Wrapping Up

Our trip was amazing.  The time with family was enlightening and full of laughter and joy.  The time away, outside of the US was refreshing and once again a learning experience.  But by far, the most important part of our trip was the people.  Reconnecting with old friends, meeting new friends, meeting people Dad and Mom had been working with for years that we had never met before, and finding voids friends used to fill but who have either left or passed away.  (These pictures of people are in no particular order.)

We started this trip with our greatest prayer being that we might be a blessing and came home with a renewed sense of our own blessings.  We also came home with a better understanding of grace.  There are so many who are being persecuted for following Christ, those who live every day knowing this might be their last.  And yet, those who have the most to fear are proud to say, "If I die, then I go to be with Jesus.  Why should I fear?"  In the mean time, they stand up for their faith, no matter the cost.

What grace that the Lord has placed us each in specific places, and what grace that he has given us the priviledge to be a part of working in His kingdom. 

What grace that we too have a story to share, to tell the nations, that our God reigns, no matter what is going on in our lives.  How amazing that the body of Christ is made up of so many different types of people.  What a priviledge and burden we have to now pass on our stories of grace to the next generation.

Praying you will have a renewed sense of His astounding grace in your lives this week.