Available

So neither of them came to church on Sunday. Shawn has insomnia and cannot sleep here in Korea, and Bhavani partied it up as always. I had coffee with Shawn after work tonight so we could talk about his walk with the Lord. It was interrupted by his boss who just said he was coming over to his apartment. We are meeting again on Thursday to finish our conversation, or more like start it. We really did not talk more than 20 minutes, and most them were him asking me questions about my past. I wanted to say, stop asking me questions, let's talk about God! The Holy Spirit gave me patience and I think I will have to ease into the subject of God with him. Maybe he needs to feel comfortable with me, like he can trust me with this information about his life. Here I am, available and waiting for the Lord to do what He does best in Shawn. Hoping that Bhavani will eventually go to church with me, and until that day, I will be available as her friend to love her. [I will love her after she comes to church too. = ) ] That is where I am right now.

Lately, I have had this overwhelming feeling that creeps up on me at different times of the day. It tells me to get out of this place and leave. What quickly follows is a feeling of despair, and I have to fight it. I am literally in a war now inside my heart, and everyday I have to choose to look to the Lord. I have believe what is true, and let Him be my strength. When I do that, my spirit is always lifted, and joy comes. This may be spiritual warfare, and this morning I felt the reality of James 1:2, when he says, "consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.." I saw that my struggles may mean that the Lord is doing great things, and that is so encouraging to me. I cannot even fathom all the things that the Lord is doing here in Daegu. I am excited to see them as they unfold, so many of them already have. My heart is thankful to be a part of it, even if I have to fight a war to be in the midst of God making Himself great in Korea. Dusty and Drew Remke used to always say at the end of a church service at Redeemer, "Fight for your relationship with God." Friends and family, fight for it this week.