Simple Obedience of Grace

And here is the little Angel!

Another Papi Adventure with the Beard kids!

The past 2 months were a total blessing, being with the Beard family in Honduras...planning & overseeing the construction of their home, building a pole barn, walking with grand-kids & just being another set of hands to do what ever is needed to live in the mountains of Honduras! Many people ask me if I enjoy going there & my response is always the same, “Yes, because my daughter & grand-babies live there.” Other than that, it is a very difficult country to live in. I know my “Kids” are called to live there so it is the best place to be … right in the middle of God’s will.  

Not actual picture of our tent but close!

I now also know what it means to be a tent dweller. Brooke and I lived in a tent for the month she was with me and then I bachelored it for a month. It was great! 14' x 10', queen size air mattress and chickens living next door. After the first night with 5 competing/crowing roosters the second night was much better ... 4 of the 5 ended up in the freezer ... if you know what I mean! ;-)

  A couple of things over the past couple months have caused me to once again asses my relationship with the Lord as it relates to ministry. One of the groups that came down to help was from our old church, CC Des Moines. One of the gals, Diana, blogged about her experience on her first short-term missions trip. She said she just wanted to be able to love on one person down there. This really struck a chord because that is what the Lord impressed upon me when I was preparing to go. He said, “Wayne, extend grace to everyone in every circumstance.” So I did & my son-in-law gave me a back-handed compliment the last week I was there. He said, “Thank you for being here to coordinate things the past couple of months. I really enjoy the new Wayne!”

  The “new Wayne”. What did he mean? Obviously I was not always the bearer of grace in the past. Pretty humbling but awesome at the same time. God told me to come to serve with grace & it is apparent that I was obedient in this simple but complex command. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2Tim 2:1

  Another missionary friend from Peru blogged about our attitude in serving as missionaries. Many times it is easy to be doing stuff & justifying ourselves because we are “doing good stuff for God.” So why am I doing what I am doing? Is it out of grace & gratitude for all He has done, for giving His Son, His life? Any motivation other than Jesus is dung!

  I am also preparing to teach Jeremiah this coming month at CC Bible College in Ensenada, Mexico. As I have been studying it hit me that God told Jeremiah that if he thought it was tough now in his ministry, wait until it gets worse because He promised Jeremiah he was only at the tip of the iceberg. So the cushy, trouble free, everything is beautiful, kumbiah Christianity so many look for really does not exist if we are willing to put ourselves in the hands of the Almighty. 

  So the morale of the story is zip it, love the Lord and serve!

Running with grace,

Wayne

PS
Here is a brief presentation of the "birth" of an adobe house over about 5 weeks.