Malawi
April 2023
In the midst of the journey…..sitting 3 hours into a 14 hour flight (there will be another 5 hour flight after that). My mind seems to get very quiet for a bit and then my conversations start with my Father……there is a peace in the stillness of this part of the journey. The cabin is dark, people are sleeping and conversations have quieted too.
The last 24 hours have been full of activity, driving, giggling and having a meal or two. Traveling by vans and shuttles and trams. But now, this time is the gift of quiet, reflection and prayer…..there is a peace in this stillness. Nothing pulling me away from the Word, nothing taking my mind off the task at hand…. A task I do not take lightly….but I do hold with a loose grip so that it is not my will by my Fathers will. It is not my agenda or plan, but His. I smile knowing His plans are greater than mine. His plans are perfect……mine are flawed and honestly selfish…..His are perfectly wonderful.
I pray for the health of Mark, Leah, Karey, Ed and myself. This kind of trip makes me more aware of our health physically. It is not always easy, but it is joy filled. You tend to leave your energy out there in the daily activity, whatever that may be. What ever gift of time you are given, you just want to be all in. Not wasting moments….seeing the divine appointments, the time for prayer, the time to encourage…..and the time to “be all things to all people”.
I pray for us spiritually……there is something different out on a mission field. Whether at home in the states or internationally. There is a beautiful focus that is truly a gift…….there is a peeling away of layers that you might not know you were clinging to or may have been blinding your vision. Spiritual warfare rises up……yes, it is everywhere, but for me with my “layers peeled away” it becomes more tangible. I can feel it more, see it more, discern it more. It also changes me, in the brokenness……even though it doesn’t feel good, it too is a gift in the transformation only He can create.
I have come to wait for the brokenness now…….He is always faithful to change me. And I am never alone in it…..He is always there. Ready to hear my heart, ready to receive my submission to His authority, ready to walk me through the brokenness. He has never taken it away and I have never asked Him to……He is in the midst, though it may sound crazy, I don’t want to be anywhere else. My submission and dependence on Him grows in the broken time. There is peace in the broken.
I pray we empty ourselves for His plans. I pray they only remember Jesus…….they don’t remember us. And I pray for Him to be glorified in all.