We went to church today.  Several of the churches we've visited have made me very homesick, and this was one of them.  It's bittersweet.  However, I am reminded of how big God's family, and therefore my family, really is.  I felt at home, even though I was a stranger there.  I find it calming to be in the presence of other believers when you are truly worshiping together.  There is a great sense of peace when you get outside yourself.  Maybe that's the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The pastor today spoke of waiting on the Lord.  I was reminded of listening to Steve Saint speak at our home church right before we left.  Steve Saint is the man that the movie End of the Spear is about.  In the movie Steve’s father is a missionary taking the gospel to a brutal tribe in South America.  He is viciously speared to death by the people he is trying to reach when Steve is just a boy.  Steve’s aunt and then both he and his mother return to the jungle to live with the people who killed his father, and to again attempt to bring them the message of salvation.  This time, they succeed.  Consequently, Steve grew up with the man who killed his father and they have since become very close.  Steve calls him Grandfather.  He came to our church with Steve and spoke to us.  It’s an amazing story of forgiveness and redemption.  Even more amazing to me was Steve’s witness. 

He spoke of the Bible as a story written by God for all of us, but he reminded us that God is still writing stories – yours and mine.  He challenged us saying: “Let God write your story.”  I love that.  Isn’t God far more creative, far more imaginative than we?  Why limit our stories to what we can conceive?  Why limit our lives to what we think is possible?  Who would have thought that I’d be traveling around the country after getting sick and losing my job?  How is it that all the pieces came together at just the right time…the pension, the medication, the homeschooling, the renters, the motorhome, the sponsors, and on and on.  This is a journey that I could only dream of, but not God.  He is a god of the impossible and the improbable.  So don't try to come up with the next scene in the story of your life.  Let Him write your story.  It’s better than anything you can come up with!