2:00am

I am sitting up, wide awake. It is now 2am two days before Christmas. I am thinking about how lucky and how blessed I have been this year. A little over a year ago I received a call from a great friend of mine offering me the chance to lead worship for a mission trip group in the Dominican Republic. Little did I know it then but that trip, that experience would be instrumental in leading me to where I am today.
As this year of 2009 winds down and we again get ready to celebrate our Saviors birth it seems good to list the ways that I feel blessed.
-First of all my Wife is amazing. I don't tell her that enough, but without her I don't think I would have had the strength to step out in faith and try to follow this crazy idea that I should go back to school and into ministry as a career. I definitely do not let her know enough that without her belief and encouragement I would still be stuck in the rut that I was a year ago.
-Second, When I needed it, in the middle of the worst recession of my life time i was blessed to have friends in decision making positions who hired me when i was in need of employment. They were able to come through for me at a time when i really needed it. They probably do not know how thankful i am for the opportunities that they provided.
-Third. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with and help lead an awesome team of people and congregation at the CornerStone gathering at MGLC.
-Fourth. Minnesota Metro Lutheran Teens Encounter Christ has provided me with the opportunity to exercise my leadership skills as well as being able to worship with some of the best people on the planet.
-Fifth. My parents, their hard work has allowed me to have an amazingly comfortable life and pursue my dreams. Mom and Dad, I hope that when I have kids I can do half as well as you have done.
-Sixth. The God of second chances loves me, forgives my sins, and gives me life. Without Him the rest of this list means nothing.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, or in any particular order. If you are reading this how do you feel blessed, leave it in the comments section.

Shine On.

Another Post

I am thinking about the small differences we can make in people's lives without realizing it. Recently I received an email from the mother of a student who went through a TEC weekend. She related that her daughter has been writing a verse on her hand everyday since the retreat and printing out copies to share with her friends. It is so awesome to hear stories of people doing small acts like that, that can have a major impact on someones day or on there life. The thing that struck me as the coolest about what is happening is that through her enthusiasm and love for scripture she has gotten her friends excited about hearing from God's word. We serve an awesome amazing God who will find something small that we do and He will take it and make it flourish.
For more information on the Teens Encounter Christ Retreats in the Twin Cities go to www.mmltec.org.

Shine On

I felt like God forgot about us

I want to relate a story I heard today about someone's mission trip experience.

Ken a world servants volunteer told this story tonight. He was talking about his trip serving on an island off the coast of Ecuador. He said that the group he was leading was the first group to go there to serve people. Doctors had gone there, but no one had gone to just serve and love the people. They spent a week there working with the community. On the last day there was a worship/farewell service that included a time for sharing experiences or thoughts on the week. A teenage boy who lived on the island got up and said "Until you came here, I thought God had forgotten about us."

That story just blew me away. I was struck by the emptiness that the boy who said that must have been feeling. I can't imagine feeling like God forgot about me. In our country we are so blessed with wealth and comforts. At the same time though in our communities people are looking for God and reminders or signs of His love. There are people hurting. There are people questioning. There are people who NEED to know Him. I hope that we can all be like that group of world servants and use our lives as a reminder of God's love for us.