Dear Team,
Sorry I have been slow to get back to you about last Friday… i have been processing. So first let me just tell you it was awesome spending time just focusing on each of you, our team, and the people we are going to be meeting next year.
Here are a few of the thoughts i kept coming back to. Maybe some of you are in a similar place? Maybe they are worth meditating on for a few… maybe not 🙂 Completely up to you!
So the big question was this… what is our focus right now? As a team i feel that we are very focused on fundraising and trip details. Granted, these things are important… but are we getting away from what should be the main focus of our preparation? Are we so focused on the details that we are missing out on letting God prepare our hearts? There is something from training camp I always find myself going back to (a preview for the newbies i guess!): “Lord, do the things you need to do in me, so you can do the things you want to do through me.”
Two verses i ran across from proverbs 19:
“it is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way”
and
“Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it is the Lords purpose that prevails.”
Are we so focused on the plans and the details and what percentage of our support is in that we are missing out on God’s greater purpose? I realized that Satan is not going to give a hoot what kind of tent we’re sleeping in… in fact, he’ll probably be excited we’re spending time thinking about that instead of God because it makes his job even easier. We need to spend time putting on the armour of God to guard our hearts… at the end of the day the armour of REI does little for us…
The second point kind of dovetails off the first… what does sacrificial living look like in these weeks before we go? What pieces of my life am I will to give up for the greater good? Am i spending time praying for people in the field and for my teammates? Am I still “tithing” (whatever that looks like for you)? Am i giving my money joyfully even though that is a great need in my life? Am I living Love even when it’s time consuming?
So anyway… those are the big picture things that I was meditating on. Thoughts, reflections, discussion?
Face Down, Sarah
