To Heaven and Back Again
Well we are back home again after a week long trip to Casa Bernabe in Guatemala City. Courtney and I went with a group from our church and FBC Dadeville to serve and love on the workers and orphans there. It was an absolutely amazing week.
It had been over 13 years since I last went on an international mission trip, and had forgotten what an exhilarating, exhausting and rewarding experience it can be. It was such an eye opening blessing to see what God was doing in another country and amongst another people group. It is so easy to get totally consumed in our little portion of the Kingdom and miss the global work that our Sovereign King is orchestrating.
I could write a hundred posts about everything we saw and experienced there, but instead I will simply focus on my main take away from the week. It started with a very simple story/statement from one of the ladies in our group. She said that it is easy for many of us to look at orphanages like Casa Bernabe and think where is the God of love in this picture? Or how could such a sovereign and perfect God allow these kids to be without a family?However for many of the kids we encountered it was just the exact opposite. Bringing them to this orphanage was the most loving an merciful thing He could do for them. For it was in this place that they found hope, grace and life for the first time.
I was blessed to see a little picture of Heaven come to Earth this past week. A place where God’ love and Christ’s body was actively pursuing doing the work of the Father, caring for least of these. Nothing was more important than His glory revealed in the life and actions of His people.
So now I am back in my regular world typing blog posts on my iPhone as I lay on my plush bed in the air conditioning. My major concern of the day is how to prioritize my checklist of “pressing” duties and tasks, and I can’t help but wonder how I can pursue the same the picture of Heaven I saw in Guatemala back here at home?
The Kingdom is wherever God is working right now, and I know
He is working here in the U.S. just as He is in Guatemala, but somehow I can’t seem to see it with the same clarity. Maybe there are two many trees blocking our view of the local harvest.
– Wholly Surrender!