A waterfall….
Cool water rushes down. Never-ending. A storm of sound. Free
falling. Freedom.
A waterfall is not restricted. It flows unabandoned pouring
down covering all that surrounds it with mist, with water, with life.
That is what has been released within me.
A waterfall of
THANKS and PRAISE!
My heart has been changed.
God has opened the flood gates. The damn has been broken. My
heart has been released. I truly feel as if something inside of me has been
released. What flows out of my heart and off my tongue are words of thanks and
praise. That is my new heart posture. That is where the overflowing comes from.
That is my wellspring, thanks and praise.
Six months ago at training camp I laugh because Alison
Johnston (AIM Staff) would begin our mornings and days with a time of
thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. You could see and feel the thanksgiving
flowing out of this woman of God. It flowed out and covered the ground, it
covered all of us in attendance and it changed the atmosphere. I remember
thinking….i can thank God but I want a thankful heart like hers. I want it to
flow out of me, I want to feel the love and thankfulness she has for our God. I
want to know God in such a way that I just thank him with ALL that I am!
And at this last debrief (a time when we get together with
our whole squad) I noticed something…my heart was overflowing. It was overflowing
with
Thanksgiving
& Praise
My first reaction to everything was
“Thank you God.
Thank you.
We praise you for who you are.�
My heart was new. It had changed. As we walked around
Lilongwe I just praised God for who he is and thanked him for blessings that we
had received and ones that were yet to come. No matter the situation I thanked
him for his faithfulness and for having my best in mind. No matter what the day
looked like I thanked him. Joy and life came flowing out of me. And I have to
say, it’s incredible!
It’s becoming a lifestyle, a way of operating. But I can
tell you I thank Him for the release and for the month that He brought me
through to bring the release. This change didn’t happen overnight. Last month
(Malawi) I struggled. It was one of the worst months of heath on the race and
for many days I was uncomfortable. I was sick. I had an eye infection. I had
diarrhea A LOT (we talk about this freely on the race, sorry to those who don’t
at home. And yes I am healthy J).
I had many days where I experienced pain and sickness but
where God told me to Go. Go to the crusade, go and minister, I will take care
of you. That required trust and a thankful heart. Because it was only through
thanking God during the drive, at the crusade, and after that I made it
through. He taught me how to be thankful in ALL circumstances and to TRUST him
for He will provide all that I need. He
showed me how to live in joy despite my physical condition and even if I didn’t
“feel� like it. He taught me how to live in His strength, how to trust Him, and
how to be thankful.
He opened the floodgates. He gave me eyes to see the
blessings and nothing less.
And now as we travel from Malawi to Mozambqiue I see and
feel the difference even more. God’s hand has been so evident in our travel and
I just walk in thankfulness. It only took us 30 minutes to exit Malawi and 45
minutes to enter Mozambique — at the beginning of the month this took us 1.5
days! Thank you LOGISTICS you were a huge part of this! And thank you GOD! Our
bags didn’t need to get searched and we were able to find transportation and
food easily. Our days of travel were transformed as we walked in with
thanksgiving and praise! Just as a highlight and to give you a taste of God’s
provision and faithfulness during 1 hour of our trip I made a list of thankful
moments…..
Travel highlights/Thank Yous!
–
Morning blessings
o
We woke up cold because the hotel we stayed at
had air conditioning! What? I know! Thank you #1!
o
We found a bus and a driver to take us to Biera
on a day that they don’t make that trip. (I guess Tuesdays are a different
route day?) Thank you #2!
o
The bus was large enough for ALL of our bags AND
for each of us to have our own seat — huge blessing! Thank you #3!
o
We had a task — 1500 kwacha and 12 people to buy
food for. Where are stores or markets? Not sure. Anyone speak Portugese? Nope.
Alright Lord, please show up. WWe walk up and down the streets and came up
emptied handed. Oh wait, I see bread! Awesome! We go and buy bread but they don’t
have change for us. So they go into a store that isn’t open yet — oh a grocery
store? Yes please! They let us come in early and buy more bread, juice, and
water for our travel day ahead. Thank you #4!
o
We now need something to add to it and something
I could eat (bread is pretty much a no
no when you are allergic to wheat/gluten). So, we asked the lord to provide. A
boy comes walking with 2 trays of hardboiled eggs. Yes please! We figure out a
deal with hand motions for numbers and then he moves any broken eggs from our
tray and gives us all beautiful and whole eggs! Thank you for details and the
little things. Thank you #5!
o
We drop our water while getting eggs but a nice
guy brings over 2 bags to put our purchases in. Thank you #6!
o
I mentioned to my teammate that I would just
love a pear or orange — bananas are the staple and great but I was looking for
something juicy. Pears and organes aren’t easy to find here but God is bigger. Lucas
comes out from the gas station and mentions the great fruit inside. The gas
station has 2 kinds of fruit — grapes and PEARS! Yes, pears! God heard my request and answered only a few
minutes later. And in abundance, they came in 4 packs! Thank you #7!
o
As we wait for our contact at the gas sataion it
was right across the street from a new coffee shop that just opened. Our coffee
lovers ran to get a cup of coffee, pastries, AND a FREE cup of hot water for
someone who wanted hot cocoa (we carry luxieries with us) Thank you #8!
o
Our contact arrives! The ministry sent him and
his wife to Tete to drive with us the 9 hours to Biera/Mafambisse. He speaks
English AND Portugese. Thank you #9!
o
We say a prayer, get settled in to our OWN seat
and we set off. Thank you #10!
This was all in the matter of 1 hour, and only big stories
you would want to read. There were many other little moments that just made me
smile in that morning.
Through the last few months God has been showing Himself
faithful and showing his abundant provision. THANK YOU for that Lord! May I
always start, end, and spend all of my day thanking you for who you are!
