Same Song, Different Verse

So many thoughts run through my head, I don't even know where to begin. God, though so many ups and downs, continues to pour out His provisions upon us, His children, in ways we can't even think to look for.

So much happened in the months of November and December. My team and I, as well as about 800 other Navigator staff from around the country, gathered in Destin, Florida the week before Thanksgiving. There we had our National Collegiate Conference where we shared all that God has done in our lives (my fellow workers in collegiate ministry) last semester, as well as received training and other resources. Throughout the week, I caught a glimpse of what Heaven will be like - so many people I've never met yet we were all bound together by our love for Christ. Romans 8 :26 says that "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." I now what this verse, particularly the second half, means.

Never has my soul longed so much for a people, a time, a place that I know I won't see for a while. I can't put words to this desire to "go home" (to Heaven) to a place I've never known. I don't understand it, but the Spirit does.

The semester ended rather suddenly after we had our Christmas party. The break had its share of difficulties and trials. At many times I wondered why God was allowing me to struggle and fight making little to no progress in my relationships, my funding, my work. Today in church we talked about Joshua. He never hesitated on God's orders, he never doubted God, he never disobeyed Him. He was looking at life through God's eyes instead of what I've been doing - looking at God through the world's eyes.

This semester, your prayers are going to be needed more than ever. Please pray for a few young men in the ministry and on the outskirts to be drawn more in love with Christ and to realize that He is the prize and the goal, nothing less (there are specific men I have in mind but I'll omit their names out of respect for their privacy). Continue to pray for Sonny and Shi. I haven't been able to get in touch with them yet, and nothing would bring me more joy than for them to come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Finally pray that I rely on God to be the one who makes things grow and to not try to shoulder burdens that I was never meant to bear.

Exodus 14:14 - "The LORD will fight for you; you need only be still."