Ordered Steps

A man’s heart plans his way,

But the LORD directs his steps. - Prov. 16:9

Those are words we need to remember. Make your plans. Prepare your week, your month, your year. Plan out your life. But remember this: it's the Lord who orders your steps. And his ways won't necessarily be yours.

Have you ever floated down a river? I have never known a river that is perfectly straight, or without it's sandbars, fallen logs, or sudden twists and turns. Life is like that. But when you let God direct--order--your steps, the ride is much easier to enjoy.

So when 2 weeks ago a wise man told us we needed to change our plans, we had to listen. We had to pray. And finally, this past Saturday morning, we had to decide to trust the Lord to direct our steps.

We are returning to the states 9 months earlier than we planned. We will also stay a little longer than we planned. It's a personal thing. But God is in control. We have had more than one confirmation that our decision is a good one. It's sudden. But it is necessary.

We are sad, even heart-broken, over leaving our ministries so suddenly. But we are confident that the Lord has ordered our steps. It's a faith thing. It's the only way to live.

I will continue to write from our place of residence in Mississippi. I will continue to keep a pulse on things here in our place of ministry.

Why? Because our steps have been ordered. Our Lord has called us to it.

A Good Work

There are certain words that should be used carefully and sparingly. I am speaking of superlatives: great! wonderful! magnificent! terrible! horrible! And then there is "awesome." We should save that one for our Lord God; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Having given that caveat, I am now going to describe last week with the Mississippi Singing Churchmen: Great! Wonderful! Magnificent!

The presence of God was awesome.

Their attitudes were second to none.

Their work was excellent.

God saved scores of men and women. I do not even have a final tally, but it will be close to one hundred who made professions of faith.

The president of Congress, Luis Gonzales de Posada, and I share comments regarding our work.

We shared with the powerful and with the poor. We worked in the inner city and the outlying areas. The group sang in schools and in parks. They worked, as we say in Mississippi, "can to can't." Sixteen hour days were normal. Twice we had a break and only worked twelve hours.

In the end, it was all a joyful celebration of the hand of God in our midst.

Thanks, Churchmen. Thanks, prayer warriors. Thanks to the Lord, above all else.