Walkabout

My first thought as I looked out the airplane window was that everything was so green! Much more green than when I left in December and excitingly more so than the winter of Wisconsin I have just left. I am so glad to be back in the country I left my heart. These past couple days has been filled with seeing old friends and meeting a few new ones, a couple team meetings and a few stops at the shops. It has been hot and humid but you won't hear any complaints from me, last night it started pouring, how I love the rain!

It is Sunday here and I just returned home from church at Gateway Baptist, the church I fell in love with last year and also where I was baptized. It was so fitting that my first Sunday was Vision Sunday. I am so blessed to be part of such a mission minded community of Christ followers. Gateway's vision is to be a large family where Jesus changes lives- growing God's Kingdom in our communities, our nation, and throughout the world. Pastor Jason spoke on taking faith steps and used Peter as an example. When Jesus called him to leave his nets and follow him, Peter did not know that when he took that step of faith that he would see the beginning of the Church or that he would heal in Jesus' name or that he would see the gospel go out across racial and religious lines or that he would see 3,000 people accept the message he shared in one day. Peter could not see the future but he trusted Jesus with his. In the same way, I completely desire to follow Jesus, to take each step as a step of faith so that I can see what God has planned for the world around me. Jason asked us to write down the next step that Jesus has for us in 2010 and I wrote that for me to trust him to work through me as part of my team, to lead selflessly, to give myself fully, and to raise others above myself. I am anxious to see where this step will lead me this year.