These posts tend to be very long. I sit down each morning without a clue what I will write. For me this has been an exercise in discipline and humility. The discipline aspect is two fold. First is to sit and write in a daily flow, learning to express my thoughts in a coherent (lol...hopefully!) way. Second is to share my writing on Facebook and other sites so as to be ok with comment and questions. I feel that I am building up my tolerance for public opinion, and learning to stand up boldly for what I believe in.

A little over a year ago I opened my Facebook account at the suggestion of a dear friend. She is a Christian and found that it was a place to share her thoughts on Christ. In addition, old school mates from high school who had also come to Christ were suddenly new allies in thought. I found my experience to be the same. Facebook became a welcome surprise. I encountered old friends who also had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I made friends all over the world who loved Jesus. I began quoting scripture and sharing my thoughts about Christ and Christian living.

As time has passed my status posts have gotten lengthy. Limited by 420 characters was becoming a problem. (I have a twitter account, but seriously I just can't confine my thoughts that much that often...I have a problem, I know...) When it came time to prepare for my mission trip to Malawi I got the idea of chronicling my daily walk for the months before the trip as well as continuing through my time there and the reflections of my return again to America.

Writing a blog daily has been a challenge, but the discipline has proved a welcome blessing to me. God seems to work that way; He asks you to do something, and as you obey you receive gifts that you never could have anticipated (and often didn't know you needed). For many years I have been working intermittently on writing a book. Stringing thoughts together for a few hundred pages is a daunting task (stringing thoughts together for one page is a daunting task!)...and yet God has been suggesting that I do this for some time now. Every time that I would get started something would come along to divert me. I became overwhelmed at the prospect of getting into a daily routine. Little did I know that when God prompted me to write this blog for Malawi, that He was teaching me a lesson. Having written every day (almost every day...I am trying!), I have been able to look back on the volume that I have produced in a little over a month...it is staggering to me. I believe that God, as He always does, has made His point. He finds a creative ways to show me that I can do what He has asked of me. When I struggle or doubt, yet persevere, my character changes and I strengthen and solidify my fortitude.

"We can rejoice, too when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment.' - Romans 5:3-4

What I am trying to show you here , is that even in the things that seem impossible on our own, God is making a way. When God "says yes", nobody (even you) can say "No". When God has a plan for you (and the example I use here about writing is not by any means my greatest struggle, but something that I am sharing because God has been patient with me over the years) God himself will bring about His desire. If you need training or strengthening to accomplish the task...that is exactly what you will get. If it is humility that you need, hold on to your chair tightly, because it is coming! Whatever your need, God is working behind the scenes, sometimes so far ahead of us that we think that he Has left us.

In some cases, God makes clear His plans for you, and you choose to run away or be defiant. Jonah literally ran from God. He went as far as the trade route would take him on a ship in the wrong direction. Ultimately he jumped willingly overboard into a raging storm, thinking that he would die and end it all. He did not die. As a matter of fact, God had called a large fish (probably a whale) to come and swallow him. Jonah sat in the stomach of this animal for three days along with intestinal juices and rotting fish. Jonah held out in desperation, having been taken down by his fear, anger and pride. In his defiance he had thought that death was better than obedience to a plan that he didn't want to walk in. But God had other ideas...Jonah eventually gave in and cried out to the Lord. He went back to the beginning and followed God's commands and the greatest revival in all of history took place in the city of Nineveh.

The things that God requires of us often are not only difficult for us, but we just don't want to do them. Our sense of what is "right" or "just" or "necessary" overshadows the knowledge that if God has told us to do something, we need to obey. After all obedience is our way of showing God that we truly love and trust him.

I have learned to obey God in what I perceive as the "big" things. But I am learning to obey him in the "little" things as well. What I consider "little" is from my perspective, not from God's. God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh and He only gave him one sentence to say. That one sentence was exactly what was needed to turn the hard hearts of the Ninevites back to the Lord in repentance. When God has a plan He knows the outcome, He knows how vital every puzzle piece is to the final picture. Whatever the task seems to you, whether big or small, if God has said "yes" to it, it is best that you agree with Him!

Samson didn't obey God (this story is found in Judges Chapter 13 through 16)...in the end, even in his disobedience, God used him to do His will. God had given Samson the chance to obey and have an abundant life...God gives each of us a chance to obey Him and live and abundant life. Whatever the struggle you may be having, whatever God is asking of you that seems like "too much"...please consider obeying. God has a plan and all we see most of the time is our piece of the puzzle. We must lean on our knowledge of God's character and trust Him that He knows best.