The Lord commanded us to GO…. Shine light in the darkness and speak of His word. This past week I had the pleasure of spending an entire week with a family whom I love very much…the Parker family in Oxford, AL. I was very excited to come spend time with them, but most importantly I was VERY excited to visit their church….Cowboy church. Never had I imagined me going to such a church; cowboys to me only existed in movies….Western movies. Come to find out… there are still cowboys in this world, some of the finest in Alabama by the way!
When I first arrived, Kaydee (the oldest daughter and a great friend of mine) brought up the idea of having me speak at Cowboy church about the World Race, and maybe ask for a special offering. Immediately I felt nervous… I was just looking forward to experiencing the church and checking out the cowboys…from far away… now they wanted me up front not only speaking to them but asking them for money! God really likes to challenge us huh? Well… like always… I accepted. I knew in my heart that this was what God wanted me to do.
A day before I was to go in front of an audience of cowboys and girls I decided to ask Kaydee one more time what it was that she wanted me to say… and this is when I almost fainted. She said that I could talk as long as I wanted… and that I could share my testimony too. Gahhh… this is my weakness… one must always be ready to share the story God gave them…so when a phrase like this comes up it is because God wants you to share! She then proceeded in saying that if I talked around 10-15 minutes that the pastor would just use that as the message of the day therefore, in other words… I could use this time to give a sermon and there would be no problem with that. I knew what God wanted me to do… He wanted me to speak. I felt as if I was put in a western movie… it was me… a 5’5 girl from Guatemala only 22 years old coming face to face with a ton of middle aged 6′ cowboys. Thanks God.
Sunday morning came and I was NERVOUS! I was not sure what the Lord wanted me to talk about… I was not sure what He wanted me to say! All I knew was that Cowboy church was in an arena, where cowboys where being reached at to hear the Word of God. What did I have to offer? I had no clue. On our way there I began to look up a bible verse that I could use. I wanted the Lord to direct me…yet He didn’t. When we got there I got to meet some of the cowboys and their families. Some I had met the night before at the square dance (where they saw me make a fool out of myself by trying to line dance and square dance J ). One of the pastors welcomed all new comers and gave us all a “Cowboy Church Bible” which I thought was awesome. During worship I began to look through this bible and I found the perfect verse and the message the Lord wanted me to give. It was 2 Corinthians 5:17 which reads:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!”
After reading this verse I felt a little better; I knew what he wanted to me to speak about, yet I was still doubting myself… “Why would God use me to reach these Cowboys?” Then I heard the lyrics of the song Kaydee and Karoline were singing: Mighty to Save.
“My Savior, He can move the mountains,
My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to Save”
It all of a sudden clicked! My God can move mountains! My God is mighty to save! This powerful God…He is the one I am here to represent! How wonderful it is to know that the one God I live for, the God I represent all over the world is so powerful, so loving, so strong! I would not want to represent anyone else but him…. To know that He has my back and knowing that He is on my side just filled me with such peace and joy to go do just that…represent Him.
