Feb 05 2007
Time to Reflect & Pray
My last post was about a week ago, right after my trip to Malta, which seems like a distant memory. I feel reflective tonight, like I need to “collect my bearings!” My kids laugh when I say that. They think it sounds silly, almost like I am a kid on the playground who has lost his marbles. Well, that is the way I feel sometimes, even though the saying refers more to orientation, reading a map and knowing where you are. Anyway, it is time to take stock of our time here in Spain/Europe, reflecting on what God has led us into and the things that are yet ahead. This week we are entering our 6th month of living here in Barcelona. Wow, can it be? As I look back at what we have done in that period, it seems longer, or that we have experienced and seen more than one can fit into that time span. Does that ever happen to you? When you are in the midst of something time seems to move slow, but when you look back you can hardly believe all that has happened? Perhaps that is human nature, at least my nature. I can be impatient in the midst of something, wanting it to move faster.
My prayer tonight–"Well, here I am God, ready for bed, but not really. We need to talk. Please, let me know you are present. Well, wait a minute! I know you are. In fact, when I read our support statement today and saw who contributed to us in 2006, I got warm in my heart and tears came to my eyes. Though sometimes this transition has been hard, I realize you are there with me, with us! You have brought people into our lives to encourage and to join in the journey. Thanks for that. It really helps. Help me in turn to be faithful, first to you Lord, and then to those who trust us with this ministry. Help me to continue to pursue those things you have put on our hearts, and the activities we take up. Help me to measure time well, neither rushing too far ahead in planning for tomorrow, nor lagging behind waiting for something better to come along. Help me to cherish the moments with family and friends, knowing they are gifts of companionship from you, even if they don't always bend to my agenda. Guide me to that still place where I can rest in your presence even if I can't see you. Then help me to be that place of rest for others. Thanks for the joy of knowing you!"
“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards;
at the still point, there the dance is."
T. S. Eliot
“And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17
More to come…
