The Next Step

I’ve
been home a month now… which hardly seems possible. I arrived home
to the same bed, the same cup of old change on my wooden dresser, and
papers untouched for a year greeted me as if I had only stepped out
of the house for a moment.

While
at times it may seem as if I dreamed the last year of my life, there
are daily reminders of my life changing journey that speak of the joys, trials, and transformation that occurred. 

The
scar on my arm from a moto accident in Malaysia.

The
lifelong friends I talk to that walked this last year with me.

The
facial hair that magically appeared in Africa.(I think it was
something in the water… or malaria)

The
way my heart has changed for those around me.

And
the stranger named Joshua that stares back at me from a mirror I grew
up seeing Josh Maisner in.

This
year changed me. No, it’s more than that. It absolutely destroyed me
in the best possible way. And when I arrived back to the soil that
birthed me the dust began to settle and reveal something new.

The
mountain of ME that I had been building over the years was
obliterated and instead I see a mountain being built that has the
fingerprints of God all over it.

Well
right now it looks like more of a hill, but we’ve gotta start
somewhere right?

And
although the building comes along with blood, sweat, and more tears
than I care to admit, I want more and more of it. I want to see the
creator continue to have the freedom to build me up into a mountain
that stands testament to His glory, His provision, His goodness, and
His overwhelming love. I want to see the seeds He’s planted in me
over the last 11 months be watered by His spirit and the nations and
continue to grow into whatever He’s dreamed up.

And
in order for that to happen He’s called me to go back to some of the
places that changed my life.

This
September God has blessed me with the call to Squad Lead once again.
The journey will be a bit shorter this time around as I will have the
honor, along with my partner, in raising up a man and woman of God
who can lead the squad to new heights.

I
will be on the field from September to January (Christmas in Africa
again!) and visiting the following countries:

Phillippines

China

South
Africa

Mozambique

I’ll
soon share some stories of what God did in some of these places and I
can’t begin to describe my joy that He has seen fit to give me the
gift of returning so soon!

So
I ask for your prayers as I take this next step.

I
know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to
direct his steps.