taking the plunge!

             Meet Sara, a beautiful 15-year-old girl with an amazing
smile. She seemed somewhat shy at first, but she came over and joined us on the
bench. We asked her if she knew who Jesus was. She said she did and seemed to
know the message of the Gospel. She wanted to know more about having a personal
relationship with God. I think she knew English better than she let on, but
Pastor continued to translate what I was saying to her.

 I wanted to encourage her that having a
relationship with God is more about knowing God and discovering His will for
her life. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you won’t ever experience hard things
in life, and it certainly doesn’t mean you will get whatever you ask or pray
for. God gives us what we NEED, not always what we WANT. He is a good God and
He knows what each of His children needs. Sometimes He allows us to go through
hard things, and He wants us to draw close to Him in those times so that we
learn how to depend on Him to comfort and teach us. “And we know that for those
who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to his purpose� (Romans 8:28).

[Sarah & me]

                Another
vision I had last week as I was praying was someone on the edge of a diving
board, looking into a pool. They were intrigued by the water and what they
saw–people splashing around, playing in the water, having fun–but not quite
ready to take the plunge. God revealed to me that someone we would meet would
be intrigued about becoming a Christian, but maybe didn’t quite know what to
do. My prayer was that we could be there to give that person a little extra
nudge to jump into a relationship with the Lord.