Lent cont.

Today I was sitting down stairs in my office/spare room and thinking about this time that we have taken in Canada. I remember when we presented our year to the mission committee at my home church in Winnipeg and they told me they had some concerns as we were going to be pretty busy during our sabbatical. I never really thought about it again, just moved on and continued with our schedule, then today something happened.

Today I felt like Jesus spoke to me, not out loud, but in my head. How do I know it was Him, well I can’t say for sure, but I have been following Him for a while now so I am kind of familiar with His communication with me. Plus, I have been asking Him to speak to me for a while now. It is no surprise either that He would speak during Lent, the 40 taken by Christians to focus on Jesus and His journey to the cross. I have been taking this time, and already change is happening.

OK, back to my spare oom. I was just sitting there working and I started thinking about our time at home. I think it was after Abby, our 2 year old came in and wanted to play. As clear as anything I felt in my head and heart that this is the reason I am here, for my family. I am here to be a constant in their lives. I am here because God has given me and us a gift. This year is a gift. I have been so busy rushing through it, trying to get things done and trying to be productive that I almost missed it. There is plenty of time to put in 10-14 hour day’s, but the time with family is limited. I have always said that when my kids grow up and think about Jesus I don’t what them to associate that with dad being gone, or him caring about the world but not taking care of his family.

Anyway, I didn’t feel  that God wanted me to do nothing, on the contrary, I feel that He has big plans and hopes for me and us this year. I also feel that in that He wants me to see my family and to be a dad and a husband. Jesus has called us to ministry and mission as a family, not just me and a part of that is for our family to be an encouragement and example of what a healthy, loving, committed family looks like.

I am grateful to the people in my life  who have encouraged us in this step, you have seen things that I failed to see. I am expectant and excited about the next 5 months that we have in Canada, outside of the trips we are taking and believe that we will emerge stronger, and with a more solid foundation in serving Jesus in full time ministry.