Every Detail

I just returned from a week in the beautiful area of Hazelton, British Columbia. What a blessing to be there, not only to enjoy God's creation all around me, but to spend time with more than 100 wonderful volunteers working with LAMP, Canada. Over and over I was reminded that the battle is not ours, but God's. I was amazed to see how He works everything out for His good and His glory. Psalm 37:23 says, "The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives." If I had the time, I would write for you every detail of this awesome trip so you could see that this is true! But alas, I'm off on Thursday to Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug...pray that I continue to remember that the battle's not mine.

Spring? July?

It's spring in Portland. (These are dogwood flowers.) It's just so weird that the blooms would come soooo much later than our warm midwest, if...if...we could even grow the darn things! Last week was my first visit to Oregon, but hopefully not my last. I was in a convention center for the 3 days I was there, but would love to return again some day. I love the huge trees! In fact, my friends and I were walking to a hotel, and I found myself stopping under a gigantic evergreen (later identified to me as the Lebanon Cedar). I stared up into the enormous branches, just trying to get a handle on how this tree could possibly grow so large right next to a building. Massive! Not seen here in Omaha Nebraska, that's for sure. This week I'm preparing for the first of two back-to-back mission trips to Canada. Saturday I leave for Smithers, then Hazelton, BC, where my friend and I will spend the week with LAMP teams teaching VBS and spending time with youth through sports programs. With all that's been going on this week, I had to remind myself that my God knows "when I sit and when I rise" (among other things, like everything about me!). I sure needed to hear that today. He's got in handled. Ha, yeah, that's right: the battle's not mine!