Bringing Back the 2x4

Well. It happened again.  God got out the 2x4 today. :)

I have some friends who pastor at a local church. (*gasp* not the one I currently attend! :) ) I had a message from them telling me that I might enjoy the sermon that was slated for today. I had visited one other time, and had been meaning to get back there... so I thought 'why not' today.

I went to their early service.  Any guesses what the sermon was about?  Coca-cola. For real. (no pun intended, even though it is the real thing. :) )  But it was about how Coca-Cola has been more successful at reaching foreign populations than the church has. And it was about missions. :) The whole sermon was about missions. *BANG!* That was the 2x4. You've seen the post where I've decided to NOT go on the trip to Honduras right? And I just made that decision last Sunday. And I made bold comments on my last two blog postings about how God uses the 2x4 method "There would be repeated themes that showed up in my prayers, sermons, bible studies, etc. All at the same time- in the same week... and often even in the same day. That's the 2x4. Keeps hitting me between they eyes until I can't not get it! " or  I'd said things like  "And it quickly became clear that while I am still called to missions, I am not called to this mission. God has a plan for me... and I don't know what that plan is.. but I want to be obedient to Him, so I will leave myself open to that call and His plan. :)"

So I left the church service there with a confirmation of my call to missions.. some mission. And thought that was dazzling. But then the Lord went and did it again...

I was driving back home and felt this need for more corporate worship. (trust me- that wasn't what I had planned for my day.. I was looking forward to a lonnnng 3 hour nap, maybe some reading time... quiet afternoon. ) So.. I turned my car around and headed over to my current church's second service. (Side note: I did have a moment of panic driving over there thinking that my God of comic irony *might* have a little fun and when I walked in my least favorite song : "Shine Jesus Shine" would be slated as the ONLY song for the entire worship. He was good and didn't do that. ;-) ) So what was our sermon about there?  Obedience. And specifically the tie of obedience to evangelism :) *BANG!* That was the 2x4 again. So God was faithful... and dazzling AGAIN. But wait... there's more. :)

Just yesterday, I was having a conversation about how having directed a summer camp for so many years was one of the most important selling factors to me having gotten my job at Purdue 10 years ago. Summer camps have been the mainstay of my current job too.. and something I enjoy doing.  I've always enjoyed the irony of this because as a kid... I wasn't into summer camp. I did girl scout sleep away camp as a 4th grader. Not the best experience. And then I did church camp- one year- as a 13 year old. Still not my thing. But yet, I ended up directing and working at camps for most of my professional career and I love it!   It's the same irony that follows me in most of my life- the girl who never went to a prom, ends up being the prom coordinator for 5 years as a teacher.  I've never played volleyball, but I coached it. And not to brag, but I did all this stuff well. :) God has shown me favor in those assignments and I've gotten much joy out of them too. So... today.... at church service #2... after the call to obedience.... our worship leader  gets up and says that he and his family are going on a 6 week mission trip this summer. ( I knew that. ) But what he then says is that they have just found out that there is an opportunity for them to run a week long summer camp at the end of their project  and they need people that can just come to help with the summer camp. SERIOUSLY???? *WHACK!WHACK! WHACK!* That's the 2x4 doing some damage and God getting out the Bedazzler. :) The funny thing is.. I've stayed away from these trips- the 6 week ones are conversational english using the bible as the english book. Not really my kind of thing. So I've usually just discounted them right away.  But a summer camp as the culminating end to their 6 weeks of learning english.. never say never I guess. (i'm seeing a pattern. :) )

Because you mean to tell me... the same Sunday I am reminded about my call to missions and being obedient to the Lords calling, You're going to throw a summer camp at me?  Wow.  So certainly I'm going to put some pretty serious prayer time into this... and hope y'all will join me in this prayer. The trip is at the end of July. In Brazil. So I'll need to decide pretty quickly.

He's good. All the time.