One more step...

One more step up this hill... One more step to repairing relationships... One more step along these rocks... One more step into healing...

Today, me and some team members visited the Judeaen hills and hiked from Battir back to Beit Jala.  I do not recommend this after a morning before of hip workouts. 

As we walked the first trail it took everything I had not to give up. We were only 5 minutes in and that uphill climb was just terrible. I had to mentally keep myself from having a nervous break down (since I had previously been fighting a depression attack from the enemy this week). I couldn't breath, and because I couldn't breathe I couldn't talk. It was misery, but I pressed through and before long we made it to the first rest area. Thank God it became down hill from there! 

Cheesy as it may be, but Jesus never really promised that the hill would not be hard to climb. Those times when we are fighting every obstacle (rocks, uneven road, and slippery slopes), God is there cheering us on. "One more step...." To the next one, and then one more step to the one after that. Always keep moving, one foot in front of the other.

Through the middle of the trail when we all happen to split up. The three I was with asked about the issues of depression I had faced the previous week. This relationship repairing with my parents to has taken its toll on my emotions. And as I was talking one of them said, "I have a word for you. Jesus says, "one more step...." That hit home for me. Especially being on trail that seemed to not end.

That same team member asked if she could pray for me and of course I allowed her. So we walked and prayed (with our eyes open), inviting the Holy Spirit into that valley on that trail, and thanking God for His healing on my life. I wish I could explain the freeing of it! 

Finally, we reached the end of that last hill and I was ready to collapse. Thankfully, Jesus has perfect timing because here came our superintendents wife on her way back home. But, I made it!! One step at a time.

James 1:4

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

1 Corinthians 9:24-26

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.”

    

                            Going down hill.

Hills as far as the eye can see!

                               

Light Switch

One month into what is so far the best adventure we have experienced, but knowing God, this isn't going to be the greatest.

I've heard the question, "How did you guys get here?" more times than I can count. In our sarcastic tones we answer, "By airplane, of course. You?" People aren't that fond of that. But, in all seriousness, we got here by the hem of Jesus' coat. I have been laughing a lot lately everytime God gives me another piece to the puzzle that our two lives together are making. The stream of events that have happened just set me in awe.

First, our marriage at 18 and 21, two kids with no idea what we were doing. Not sure if we do now 4 years later. 

Then came the first year and a half of youth ministry. The happiest, most joyful year we have ever endured. Next came the tough year. Moving 3 hours away from everything normal and balanced.  Friendships were made and regretted. Struggle with finances, jobs that caused stressed. You name it! Our youth kept us strong. Then the email came..."We would love to have you here in Beit Jala." Every thing began to make sense and we realized that, that year of ministry was a spring board to bigger things! And that's when it happened, the Light Switch. See, I had been praying for months about the mission field and had decided to surprise Phillip with some news and fundraising ideas for the following summer. But, that passion God had put on my heart wasn't for any delay. He said "GO", as clear as water. 

But I had also been praying for my spirit and that God would keep mending things together and repairing me. I was broken, and still some now. That's okay though, because we are made to be fixed and molded. Everyday we are made new.

However, this time when God fixed me, He added a fountain with a few fish. Because fish can't live without water, I constantly have to keep the fountain moving. That means, my bible is ALWAYS with me, my spirit is always wanting MORE. My ears are constantly listening. My mouth, it's shut until made to open. This isn't a normal me. I don't have a desire/motivation to randomly open my Bible and read it like a Facebook post. My heart and tongue aren't constantly praying without cease. There was a Light Switch, and it was for my fountain that is going 24/7, lighting up the busyness around me. It was an immediate change. 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

My prayer while here is that God will constantly make Himself real to myself, Phillip, our friends, families, the people we are serving with, and also those looking in on our lives. 

I want to share a few of the blessings God has used to make Himself:

• plane tickets - using buddy passes from a lady we have never met

• that same lady received a promotion in her department at the airport after helping us

• my passport came in a week and half earlier and answered a prayer BIG TIME

• being on every flight together

• financial support hasn't been an issue just as I knew it wouldn't be

• our family relationships are on the mends

• family coming to/back to God

• families of friends are being repaired 

• God put a desire on my heart to teach, I was doing so within a week, and I make a fantastic teacher

• our rent, as well our landlord has been a blessing 

• relationships and friends made

I know that this isn't all of the blessings, just some I have written down. 

Romans 8:28 NKJV

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

A view from the roof of the elementary school. Beit Jala, West Bank