Hey all I have been home now for nearly a month. We finished up in China and had a wonderful time there of working with different students and making friends. It was a wonderful experience of culture and learning more about the chinese church and what is going on there.
Since being home I have been through an array of emotions. I have been extremely down and depressed, wondering whats next. Dealing with the loss of so many friendships and the low of no more anticipation of what’s next.
I found a job delivering some furniture out west and so I headed off for a roadtrip across the country, hopefully to find myself and what would come next for me. I left from South Dakota loaded up with an old train bell and headed off first to Iowa where I would pick up a vanity. I picked up my friend Hannah on the way in Colorado and headed out to San Diego where we were delivering a vanity.
On the way we saw the wonder of the Grand Canyon and the beautiful landscape of Arizona and the desert of California. While in San diego we got to hang out with Morgan and my friend Susannah who also graciously let us stay with her on Coronado Island. We delivered the vanity and got to meet a great guy who also loves to travel and is a fireman for Palm Springs.
We drove up to Los Angeles and got to see some old friends from a past ministry I was involved in called Friendships. They have recieved a yacht that they are in the process of renovating for the ministry. We dropped off the Train Bell and headed back home. On the way back we saw some of the most amazing landscape I have ever seen in Zion National park in Utah, and the Colorado National Monument. It is amazing how much beauty lies all around us. There is something that speaks to my soul when I am in nature and can see God’s creativity lived out so beautifully.
On the way back home I listened to numerous sermons and they seemed to really speak to me. That coupled along with all the alone processing time I got while driving nearly 100 hours in a couple weeks. And the wonderful conversations with Hannah that stretched across the miles. I started to shape out goals for my future and what I want out of life.
One quote that stuck out was an age old question that we have all asked for years. “What does God want me to do with my life?”
The Quote I loved from Erwin Mcmanus was “Live your life so that even if you fail you still succeed.”
In other words we need to stop running around waiting for God to tell us exactly what to do or where to go or what direction to take. Instead we need to focus in on the will of God. What does God call us to do. He calls us to help the poor, love the orphans, bring lost people to him.
If all of us would in some way shape or form live our lives in these ways we never have to wonder whether or not we are in God’s will. Becuase our lives will consistently be in tune with what God has for us. And even if you somehow fail in serving the poor you still succeed because you are serving the poor, so in all actuality it is a win, win.
So as for me my future is still a little undetermined. I will more than likely go back to school to get my business degree. I have a dream and a vision to couple business with missions and finding new ways to radically change the way we view missions. I will just take one day at a time, trying to love those around me and be the Will of God to the people I see everyday. Finding new ways to serve the poor, love the orphans and bring lost people to God. Hopefully I’ll see you all along the way:)
