I Am Back!!

I have been remiss in posting!  Good reasons (notice I said "reasons", not excuses!) as I had 4 devotionals to write, then a trip to Pennsylvania to help with the 3 grand kids there while their mother visited her sister out West.  And I also have been working on Bible lessons for our Vacation Bible School that begins on June 10th.  I have the 3rd grade boys and I need to be 5 steps ahead of them if we are going to maintain control of the classroom!!!

For now, here are my devotionals for the month of June.  I trust they will be a blessing and encouragement to whoever reads them.

Participant or Audience?
I Thessalonians 5:24

God nudges us through His Holy Spirit to be an active participant in His game plan for our lives.  Do we boldly and willingly join with Him as He endeavors to enlist us?  The audience is a comfortable place, we reason.  And the excuses begin. Complete surrender to Him?  Hm..m..m  - no!?

As brand new appointees with BMM, we were looking to Alaska as our field of service. God spoke through veteran missionaries to Dale one night and he informed me -- we were going to Africa instead!

The next day, the Lord and I began our debate:  Alaska vs. Africa

Me:  Lord, I am not smart enough to learn another language.
Lord:  May I remind you that you just received a high score on your language aptitude test?
Me:  There are too many deadly, venomous snakes in Africa.
Lord:  In 65 years, none of my missionaries have been bitten.
Me:  Malaria, hepatitis, and many other critical diseases abound in Africa.
Lord:  Lynda, what did I just do for you?  Your husband and mother were planning your funeral because you were so seriously ill with meningitis.
Me:  But, Lord, I will have to leave my family and friends!
Lord:  Dear daughter, my Son left all the glory of heaven for YOU...can you not leave your family for Me?

How could I not respond with all my heart when He gave everything for me??  Never fear to be a participant in God's plan for your life!  Joy abounds in His will!

**Some side notes to this as I only had 250 words so I could not give all the background!!

My maternal grandmother was the family prayer warrior.  When we spent vacation time with her, I always fell asleep with Granny on her knees beside my bed praying for all of us.  We attended church with her and it was under her teaching that I accepted Christ as my Savior.

From that time on, Granny would drop this little tidbit...."Some day you may be a missionary in Africa."  Now, the picture in my head was of a deep, dark green jungle with snakes abounding!  No way was I going there!  Missionaries do not help this misconception because they love telling their snake stories -- with some embellishments!  Therefore, when Dale said we were going to Africa, I was not a happy camper!  The veteran missionaries he had talked to after I had returned to our dorm were from the Central African Republic.  That country had recently decided to allow private aircraft to operate within their borders.  And here was a pilot ready to begin that ministry!

Surrendering to God's will amazed me...I had a God-given joy from then on to serve in Africa, excited about this new chapter in our lives.  More posts will be forth coming on these chapters!