This morning started out a little differently for a Sunday morning. I went to church and went to the prayer room, expecting to see a few beloved faces of the prayer team that I'm part of. There was no one there. (In a church of 11,000 people, this is quite rare, although our prayer group is still rather small...) I spent about an hour with the Lord by myself, going through some prayers in the New Testament, and listening to the birds chirp in the courtyard outside as the sunshine gleamed through the windows. Silence. I don't partake in that enough.
To be quite honest, these past two days have been tough as I've battled (and lost) to my gluttonous flesh. So many lovely people have given me treats and foods out of their kind hearts or due to a premature celebration of V-day, so I've eaten bits and pieces of those treats and gone over my dollar limit. Other times, at night, my overworn body has simply gone to default mode, and my default mode is to consume everything in sight, so that's led to more cheating. Sigh. The enemy is quite crafty in our weak moments! God has been so gracious and giving me many passages in 1 Corinthians about overcoming temptation, though, and remaining humble and accountable to others continuously. However, I have started praying more about what to do in situations when it's inevitable that people will give me food and it is the best response to accept the food and eat it (for example, in cross cultural ministry).
On the way back from church, we stopped by Vickery to pick up Patrick and Godfree, and had an edifying time laughing and encouraging one another as we drove through the maze of highways in downtown Dallas. The topic? Our identity in Christ, primarily in our satisfaction with our outer appearance. G and P told us of how in Africa, women are preferred who are more buxom and curvy ("but not 'fat' ") as opposed to the Western concept of being model-thin. Then, we went around the truck and edified one another: "Heath, I like your beard," "Alex, you have a great smile," "Syeldy, I like your smile and [asian] eyes, and what do you call the black spot below your eye?" Haha! As Psalm 139 says, we truly are "fearfully and wonderfully made."
I think life is made up of many wonderful small moments that are as quick as a blink. It JUST started snowing here a few minutes ago, and I heard my ecstatic guy neighbors yelling as they eagerly rushed out to view the little flakes. I soon joined them, and there were three of us leaning against the apt balcony whooping and hollering as we tried to capture the white flakes with our tongues. Somehow, a moment like that evoked so much pleasure and delight and pure humour, that I couldn't help but laugh one of those deep-from-your-gut laughs that make you feel like you just did 75 crunches. Thank You, Jesus, for the wonders of Your creation!
Breakfast: Energen ($0.13)
Lunch: Ramen, then a 1/2 c brown rice with 1/4 c chili ($.46)
Snack: A few raisins, 2 crackers, a few grapes ($0.25)
Dinner: Two slices wheat bread with sweet condensed milk ($0.15)
Total: $.99
Prayer Request from my Guatemalan Team: We need to raise $12,653 for the cost of medicine alone. So far we have raised approx $3600. Please pray for supernatural provision!
To be quite honest, these past two days have been tough as I've battled (and lost) to my gluttonous flesh. So many lovely people have given me treats and foods out of their kind hearts or due to a premature celebration of V-day, so I've eaten bits and pieces of those treats and gone over my dollar limit. Other times, at night, my overworn body has simply gone to default mode, and my default mode is to consume everything in sight, so that's led to more cheating. Sigh. The enemy is quite crafty in our weak moments! God has been so gracious and giving me many passages in 1 Corinthians about overcoming temptation, though, and remaining humble and accountable to others continuously. However, I have started praying more about what to do in situations when it's inevitable that people will give me food and it is the best response to accept the food and eat it (for example, in cross cultural ministry).
On the way back from church, we stopped by Vickery to pick up Patrick and Godfree, and had an edifying time laughing and encouraging one another as we drove through the maze of highways in downtown Dallas. The topic? Our identity in Christ, primarily in our satisfaction with our outer appearance. G and P told us of how in Africa, women are preferred who are more buxom and curvy ("but not 'fat' ") as opposed to the Western concept of being model-thin. Then, we went around the truck and edified one another: "Heath, I like your beard," "Alex, you have a great smile," "Syeldy, I like your smile and [asian] eyes, and what do you call the black spot below your eye?" Haha! As Psalm 139 says, we truly are "fearfully and wonderfully made."
I think life is made up of many wonderful small moments that are as quick as a blink. It JUST started snowing here a few minutes ago, and I heard my ecstatic guy neighbors yelling as they eagerly rushed out to view the little flakes. I soon joined them, and there were three of us leaning against the apt balcony whooping and hollering as we tried to capture the white flakes with our tongues. Somehow, a moment like that evoked so much pleasure and delight and pure humour, that I couldn't help but laugh one of those deep-from-your-gut laughs that make you feel like you just did 75 crunches. Thank You, Jesus, for the wonders of Your creation!
Breakfast: Energen ($0.13)
Lunch: Ramen, then a 1/2 c brown rice with 1/4 c chili ($.46)
Snack: A few raisins, 2 crackers, a few grapes ($0.25)
Dinner: Two slices wheat bread with sweet condensed milk ($0.15)
Total: $.99
Prayer Request from my Guatemalan Team: We need to raise $12,653 for the cost of medicine alone. So far we have raised approx $3600. Please pray for supernatural provision!
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