This morning I woke up and the house was full of wonderful young adults. God is good.
There was a time when I thought that this would never happen again, especially when people asked in kind tones if I was going to retire. I wondered too if my time was done and I was out to pasture - a horse old and achy before its time. I was broken, body and soul, and did not think I had the heart or hope to recover.
"Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you" (Isaiah 46:3, 4 NIV).
This morning the small sounds of movement started at 7:00 am. I am not cruel - I just told them that we need to have breakfast eaten and cleaned up by the time for prayer and worship at 8:30. Someone had their radio on just before 7:00, and will need a gentle reminder about earbuds. We have ahead of us a day of challenge course and rappelling down a 210 foot cliff, followed by a dip in the lake. But I most look forward to chilling with these guys this evening in this enormous house overlooking the Cowichan Valley far below.
He made me, and he will carry me. He shaped and formed me, so it is his responsibility to get me from Point A to Point B, birth to grave. He is not done with me, and when he is I will know it, because I will be falling at his feet.
It is an interesting combination of people - average age 19.75, and most already know one another and each other's friends. Twelve would have been great, but eight students is a nice number and I am content. I wonder what Jesus will accomplish with them in this year, and shiver a bit in anticipation.
Can I encourage you today who are waiting on God for something: the waiting - the expectation and hope - make the thing you are waiting for all the sweeter, and make you all the more ready to receive it.
"Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14 NIV).
There was a time when I thought that this would never happen again, especially when people asked in kind tones if I was going to retire. I wondered too if my time was done and I was out to pasture - a horse old and achy before its time. I was broken, body and soul, and did not think I had the heart or hope to recover.
"Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you" (Isaiah 46:3, 4 NIV).
This morning the small sounds of movement started at 7:00 am. I am not cruel - I just told them that we need to have breakfast eaten and cleaned up by the time for prayer and worship at 8:30. Someone had their radio on just before 7:00, and will need a gentle reminder about earbuds. We have ahead of us a day of challenge course and rappelling down a 210 foot cliff, followed by a dip in the lake. But I most look forward to chilling with these guys this evening in this enormous house overlooking the Cowichan Valley far below.
He made me, and he will carry me. He shaped and formed me, so it is his responsibility to get me from Point A to Point B, birth to grave. He is not done with me, and when he is I will know it, because I will be falling at his feet.
It is an interesting combination of people - average age 19.75, and most already know one another and each other's friends. Twelve would have been great, but eight students is a nice number and I am content. I wonder what Jesus will accomplish with them in this year, and shiver a bit in anticipation.
Can I encourage you today who are waiting on God for something: the waiting - the expectation and hope - make the thing you are waiting for all the sweeter, and make you all the more ready to receive it.
"Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14 NIV).