Quiet yet louder

I Corinthians 13:1

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Have you ever noticed how loud the world is?  How loud it has to be to attempt to drown out the saving message of Jesus Christ?

Today as we prepared to worship with the children of Phnom Phen  - just as the children began leading us - the power went out.  

This is not unusual except that as our 'powered noise' went out - a low loud drone of meaningless words could be heard above our straining teachers.

We soon found out it was the sound of a very dark Buddhist teacher proclaiming the false teachings these desperate people follow.  A competing sound perhaps  orchestrated by the evil one.  A sadness fills my soul as I hear empty words and promises that these people spend their entire lives following - longing to find what their soul searches for.

Right now in our church service the offering is being passed - as tiny hands drop their only coins into the offering bag - I think of the widows last mite and again ask my Savior for forgiveness from my greedy American mindset in which I falsely live as if 'it's' mine all mine.  Just as I'm searching my own heart the children fill the quiet room with spontaneous acoustic praises and I praise Him for all he has done.  Their voices drown out the enemies and i worship Him and thank him for opening their eyes and saving their very lives.

I am surrounded as I sit here by conflicting things - Buddhism's' voices - roosters crowing - orphans coins - tiny singing voices - flowing tears - stifling heat and can hardly contain my worship of my Savior.  

As we prepare to move on I will always remember our time here and can only imagine what waits for us next.  

Our team prays for opportunities to serve while here and again have probably falsely assumed that we are here to bless them  ... It is the opposite - it is we who leave blessed!!

moving on

Have you ever noticed you aren't nostalgic or attached to something until it's gone?  That's how I feel about my childhood home right now.

My parents move out of their home of over 40 years into a beautiful condo tomorrow.  We'll be leaving early in the morning to go help them.

I'll see my childhood bedroom that I shared with my sister for the last time.  The memories that room holds are many...

- lot's of arguments with my sister
-trying on of a million outfits trying to decide what to wear in highschool
-crawling out the window to lay in the sun on the roof
-changing the furniture configuration around hundred's of times
-yelling at my brothers to shut-up across the hallway
-whispering about the boys at school
-hiding 'rock-n-roll' music from my very conservative parents
-sketching the birds that sat outside my window
-a feeling of safety in that room
-listening to radio long into the night - especially the New Year's Eve song countdown
-we got many, many parent kisses and love-yous in that room
-countless prayers were spoken there

All the years of memories remembered perhaps for one last time tomorrow as we say goodbye to our bedroom.

Now it's time for moving on.

My parents have blessed us by moving now while they are fully healthy and still capable of caring for themselves.  They have purged a lot of what they owned - selling it and giving a lot away.  This is a gift to us.  It protects us from having to sort through everything and try to manage emptying a full house of things while trying to manage our own busy lives someday.

 I thanked them for moving now - and I am so thankful that they will be living in a place that is conveniently located close
to all the things they love so much in their home town...

Their church...
Their friends...
The highschool sports fields...
The school where my mom volunteers...
 And the barbershop where my dad at 84 still works...

Moving on can be good - and smart - and a blessing to others and I look forward to our families' next chapter with never ending gratitude toward our precious Lord!