Today Timothy and Benjamin demonstrated to me their impression of “two bucks locking horns.” Together they’d count “one, two, three,” and then charge at each other (thankfully not headfirst), crash hard, and go sprawling onto the floor laughing their heads off.
Boys: fearfully and wonderfully made with a couple extra doses of daring. :)
*A 19-year-old friend at home who just found out that he has cancer and is looking into what he can do about it. Pray for peace, wisdom, and a closeness to God for him and his parents and siblings – and for healing, if it’s what God wants.
*The salvation of the four unsaved tile-layers working on our house: Raul, Pépe, Mario, and Luís. The 17 years old, Mario, has especially been on my heart as his mom (the only parent in his life) passed away a few weeks ago. He has an older brother and a younger sister who are living with their grandmother, and he’s trying to figure out his life. Happily, all the workers have heard the Gospel at least once since they have been here; it would be wonderful if they gave their lives to God!!! Pray, too, for wisdom for Don Poncho (the other tile-layer) and his wife: they are saved (Don Poncho is also a pastor) and have been a witness to the workers.
*My granddad who is in the hospital with a kidney infection and pneumonia.
Five tile-layers from Monterrey and the wife of one of them have been here for the past few weeks to work on a house we’re building, and the wife, “Anita,” brought a bunch of groceries because we are feeding them meals while they are here. Some of what she brought was a massive stack of corn tortillas (which they eat with almost every meal). It looked like they may have been homemade, so I carefully chose all the words I needed and asked her if she had made them. I couldn’t figure out why she just looked confused and seemed like she didn’t know how to answer me – until I realized that I had asked her if she had eaten all of those tortillas! Of all the words to mix up…. :)
I also always mix up “te quieres” and “te gustas” (as my sister, GraceAnn, well knows!). I think the other day I may have stuck my foot in my mouth asking a girl if she “wanted” a thing she had when I meant to ask if she “liked” it; I probably sounded like I was asking for her to give me whatever it was! Oopsy. At least the girl was only 7 years old – probably a little less likely to give me her stuff than an older person.
Then after about an hour of hearing of her family in Germany, of her Hispanic husband’s love of sports, of the silliness of cell phone capabilities, and of her physical ailments, she started talking about spiritual things. Bye-bye tiredness. :) She was religious, but she didn’t know God; she may be close to accepting Him, though. When it was about time for me to start heading back to my terminal, it occurred to me to offer her a tract to read while she waited for her plane, and she was very happy to take it. We parted as friends (though we still don’t know each others’ names); the cheerful little woman summed up our short time together by stating matter-of-factly how happy she was that we could have our little talk “instead of sitting and looking stupid.” I agree.
On the plane from Houston to Mexico, my seatmate asked me “Aren’t you afraid to go to Saltillo because of the shootings that have been happening every day?” I told her that I hadn’t been aware of the violence she was talking about, but that it didn’t make any difference. I am completely secure because of knowing God and being 100% sure that He wants me in Mexico.
It doesn’t matter whether I’m in my own home or in downtown Saltillo; if I’m being and doing what He wants, I can rest in the fact that I won’t die (or get injured, either) unless He wants me to – and if He chooses that for me, I’ll be okay in it because He knows a whole lot better than I do and because He provides (for His children) what it takes to pass – ultimately unscathed – through whatever situation He gives. He works everything for my good because I am called by Him and I love Him (Romans 8:28). Though I am often scared about a lot of things, I don’t have to be; His love casts out the fear when I go to Him with it (1John 4:18; 5:14-15).
He’s powerful, and He’s good; we can trust Him.
O Lord, be my Life and be magnified in my life. Bind me to Yourself with cords unbreakable, unmovable. Cause me from now to the safety of eternity to abide not only with You but also in You. Envelop me in Yourself. Consume me. Dissolve me in Your essence so that I exist only as an extension of You. Through my life, shine Your glory into my heart and into the heart of every person who knows me so that Becky is forgotten in the wonder and worship of her Lord, her Life, her God, her All.
Let the glorification of You be my life’s one success.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee,
because he trusteth in Thee;
Trust in the LORD forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”
Isaiah 26:3-4
This verse came to mind many times as I thought about going to Mexico. Leaving for a country I’ve never seen, staying for five months with people I’ve never met, and trying to speak a language which I’ve never used before has the potential to rob from this homebody any peace I used to have. Or, it could be the way that God gives me a deeper peace than any I’ve previously even imagined by motivating me to focus on Him and to trust Him instead of leaning on what’s familiar to me. It’s in this God-centered focus and in this reliant faith that real peace is cultivated.
My intent for this blog is that God will use it to fix my focus and yours on Him. In recording what He’s doing in my life, I hope that both you and I will be edified, that God will be glorified, and that His perfect peace will saturate our lives.
Here it is, Lord; please use it how You want to.
