Tuesday, October 26, 2010

On a Mission – Day One

We gathered at White Bear Lake at 5:30am. I missed Angie & Zach before I ever even left the house and was homesick before we pulled out of the church parking lot. I was excited to go on the one hand, but anxious to get back home on the other. Dave & Trish Baker were there waiting to send us off. Lynn pulled in a few minutes later, along with several other people I didn’t know who were there for other team members. It was nice to get a glimpse at the people who were remaining here to pray for us.

Pulled out a few minutes after 6am with Ken, Pete and Stefani in the Expedition. We drove off into the darkness to spread God’s light. Stefani and Pete snoozed for the first hour or so, but once they woke up we had some really great conversation, grew closer together and had some great laughs. On the first day the evil one tried to trip us up repeatedly with wrong turns, missed exits, a mysterious coolant leak in the Suburban that never got worse and a lost purse, but God minimized them all, keeping His arms of protection around us. Each of those things could have turned into big trouble, but we were on a mission from God.

Listened to Stefani and Pete’s stories in the AM; they both have great hearts for the Lord. Pete seemed a little quiet and stand-offish, but Stefani is extroverted like Angie and I, so there was no lack of good conversation and laughter. It was neat to see Pete open up slowly as the day went on, he has a great sense of humor.

We stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast and Wendy’s for lunch. Sue lost her purse at McDonald’s and didn’t realize until we were at Wendy’s, hundreds of miles away. At first she thought her medication was in it, which would have been a disaster, but once again, God protected a member of the team and she found her medication in another of her bags. God is good, all the time.

We pulled into Pevely, Missouri around 5:15pm. I was amazed at how fast the day went, especially since I dislike sitting in a car for long periods of time. However, the day seemed to fly by. We set up our room arrangements, dropped our stuff off and headed over to Bobby Tom’s BBQ for good food and good laughs. I roomed with Ken, Pete, Carl and Tom K. Wished I was rooming with Angie, and the fact that it would be more than a week before I’d see her and Zach again weighed on me, but I knew God was sending me down for a reason, so I put the homesickness aside and trusted in Him. I could tell God was going to bless this group and the people we’d encounter along the way, it was obvious after watching Him deflect the attacks of the evil one all day. It was also obvious this group was full of His servants, eager to do great things and He was blessing that. God is faithful, all the time.

Father God,
Your plan is always perfect, always amazing. Thank you for protecting us today. Thank you for using me to bless others & growing me in the process. Please help me to speak encouraging words to those I meet, never harming, but always helping as I get to know those you’ve placed me with this week.
Thank you, Father. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

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