I’ve had quite an adventure between now and my last note. I ended up getting a 24-hour flu bug and had to miss work last Thursday. Friday and Saturday were real busy at work. Sunday and Monday slowed down enough so I I finally had time to scrub and wash the golf cars and make them all shine. I also got to meet a Christian family who was camping out here for a week. Seeing their boys come into the game room and have so much fun playing ping-pong brightened my days, and being able to talk with their mother was a great treat too! Monday night I made the six-hour trek home to visit my family over Tuesday and Wednesday, making the trip back up here Wednesday night. It was a very welcome break and much needed. I had the opportunity to rake hay, go to one of Lizzy’s softball games, drop off some extra things we didn’t have room for and pick up some more, and bring back some strawberry pies! Now Thursday and Friday weren’t too busy, but they were really hot. I really hope it cools down for the rest of the weekend.
An update on our Bulgarian friends: we continue to invite them to different outings, and they attended a Nav Nite service. Aussia liked it, but said it was different; she likes the idea of God, but not religion. Rodney thought that the speaker that night was a fake, but he still asks questions about how we live our lives and how we are different. We haven’t had a chance to go back to the Lake Delton Motel that had all the international students to follow up, but we are going to try to get there sometime this weekend. On Monday night as I was traveling home, the rest of my team was having a very good discussion and Bible study with two Christian international ladies. They all loved the time together, and I was sad that I had to miss it. Please pray that we will find more time to continue to foster relationships with the international students that we already know. It seems like we are always being pushed to reach out to more students, but don’t have the time to focus on the ones we already know. Also pray for one of our brother teams, Tyler’s team; they are not getting along for some reason, and it has started to affect our team. Pray for the Ward family; they run the campground that we work at. As far as I know, none of them know the Lord. We have a great opportunity to minister to them with our actions and words as each one of us works with a different family member on a regular basis. Lastly, pray for our Sunday service that we are starting on July 3, that it would go well and that we would be allowed to continue it. Oh, and I continue to twist my ankle every couple of days, so pray that it would get stronger, that the swelling would go down, and that I would stop stepping on uneven ground (if that’s possible).
This morning’s quiet time passage was Isaiah 30:8-18. Verse 11 says,”Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” How many times do we feel this way, that the Holy Spirit just keeps convicting us of something and we don’t want to change, so we ignore Him and then get angry because He keeps persisting? How many times do we look back and say, “It would’ve been easier if I had just changed right away and then I would still have my close relationship with Christ?” When we do finally change, do we change with the attitude of the judge in the Parable of the Persistent Widow, who just wanted to get rid of the woman (Luke 18:1-8), or are we like Jesus, who forgets the easier route and goes with God’s plan, no matter what, without complaining or arguing? I’d like to say that I’m like Jesus all the time, but I’m not. Occasionally there’s just some things that I like to hang on to, even though I’m supposed to put aside the old things and put on a new way of life. Sometimes it’s harder than it seems. God doesn’t leave us there though, He gives us second chances. In verse 15 Isaiah writes, “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”” There is hope offered, but will we choose to follow God’s will or go our own way? The repentance and rest seems very easy sometimes, but waiting in quietness and trust for strength is hard. Verse 18: “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!” Even though we may not want to have any of His salvation and strength, He still “longs to be gracious” with us, to show us compassion. What an awesome Father we have!
If you would like to write me a note, my address is: Tiffany Davis, Spring Hill Motel, 400 Vine St., Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
No comments:
Post a Comment