Wow, it's hard to even begin to explain the past 7 months. God has exceeded my expectations over and over again. One of my favorite quotes is by C.S. Lewis;
"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
I have seen this ring true in my life so many times. We come up to the king's table, not even really sure if we are invited to dine with Him. So, we end up asking permission to eat the leftover crumbs on the ground when God is inviting us every day to dine with Him at the King's table and share a feast. We are so afraid of being disappointed, that we're afraid to hope. When our hope is founded in the person of Jesus, we will never be disappointed; we will never get to the end of His person. God is always giving us the invitation to go deeper to let go of ourselves and sign up for a life of adventure, but it always comes with a cost. There is always a level of risk involved and we must choose to accept the risk and overcome the fear if we are to live like Jesus.
After DTS, I had a chance to go to New Zealand for a couple weeks with Nele and take some time off to process and debrief the past 6 months. It was such a blessing, so beautiful and so much fun! I have been home for almost 2 weeks now. Life is always changing, always moving, like a river and we must choose to adjust and move with the change, or we will be swept away by the current. I am still in the process of trying to figure out how to make Discipleship Training School (DTS) a lifestyle and not an event, but I'm sure I'll be trying to figure that out for quite some time. I am currently in the process of praying over my next step and taking some time to rest and visit with family and friends again. I am looking into doing a Biblical Leadership School (BLS) with YWAM in Australia or New Zealand, which includes staffing the DTS and taking a few classes of my own.
Thanks again for all your love, support and prayers!
