Skip to main content

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Sunday, June 25, 2017

The very first thing I hear out of the mouth of my little girl is, “Daddy, I don’t want you to leave us.” I immediately began to question why I decided to go to Chicago. There are plenty of other people going on the trip, why did I have to sign up to tag along. In that moment, when she brought me almost to the point of tears, I realized that she doesn’t understand the mission that God has given me as a believer.

Over the next few minutes I began to explain to her how there are many people who don’t get to hear about Jesus. They don’t have parents that pray with them. They don’t have anyone to read the Bible to them. I told her that because Jesus loves me, he sent someone to share the gospel with me. I then told her that God was sending her daddy to tell people about Jesus.

At that point, crisis was avoided. I no longer had the urge to fight back tears of sadness, but I did still have an anxiety about the trip. As we loaded the car to head to church I tapped my foot anxiously. Jessica picked up on this immediately and questioned if I was nervous. Being the strong man that I am, I of course said, “No, I’m fine, everything’s good.”

Little did I know that we would get to hear the great commission preached from Dr. Wade and then have the opportunity to see 2 families be sent out by the church for overseas missions. It was so encouraging to see the command of Jesus stated simply as, “Go” and to also rest in the fact that, “I will be with you, even until the end of the age.” I left church no longer anxious, but now excited.

Driving to the airport I couldn’t help but think back to Corey Smith’s sermon and his Stonewall Jackson quote. It went something like this, “My religion teaches me that I should be as comfortable in war as I am in my own bed.” I just love that! As I’m thinking about all the things that could happen while I am away from my family the only thing that I can know for certain is that my Father is good.

The flight was quick and easy. We landed without any problems and then walked out of O’Hare and into the heart of Chicago. I quickly realized that this place was much bigger than I had initially thought. We spent the remainder of the day walking through the city getting familiar with some of the places that we would spend our time over the next few days.


I’m excited to watch God work and humbled that I will have the opportunity to share in the mission of his kingdom. 

Blessings,
Labels:
Location: 800 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605, USA

Comments

  1. PerryJune 26, 2017 at 8:14 PM

    This is great man! I will be praying for you. I have learned that the more I share the hope I have in Christ, the more comfortable it gets. Just remember, your job is to sow the seeds. Don't be discouraged by rejection.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tony StracenerJune 27, 2017 at 6:15 AM

    Go in Jesus name.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday, June 26, 2017

Monday, June 26, 2017 Monday started at about 10:30 AM. We caught a train and rode over to a local technical college where we met up with some members from the church of the Beloved here in Chicago. We heard testimonies from two Chinese students who had recently come to know the Lord and who were now actively sharing their faith with others. We had planned on staying around the college throughout the day, but for whatever reason there just wasn’t anyone around. We jumped back on the trains and rode back into central Chicago. On the train I decided to read Luke. Luke 1:16-17 really stood out to me: 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. It was a comforting passage in an anxious moment. We were about to step out into a city tha...
1 comment
Read more

Final Day

The Final Day Saturday, July 1 st was our final full day in Chicago. We had no real plans other than helping with an international church service late in the afternoon. After a long week, the opportunity to sleep in sounded very nice. At about 8:30 AM most of our team members were up and ready to go. Pete’s coffee had become a regular spot for me in the mornings. If I’ve learned one thing over the last few years it’s how important it is to show your face in the same place in order to build relationships with the people. I noticed that even though I had only been coming in for a few days, the workers now greeted me with a much more friendly smile. Pete’s was about a 2 block walk from our hotel. As I turned out of the door I noticed I had a missed call from an old friend. It was the perfect day for us to reconnect. I didn’t have anything planned until later in the afternoon and so I immediately called to see if we could get together. I had absolutely no clue the meeting th...
Post a Comment
Read more