easily lose track of who we really are.  God’s declaration of who I am is radically different than who my sin and others say that I am!  I am a son of the King, loved by Him more than anything else in the world.  I may still sin, but I am a Saint who sins rather than a sinner who is striving for sainthood.

The challenge has been issued, what am I going to do about it this week?  We will have to wait and see what happens but my goal is to live that out all week long.  

the question of the day is posted above and it is one that i have asked myself on numerous occasions.  the “instant answer” that enters my head is “never” because as Christians we always need to be growing in our relationship with God.  this is true, but can we grow by being motionless?  i think so!  they way i define motionless in this blog entry is not “stagnate” or “lack of growth” but rather as one who is waiting and trusting God for the next move to make.  its not easy being motionless especially when you thought you had so much momentum.

my reasoning for proposing such a question is that this is exactly where i am right now.  motionless!  this past summer i walked through the door God opened for me and had a lot of energy, excitement and momentum as i became a career missionary with SEND International and went on a trip to south central europe to see if that is where i am supposed to be.  i felt the trip went well and i returned ready to go out again.  that was before i feel i became motionless.

currently i am waiting for the next step and so i wait…motionless.  i sit in a very warm southern california motionless waiting for God to act.  motionless is good though…because if i truly want to be where he wants me then i feel i need to be motionless to see where it is that i am supposed to be.  

so i sit here in hot southern california eagerly waiting for God to act anticipating and trusting that He will but remaining motionless trusting in Him until that happens.

so, its my goal to be productive today and before the entire day slips away i feel its kinda important to define what a productive day really means.  for me it means shooting off an email that could radically change my life forever (more on that another time), having an encouraging/challenging talk with my dad, getting the oil changed in my car, meeting with friends and worshipping God.  If I did all that today, i would deem this day productive.  but what happens if that doesn’t happen?  what happens then?  what about the unknown?  can the unknown still be considered productive?  i believe it can and here is why…we can define a productive day with a long to do list of “good things.”  But as believers we must remember that God is the one who has it all under control!  He is the one with the plan and so with that in mind a productive day does not need to be defined by how much of our stuff that we get done.  It should be defined by how much we get done with God in a particular day or time period.  If I don’t accomplish anything on my list but have a day with God waiting on Him and listening to His voice, I would still consider that day to be productive.  so, here’s to a productive day!

San Diego may not be my home and I may not even be living here for a long time…but that doesn’t change the fact that it is an amazingly beautiful place to live.  Today for example I spent the afternoon and evening with friends at the beach.  As I sat in my chair with my feet in the sand looking out at the waves I was once again reminded of God’s amazing creation.  What a view I had and what an excellent reminder of God it was to witness firsthand.  At night, Kosova is pretty amazing with the crisp, clear sky and bright stars but there is not much better than sitting on Coronado beach with your feet in the sand watching the waves break off shore under a blue sky.  Isn’t God amazing??

sitting in the budapest airport waiting for my flight to begin boarding, all i can hear is the hum of the restaurant fridge and the beep beep beep of the register.  as i type and drink my last bottle of hungarian coke, this whole idea of “going home” has begun to cross my mind.  technically (according to my passport) my country of origin or “my home” is the united states of america.  so, as i continue my journey that started 17 hours ago to america i am in a sense “going home.”  but is america really where i call home?  if you walk into my parents house, one thing you will see posted on the wall is a sign that reads…”home is where the heart is.”  i have read that sign too many times to count or remember growing up and i believe it still rings true today.  with that in mind, if home truly is where your heart is then i am not so sure that my home is “america.”  i am still an american but i believe my home is elsewhere then the land of the free and the home of the brave.  so, if home is not america…then where is it?  if the sign in my parents house is correct then my home is in heaven!  that might sound like the “easy” answer for one who has a relationship with Jesus, but it is so true in my life.  my heart belongs to Him and therefore my one and only true home is heaven!  what a reminder this whole flight “home” thing has been about my real reason for being here and real home!  now with that said some might say that if heaven is my real home than america is just the temporary one.  to that statement i would say no as well.  my home in america is indeed temporary but i don’t believe my heart is there anymore.  you see, God has captured my heart and made it to beat with a intense passion for the people and countries of this world outside the USA.  my heart is there, and now after my trip to kosova, my body may be there as well.  america is not supposed to be my earthly home for very much longer and now after my recent trip to europe i know that for sure.  where I will “set up shop” next is still unclear but i believe it won’t be america long term and it will be somewhere where i can share the truth and invite as many people to come with me to my real home as i possibly can.  so, am i going home, no way…there are still billions of people outside the usa that need to hear how they can really be sure they are going home!

30 minutes before boarding begins and i am updating this page for the first time in a long time.  been out of email contact for a while and am really not going to even try to write it all here and now.  just this…read isaiah 41:10 and 40:31.  this God we serve is amazing and awesome and everything else you can think of and not think of.  that’s Him!  From the most awesome view of stars i have ever seen to a guy named jeff who i met just two seconds a go God has and continues to blow mw away.  now its kosovo…one week to see the Father at work in this new country firsthand and to see if that is where I am to serve.  updates will come later so keep checking back.  oh yeah and pictures will be on their way too.  

i leave with this…close your eyes (after you finish reading) and imagine running like a child with all your energy in reckless abandonment towards the edge of a cliff.  the wind is rushing through your hair as you run and jump off the edge without fear and full of trust.  then it happens, out of nowhere the eagle comes and swoops down to have you land on its neck and soar off together.  what a picture.  that’s me and God right here and right now!

Tonight is the beginning of the end of my time at Indian Hills Camp.  As of right now I have 2 more meals to work before my time as a full time employee in the kitchen is over!  Monday morning its off to Croatia on an IHC trip and then I move on to visit some SEND missionaries and see if where they are working is where God wants me to be.  I sure hope it is!  Right now though its time for bed.  

How does one take care of their responsibilities today while looking ahead to the future and planning for what is to come?  I know we are to live for today…but what about tomorrow?  Here’s the situation…right now I am in the midst of long days and hard work at IHC’s annual junior high camp with a 3 week missions trip throughout Europe to come in less than one week.  The ministry is here filled with opportunities to invest in the lives of people here and love God through it all.  Yet my mind often wanders at the many plans and preparations that need to be made before the trip on Monday.  The key word in this situation is…balance!  Balancing the focus on today with the looking forward to tomorrow.  

Or is there more to it than that?  You see, God calls us to love Him.  That’s it, all we have to do is love God.  Nothing more…nothing less.  Just loving God.  When we love God I believe we are doing exactly what it is that God has called us to do.  When we do that the peace of God comes over us.  The more we love God and in turn overflow Jesus, the more the peace of God overwhelms us.  More love, more peace…its a circle that never ends.  So, in the midst of it all I am going to simply love God.  When the week ends and I have a short time to get ready for Europe, the peace of God will be there to calm me down enough to be productive and effective in my time to get ready for Europe.  

So, in the midst of the challenge of planning ahead or living for today, I choose to love God!

the love of God is amazing!  no matter how many times I screw things up the love is always there.  as i sit in front of my computer on my day off, what a concept to think about!

I am home…I am tired…I am going to bed!