Border Patrol

Touch down at Heathrow airport in London.  I made it safely to my destination.  It was a good flight, there was hardly anyone on the flight so I had a row of seats all to myself.  My guitar, which should have been checked at the gate, was stored in the first class cabin.  I think I prefer the overnights too.

But when I got to the border, it all changed.  I was detained for about 3 hours being questioned, finger-printed, and had all my bags searched.  Even though I did nothing wrong, you can't help but feel like a criminal.  Through it all, God gave me grace not to freak out or get angry.  But instead, being filled with peace and patience I was able to endure without losing my cool. 

Thank you Jesus.

we have lift off

I'm one day away from taking off to England.  Today I have, and will be, spending my day packing and finishing up last minute things.  Less than 2 days left and I feel ready to go but at the same time not ready in other ways.  There is a well in my heart filling with anticipation of the things and events to come in the next season of my life.

Yesterday at church,  the pastor was preaching about the Bible; what it's about and key episodes in it.  The episode he talked about was Abram as he started his journey.  

Genesis 12:1-3

      Now Adonai said to Avram, "Get yourself out of your country, away from your kinsmen and away from your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make your name great;  and you are to be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone you curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed."(CJB)

                                                                                                                         

When the Lord came to Abram and spoke to him about leaving this was a pivotal time in history.  It started the rising of the nation of Israel though this man.  Many of us know the story of this man of faith, who is even included in the "hall of faith" in the book of Hebrews.  

As I listened to the sermon I felt the Lord speaking to me about this next journey.  The main point that I felt the Lord say was about me "leaving my fathers house and going to the land that He will show me."  For some reason I feel this could mean that I won't be returning for a while but I'm not sure of the full implications of what God was saying.  One thing is certain though, I don't believe this trip will be like any of the other trips that I've taken, but I'll continue to live in obedience. 

a new journey

After waiting for the next step for the last 5 months, it is a relief to know what I'll be doing next even if it is only 5 weeks.  To sum it up, this last season was a time of restoration.  I didn't realize how much I had poured out in the last two and a half years.  I was running on empty and struggling to stay afloat and I hadn't realized until I came into a new environment with much less responsibility.  Being at home while my friends were on the mission field was difficult to adjust to.  Knowing that they were making a difference in the nations was hard to accept as I was relaxing at home.  It felt like I was being benched from the team.

But the Lord had me where I needed to be.  He started restoring my confidence and giving me new visions and dreams.  During one of my visits to Harrisburg, I had a chance to spend some time with one of my leader's from Kona, Andy Byrd.  Andy sat with me and started reminding me of basic principles that I learned during my time staffing.  He also started recasting vision for my walk with the Lord.  I returned home with my mind and spirit refreshed, more focused and with more of a purpose on my time at home.

From there, the Lord started revealing more of what my task was.  Through the months I felt that the Lord was whispering bits and pieces of it, almost like giving me pieces of a puzzle to complete.  I couldn't tell at first what it was but now I have a better idea than before.  The pieces form a picture, a map for the direction I will be following Him in.  A new journey filled with adventures with Yeshua but it's not new, my eyes have just been opened more to the things that He has prepared for me.

In less than two weeks I'll be back on the field.  First, I'll be flying into London.  I'll be attending a Torah Conference and meeting with Korean pastors in the local region.  I don't have specific dates on where I'll be traveling to but the trip will take me to Scotland and also to Wales.

I updated my blog-site with a Prayer Partnership page.  I'll be posting prayer requests or even topics related and unrelated to my direct travels.

a funny little story

Today was an interesting day.  My mom and dad have been in Korea for the last week and a half and my mom came back today.  So for the last 10 days I inherited of watching my eleven year old sister.  Taking her to school, packing her lunch, making dinner, and also walking the dog.

This morning's forecast was rainy and walking the dog in the rain is probably my least favorite thing to do.  Since I had to go pick my mom up from the airport it had to be done.  Thankfully the walk went fairly quickly and came back and washed up, made breakfast for my sister and Me and packed her lunch.  So far, so good.

I looked at the time; 8:30 am.  I packed up everything and made my way out to the car, locked the door to the house and reached for the keys to the car to unlock it, but where are the keys?  They should be in my pocket.  As I feel around my pockets, I realize that I left the keys on the counter with the door locked.  I think quickly and pull out a plastic card from my wallet and try to jimmy the lock.  I give it a try and it works the first time.  I grab the keys and now we're on our way to school.

Everything seemed to be moving smoothly now.  My sister's at school and I'm on the highway.  About 10 minutes down the highway the car shuts off and I start to lose speed.  I filled up the other day, so that can't be the reason the car shut off.  Then I realize that my dad's car has been doing this for a while now.  The electrical work just turns off immobilizing the car.  I can't start it again and even the emergency lights won't turn on.  I called the insurance company and they sent someone out to tow the car.  My mom get's in at 9:50AM and the tow truck won't get to me until 10:17AM.

The truck got to me a little earlier than expected but still passed the time for my mom's arrival.  The driver gave me a lift to the dealer and from there I rushed home to get to our second car to pick my mom up from the airport.  I was already late so I wanted to hurry up and get there.  When I got home, I realized I didn't have the house keys, but it's ok, I'll just break back in to my house.  I tried again and remembered I dead bolted the lock.  So I had to drive back to the dealership to pick the house keys up and then go back home.  Now, I can actually go pick my mom up and its 11:00AM.  I didn't get to the airport until noon.  But all in all, it could've been worst.

Sorry mom, glad to have you back though.