Ministry Marathon

11/11/11 – My team’s last official day of ministry, ironic that we’re on the World Race – going
to 11 countries in 11 months.  Actually
it just proves that God has a really great sense of humor.

I will now share 11 reasons why this last day of ministry was
the longest day ever:

1.  We were told we would be going to another
   town to do ministry all day.
2. The ministry we would be
   doing would include manual labor, a children’s program, and a church
   service.
3. Despite knowing this was
   going to be a long day, I still decided to get up early and go running
   with Jess.
4. We had to drive slowly
   through snow flurries to get to our destination.
5. We saw the “manual labor�
   we would be doing included moving giant piles of trash, sticks, sand,
   leaves, branches, and rocks to other piles in a very big parking lot.
   (Remember still snow flurrying at this point)
6. We started the manual
   labor at 10:30 and didn’t take a break until a little after 2.
7. Lunch was not until 2:30,
   and we had to begin the kid’s club at 3.
8. We ran out of things to do
   with the kids in kid’s club at 3:30.
9. We were too cold and tired
   to take the kids outside so we struggled to make up games to play inside
   until 4:30.
10. An hour and a half after
    kid’s club ended, the church service started and consisted of the normal
    preaching, singing, and praying as well as a feet washing ceremony and
    communion.
11. After church ended at 8:30,
    we had dinner there.  We had to eat,
    say our thank yous and goodbyes, and still drive about 45 minutes home.

But
guess what?  We made it.  We made it through our longest day of
ministry yet even though we were the most exhausted and worn out that we’ve
ever been.  Thanks to Jesus and His
supernatural strength.  We would not have
even made it through an hour if it wasn’t for Him.  I’ve wondered since the beginning of the Race
how I would feel on my last day of ministry. 
To be real I felt exhausted,  and
I couldn’t wait for it to be over.  Sad
but true.  But God was glorified and
that’s all that matters.  It’s just
another testimony to His goodness, patience, sovereignty, power, and grace.