Still Waters

credit: Wycliffe Associates God sent a neat blessing our way a couple of weeks ago when we had the privilege of hosting a missionary couple in our home for an overnight.  They had served in Indonesia many years, translating the entire New Testament for an indigenous group and actively working in church planting and development.  They have been seconded from their home mission to Wycliffe Bible Translators to share the Bible translation vision with Indonesian churches here in America, so are travelling cross-country for several weeks.  Our home was just one stop of many in this busy month for them. Which leads me to the point of this post.  Did you know that you and your family could be involved in this kind of hospitality ministry?  Missionaries who are home on furlough or traveling for ministry purposes are often on a very tight budget.  Staying in a home saves motel and restaurant expenses for them, and gives them a chance to build new friendships and share about their work. 

           We all have days from time to time where the issues of life simply overwhelm us…stress, confusion, discouragement, depression, sadness.  It doesn’t help that the world about us is oppressively broken and negative, confronting us at every turn with systems that are falling apart, dreams that fall to the ground, situations whose trickle-down effect sap our energy, vision, and hope. I had a day like that yesterday.  Felt like I was looking up at bottom and flat-out crying to God for a rescue.  It’s been one of those years where the unrelenting ‘stuff’ of life—whether in my own life or in those around me—has demanded that I keep a strong hold on my faith in God and His promises or lose my bearings altogether. Times like this always take me back to the basics.  God loves me.  God is bigger than all the ‘stuff.’  He isn’t the least buffaloed by calamity.  He has good plans for me and will see to it that I am where I should be today and all my tomorrows.  He is at work in eve