Boarding Pass

Without it…we can’t fly.

Without our green slip of paper we were given upon arrival and “purchase” of our visa’s…we can’t leave this country.

Everyone has taken great care this week to make certain we have what we need to get “home”.

Are you reading between the lines?

How well are you caring for the GIFT you were given when you accepted Jesus as your Savior?

It’s a question I need to ask myself DAILY.

This trip has been so full of emotion–charged with energy–stock piled with love and cemented friendships with the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

Complete strangers met–and by the time we parted company–we each had the assurance that one day there would be no language barrier! Just that knowledge makes me want to SHOUT!

I have had the blessing of photos from Kim Aycock as well as Rene Parkhurst. They have captured things I could not. As I looked through Rene’s pictures I saw all the children activities that I didn’t participate in. The few things I saw and interacted with took place inside the church as we were working.

For the first time I have been able to work beside my husband on a mission trip. Building a church. I cannot express what that has done for me. THIS I loved.

This man has lived and breathed this trip since the LORD first began stirring his heart in the first months of this year. When we set out on a 21 day fast–the LORD began rearranging some ideas and notions in Jeff’s heart. (I imagine he will share some of that at church.) He has rearranged many notions in mine as well. And it will continue.

This week I have done what I never imagine I would do beside the man I cherish–laid brick, troweled on mud, joked, laughed, and even shed tears together over what God has done in this awesome group of people.

Jeff and I have talked about how blessed we have been to be with THIS particular group of people this week. As I stood and listened to Brandson Spencer, mission director of New Life A/G, share the fact that his 16 year old son was celebrating his birthday again without his dad–and how that broke Brandon’s heart–and with tears streaming–I knew it was a fact. Both Brandon and his wife Becky share a passion and love for missions that Jeff and I do. And when you love Christ this way–there are times when life decisions are harder than others.

I saw father and son work side by side this week–and friends laugh and joke and get serious together. This was such a blessing to me. Parents, take the time to “work” along beside your kids. They need to SEE that and FEEL the love you have for others! What a difference it will make in their lives along their journey.

Our love for Christ will be evident in our actions–a cliche` that comes to mind and fits, “you are what you eat” and “what you see is what you get”. If we consume the WORD…we will be made in HIS likeness–we will bear the image of Jesus Christ. Then people will come to know HIM through our love in action–and our words.

Jeff talked about our actions this morning in devotion. How important they are–more so than we think.

When Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (,Matthew 16:24), I believe He meant what He said. We will face times when denying ourselves will be painful–because it will involve those we love most. But in order to “please” God–and follow after Him in the way He has commanded–we must deny ourselves.

It’s late and I’ve rambled. I will leave you with this–“do all you can for Christ now–with all the time you have left. We only have this ONE life. Do it right. Live with no regrets.”

Be in prayer for the following tomorrow: