We have had a busy week working out details for our upcoming move to Central America... getting quotes on international health insurance, acquiring information for our student visas, ordering school supplies/books and trying to figure out what else we need for our year in Costa Rica. We are beginning to plan out our next two months and time to spend with our family and friends to say goodbye. The holidays are going to be so important for this! We know this will be a hard time for us and our loved ones.
We have been following the blogs of several families already studying at the Language School and are both encouraged and a bit scared as a result! We know this is going to be a huge cultural change for our family and will result in quite a bit of discomfort...something most of us do not purposely pursue in life! While this is a bit frightening to contemplate we know that it will be so good for our family. God has so much to teach us this coming year and we are anxious to learn from Him!
God has really been working on my heart during this entire process. Our work with the children of Guatemala is going to reflect the Heart of Christ. James 1:27 puts it so beautifully, "Pure and undefiled religion is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world" All through scripture we see the heart of God reaching out to those who are oppressed, the poor and the downtrodden. What a privelege to carry out that which is so pleasing to our Lord! Interestingly, the thing that keeps most of us from fulfilling James 1:27 is exactly what the last words caution us: keeping oneself unspotted from the world! I know that I have been plenty "spotted" during my life thus far. I pray that our family can walk through the rest of our lives without falling victim to the world's temptations! What a challenge. Isaiah 58 has been very thought-provoking this week. I encourage you to read it. Israel is found "going through the motions" and acting out more pretense than the Heart of God. How many of us spend most days simply going through the motions?
I pray that God speaks to you today and that you will decide to abandon absolutely to Him. It is in our abandon to Him that He is most able to speak to us. If we are shutting out the spirit by living to please ourselves, then how can the spirit work on our behalf?
1 comments:
Hi Brian & family! That was a great blog entry :) I also read the devotion you linked to at the top! Thanks for sharing it! The verse you referred to is perfect for our desire to live a more pure life. "Unspotted" by the world sums it all up! (although you wrote "unpotted" and I HAVE to raz you about that, of course! What are little sisters for?)
I can't believe that it's only 2 months away!!!!!! We'll be praying for you and soaking up as much time with you as we can before the big departure day! We'll miss seeing you and Abbie next Wed. but we will have such a great time with Mary and the kids! We can't wait!
Love you! :) Bridget
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