Faithful God

Yesterday I was the substitute teacher for Grade 4 English, Math, and (unexpectedly) Science. It was so fun to teach again! But I spent half the day getting the kids to be quiet! They do not yet have the rules: Treat others like you want to be treated, Stop, Look, and Listen to the person who is speaking, or even Raise your hand to speak! I sent one kid out into the hallway twice for talking!! Lord, give me patience! (Did I really just pray that? The sermon tomorrow is called "The Patience Test." Uh-oh!)

I washed clothes yesterday for the first time. Mom, Dad and family, you know the washer that is in Walola? That is the NEW version here! The washer only has a bucket side with a MILD agitator. The "dryer" is a basket that spins for 5 minutes max! Your clothes come out completely wrinkled and still wet. :-) So, I tried washing my clothes in the shower. They now have a touch of the sweet aroma of mildew because they never dried due to the 100% humidity! And of course, they are wrinkled too! Such is life!

This morning I woke up feeling spiritually attacked. My back and neck were hurting for the first time since I left America. I put in my iPod and worshipped/sang for a few hours until the pain was gone. My right hip is still bothering me a little bit, but my neck is fine now. I am believing for complete healing.

Tonight, I spoke to the youth. It was AWESOME! The EXACT things I prayed this morning would happen came to pass! God is so faithful! I talked about how God is my best friend and a best friend is worth doing anything for. I shared how I have left everything I love because my friendship with God is worth it. I challenged the people to ask God where they are at in their friendship with Him. I challenged them to open and honest before Him. Then we worshipped for an hour and the presence of God overwhelmed the people and me. It was soo good! I would rather be in the presence/goodness of God than anywhere else.

God is so faithful. I am missing my friends, my fellow worshippers so much. But the tears are just being sown here to raise up worshippers here. God sees my tears and catches every single one. It's strange- the tears are not necessarily about being lonely, because I do not at all feel lonely. But they are more because the friends have been a comfort for so many years. My friends have helped usher in the presence of God. I miss that. I am truly learning the message I spoke tonight: God is my best friend. The others are just icing on the cake. So here I am, in a foreign country, learning the friendship of God to the core. I wouldn't have it any other way because any other way would be less than what God wants for me in this season of life. And I only want His best.