The card, the sermon...and being grateful

It's all about You, Jesus
And all this is for You
For Your glory and Your fame
It's not about me
As if You should do things my way
For You alone are God
And I surrender to Your ways.

I had a weird experience last night, and it made me think of something I have definitely learned in our first year on the field, so I thought I'd spend a few minutes blogging this morning. I faithfully listen to my home church's podcast of our pastor's sermons, and for whatever reason, there haven't been many new ones lately. So last night, I decided I would go through my entire iTunes library of those sermons, starting with the oldest, and "clean out" a little. Obviously, there are some I want to keep, but there are others I can delete and make space for more. And the bonus is that I would get my sermon "fix" at the same time.

So I'm listening while I work on typing a test. The kids are asleep, and I'm not totally focused on the sermon, but I am listening. The sermon dated from January, 2006, and it was a series on Strong Faith, which was an outstanding series of sermons that God really used in our lives to encourage us as we went through the IMB process, but also to challenge us not to be satisfied with where we were spiritually. All of a sudden, the pastor--Alan Floyd--calls Marc's name. Now if you attend FBC Middleburg, you know that he often does this with whomever happens to be sitting at the front, which Marc and I always did. But can I tell you that two and half years later and a half a world away, it's a weird experience. Marc was sitting on his couch in our room, working on graphics or something, and he paused and looked over at me. Together, we listened as the pastor continued to talk to him for at least another minute in the sermon. It was a really strange experience.

Weird, definitely, but that's not what made it blog-worthy. It was just a reminder of the important role our home church played in our listening to and obeying God's call on our lives. Without FBC Middleburg, I know that we would not be in Moscow right now. I don't know where we'd be, but the challenge, the accountability, the relationships, the ministry opportunities at our home church were instrumental in the work God was doing at the time in our lives. And individuals from our church continue to support us. We have received numerous financial gifts from folks in our church. We get emails of support. Every Thursday morning a group of men meets together, and they always pray for us. One of the VBS classes collected things to send to us, things we have thoroughly enjoyed. And just yesterday, we received a card in our mailbox from the Daughters of Ruth Sunday School class, full of notes of encouragement and love and support. On a cold, wet, dreary Moscow day, when this seems like the last place on earth anyone would want to be, there was a little Florida sunshine in my mailbox.

Sometimes, it is easy to feel forgotten here. People at home are busy with their every day lives (as we are), and they don't call or write or contact us, and Satan uses that as a fiery dart against us. And it's an effective one. But always, every single time we think we are forgotten, God brings us to the mind of some precious person, who sends us a note or calls to encourage us. Last week, we heard from our music minister and our pastor. The week before, it was a quick note from the administrative pastor. The card in the mailbox, the package from home...these are unbelievable comforts to us as we pursue what God's best--not His easiest--is for us. I am grateful this morning for a church that challenged us to accept God's call. And I am grateful, too, for those individuals who pray for us weekly or daily, who think to send an email or call us, who hold up our arms and stand in the gap for us when we are too weary to do it for ourselves. If you are one of those people--you are precious to us. If you are one of the people who read this blog regularly as you prepare for your own move to the field--treasure those people in your life who will constantly lift you before the throne of our big, big God. You will be amazed at who those people turn out to be, and you will know that you are blessed by God to have them in your life.

Well, time to get the Sarah Bethster up and going. Today is her first soccer match, and no matter how she plays, let me just say that she looks very, very cute in her jersey. Wherever you are in the world, I challenge you to spend some time today praising God for your home church, and I hope that you have good, warm gloves for your child's soccer game this afternoon. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye