Forgive me for a lack of so called blog-etiquette as I have never blogged about anything in my life. Most of you know I work for a large ranch in south eastern Wyoming, and most are probably familiar with the necessity of maintaining fences around all of the different pastures. However, only those directly involved in ranching, realize the true intellectual stimulation that building fence can bring to a person.
As I meticulously unwound wires that had been blown astray, I started to ponder how uncomfortable I was at that particular time and place. It was about 95 degrees and we had been out in the sun all day, but I realized there was more to it than that. It’s not about the stimuli of your current physical environment, but rather the condition of your mind and heart. Uncomfortable…That is the one word I would choose that best describes my life since deciding to go on the World Race. I grew up and currently live in the same small town of 500. Traveling the world to minister to who knows who in who knows where makes me a little uneasy. I like details, and so far the solid details I have received about what Susan and my life will look like for the next eleven months are few and far between. We’ve told our employers, friends, and family; asked for support; gotten shots (ask Susan about uncomfortableJ); and still need to do a million other uncomfortable things before we leave. We spent the last week in Hotlanta as I call it, getting to know our team while the staff of the training camp did just about every ‘uncomfortable’ thing they could think of to try and prepare us for living out of a backpack for a year.
The thing is, Jesus lived a very uncomfortable life. He left his Father and home in Heaven to live on earth just to be betrayed, cheated, and eventually killed by the very beings He came to save…us. That makes 100 miles of broken fence, or giving up coyote hunting for eleven months look pretty good. We may feel uncomfortable on the outside because of our surroundings, but the truth is we have nothing to worry about because Jesus took our place on the Cross.
I realized my life isn’t so uncomfortable. Just like today on the fence line, I will be surrounded by an awesome team of people working for the same goal and empowered by the same merciful God. It’s just a matter of perspective really.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4
