“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”-Jeremiah 17:7-8
There is no day now that I do not realize the blessings set before me.
What I have found is that,… I am not alone.
As my journey leads me through this new world of education, I’m finding there are many like myself; searching for our purpose in a place we never envisioned ourselves working. We have been placed somewhere where we often admired those that served in the capacity of teacher or educator but never saw ourselves as stepping into that role; not until now. Again and again, there are reassurances that in everything we do, no matter the scale of the task, there is purpose in all that we do when we walk in faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things unseen,” Hebrews 11:1 tells us. We do not have to see what we have to know we have faith. Each day, as we stand before the multitude of the young people, we can feel a thousand eyes fixed upon us, the minds waiting for instruction, listening to everything that is spoken, every action that is made whether it be purposeful or happen chance. In all that we do, we are leading even when we fail to speak a word. In all that we do, there is purpose.
A good friend and retired pastor, Barry Mahorney, sent me a link to an excellent documentary titled, “Lineage.” In at least three of the episodes, they share the story of the people of the valleys, the Waldensians. Due to circumstances beyond my control, for I had succumbed to following wherever the Lord leads, and as such, my schedule was overflowing with blessings so that I only recently was finally able to watch the long-sought video. What I saw had an impact upon me that was mind numbing.
There was a gripping force upon my soul that would not release my thoughts until I began to try to put them in words. Yet, there was too much emotion to try to capture with pen and paper.
When I attempt to conceptualize what might happen when I reach that far distant land, emotions begin to overtake me. There is almost a perceptible whisper that beckons to call me close, a voice that will speak to me from those granite walls of those hallowed caves. The sheer magnitude of what lies beyond and in that place will certainly be life-changing, this much I know. Yet, there was an immediate takeaway that nearly left me breathless. The host of the show pointed out that those Waldensians of old not only went out, as God had commanded the original disciples to do, to witness to the world, but they purposely went out to other places of education in order to purposely share the gospels, whether they were permitted to do so or not. In other words, their actions were more than just evangelizing, they were purposely infiltrating the darkness with the light, the Word of God.
It was at that moment that I could see how and what my purpose had become.
As I’ve told many, when I began writing the first book, “Bruecke to Heaven,” it started as a place that I would go to in my writing, a “There,” if you will. The “Here” was where I lived in the real world. However, with time, after I answered my calling, the line between “There” and “Here” began to blur. As each footstep took me down the path of God’s purpose, it seemed more and more as if I was becoming part of the book; yes, I was truly becoming one with my ancestors. It was then the unfathomable thought surfaced, I was finally there, on the mountain, teaching others and once more serving a purpose that had been done before, sharing the light in the world of darkness.
There had been no conscious effort on my behalf to achieve this point in my life. No, it had all been by God’s design, one piece of a massive puzzle falling into place after another.
A second book awaits the hands of the editor, to eventually come to the world. In that book, the challenges faced in the first book pale in comparison. With each new turn in the changes in my life, those before also pale in comparison. Parallels that one could only imagine now become a reality for me each day. The two edges of the sword are clearer than ever before. Again, the voice inside speaks and says that once my feet trod upon that ancient ground, there will be yet another volume to add to the collection of words from which the Lord will have spoken through me in spite of me.
Truth is led by the Spirit, and with those Words, we live by a truth unobtainable in the world around us. We live by another code that is not of this place, but of another. Because of Him, we have been granted entrance into that eternal abode where we will dwell side by side. But until we are called home, we must serve with every ounce of fortitude within our being. To seek the highest ground, to scale the mountain tops, to reach the unreachable in order to share with those that would heretofore not have had the opportunity to hear the Word; this is our mission.
Thanks be to God.
To learn more about my upcoming mission trip in June, please go to Mission to R.I.D.E.
