"By wisdom a house is built"

Family fun day in the Rockies

We are now on week seven of our trip across the USA and are being completely blown away by the goodness of the Lord in so many ways. We have stayed at a lot of different houses, slept in a lot of different beds and met a lot of amazing people who love Jesus and have blessed us beyond belief. We don't even know most of these people and they are taking steps of faith to allow 6 crazy missionaries sleep in their house. I know that these people are sacrificing a lot to house us and make us meals. Each and every stop we have been able to share testimonies and life with the ones housing us and also receive from them. I am seeing so much how God loves relationship. We have only stayed in hotels a few times which have been huge blessing and very restful but I have to say that I have loved every house that we have stayed at no matter the sleeping conditions. There truly is more value in the relationships that we have had than a comfortable hotel room.

One evening we were in Denver, Colorado and were praying for some of our YWAM friends after a dinner when a drunken man and his wife came up to us and he asked us for prayer and food. We were definitely more than happy to do that for them and since we had received so much these past weeks it definitely felt like time to do some pouring out. We spent time talking to them and praying with them. This man was so desperate for Jesus. He got down on his knees and cried out to Jesus for help with his drinking problem. These people were truly broken before the Lord and crying out for a savior and I know that He met them there in that moment. We don’t know where they are or what they are up to right now but we continue to pray for them and hope that they will continue to seek Jesus and be healed of every addiction.

We have met so many amazing people including some of the most influential ministry leaders in the world and have heard some of the most mind blowing wisdom and revelation but I have to say that the things I know we will remember and grow most from are the times together as a family. We have traveled thousands of miles together, had many conversations, prayed many prayers, laughed more than acceptable at times and have walked through major breakthrough together. We have been walking together with Jesus and I know that there is so much wisdom that will come out of those simple moments that we don’t always think to be important. We have to grow in wisdom to contain any amount of knowledge that we receive on this trip. The verse that has been coming to my mind a lot is Proverbs 24:3-4

“By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.”

My desire isn’t to walk out of this experience with a really big head, but to have inspiration for a really nice house.

Simple Thoughts about Community

This is a picture of our team down in Greenville, South Carolina with my dear friend Ian Finlay on the far right. He was one of my first friends in YWAM and became a brother despite our distance and going separate ways. It was such a privilege to get to see him for a short period of time and it was definitely worth it. We try to pray about every decision we make on this trip as a team and some of our stops have been specifically to visit friends/fellow YWAM brothers and sisters. Being able to encourage them and pray for them as well as receive from them is only creating a deeper friendship and connection that is able to last no matter what the distance is.

I am seeing how there are different levels of community and that they are all valuable. I would define community as a unified body that shares common interests. Would my friends that I rarely see but still have a connection to be considered part of my community? I would say yes and it is very important to build into those relationships. I would like to be way more connected to my friends and family than I am now but I am learning and seeing how valuable these relationships are. I am seeing how much God wants friendship with us and for us to have friendship with each other. Building stronger relationships can only create deeper stronger unity which in the end is better for everyone.

These are obviously very simple observations that I am stating and I in no way consider myself an expert in community. I only desire to learn about community and see the desire of so many people to have community become a reality rather than a hopeless discouraging effort. My prayer is that God will stir my heart and the hearts of others to value friendship and go deeper together. Then community wont be something that we have to create, but will be what God creates out of our love for one another.

Please pray:
-For us to be available these next few days as we take time to process. I am expecting there to be some time to just go out and do ministry. We are heading to Memphis today and will be staying right next to a park where we should be able to meet some people.
-For us to be able to process what we have learned so far and allow God to do in our hearts what He wants. We have listened to so many influential peoples wisdom and definitely some time to see what God has been saying to us.

Check out http://www.awakennations.com/ for more details on the trip and pictures!!!! It's worth the visit!!!!