Since I have been back from Africa my life has taken off and I have wanted to stand still. I have to be honest, even though I missed my family a great deal I really loved it there and miss the pace of life there. I miss how friendly everyone was and how simple life can be in the midst of poverty and dispare.
I have found myself being frustrated with little things and also being bored out of my mind with "nothing to do". That has me thinking though, God has given me the right amount of everything. He has given me the right amount of patience to deal with the frustrations in life, He has given me the right amount of children....because believe me if I had anymore I think I wouldn't have the right amount of hair! God gave me just enough to make me who I am and it works out all the way around for everything.
What I'm trying to say I guess is that I am truly amazed that God knew before we were born just what we needed. He knew the kinds of people we needed in our lives, the place where we live, the church that we go to....everything! How amazing is our Lord?!?!?!
I will live every day thanking my Lord and Savior for the right amount that He has given me. I hope you can do the same.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Slow gas pumps and God....what do they have in common???
Well I think I owe all an apology for not posting more often. Truth is I don't know how many people actually read this and what they think but I do know it makes me feel better to post or to write in general.
Speaking of writing, I kept a regular journal while I was in Africa and have kept up with it since I have been home. For those who don't know I had the awesome privilege to travel to Africa on a mission trip with 13 other Christ followers. It was truly amazing and the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I hope to share more later on some life changing events that happened there. All in all we saw 313 people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and countless seeds planted. It was awesome!
One thing I wrote recently in my journal was about how I believe that slow gas pumps are God's way of making you slow down. Let me explain....I woke up the other day just feeling like I was rushed all morning. I had one thing after another to do and one of those things was to fill up my van with gas. Not my favorite thing in the world to do. Well this particular morning I found the closest gas station because again I was in a hurry. I flung in there and got to the pump before anyone else could pull in. I got out, punched the codes in for my debit card and boom, I was pumping gas at 1 gallon per hour! No really I think I really found the slowest gas pump IN THE WORLD! I was so frustrated that I thought of actually stopping it 10 minutes in at 5 gallons. I sat in the car waiting and when I did I glanced down and saw my Bible.
I had left my Bible in there from service the day before. I never do that because I am always looking forward to my quiet time the next day. The quiet time I didn't have this particular morning. God was whispering "slow down Katrina". I couldn't slow down though...I had places I had to be, things I had to get done. I had to go go go! I set the Bible in the seat so I wouldn't forget it the next trip home. Well I got done pumping the gas and by this time the entire day was almost gone. I took off and headed down the road to the next thing I had to do. On my way I noticed that the fire truck and ambulance that passed by the gas station were stopped at the street where I needed to turn.
I'm sure you can put the story together here....you guessed it, there was a bad bad wreck between a van and a truck and a semi. My heart sank and I looked at the seat next to me where my Bible sat and I thanked God for that slow gas pump he drove me to that morning. God's timing is so perfect that we can't even begin to comprehend the plans he has for us. Every detail is so fine and worked out like the slow gas pump.
I'm writing this to encourage you that the next time you are in such a hurry that you forget to spend time with the one that matters the most, Our Lord, just stop. Stop and slow down. Nothing is more important than living life slow enough that you can live it to the fullest. This is a lesson I also learned in Zambia, Africa. The pace of life is so much slower in some ways than our life here. My prayers for myself as well as the rest of our world is that we take the time to not only smell the flowers but to appreciate the beauty of the flowers and who made them.
That's all I have for now....more to come!
Speaking of writing, I kept a regular journal while I was in Africa and have kept up with it since I have been home. For those who don't know I had the awesome privilege to travel to Africa on a mission trip with 13 other Christ followers. It was truly amazing and the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I hope to share more later on some life changing events that happened there. All in all we saw 313 people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and countless seeds planted. It was awesome!
One thing I wrote recently in my journal was about how I believe that slow gas pumps are God's way of making you slow down. Let me explain....I woke up the other day just feeling like I was rushed all morning. I had one thing after another to do and one of those things was to fill up my van with gas. Not my favorite thing in the world to do. Well this particular morning I found the closest gas station because again I was in a hurry. I flung in there and got to the pump before anyone else could pull in. I got out, punched the codes in for my debit card and boom, I was pumping gas at 1 gallon per hour! No really I think I really found the slowest gas pump IN THE WORLD! I was so frustrated that I thought of actually stopping it 10 minutes in at 5 gallons. I sat in the car waiting and when I did I glanced down and saw my Bible.
I had left my Bible in there from service the day before. I never do that because I am always looking forward to my quiet time the next day. The quiet time I didn't have this particular morning. God was whispering "slow down Katrina". I couldn't slow down though...I had places I had to be, things I had to get done. I had to go go go! I set the Bible in the seat so I wouldn't forget it the next trip home. Well I got done pumping the gas and by this time the entire day was almost gone. I took off and headed down the road to the next thing I had to do. On my way I noticed that the fire truck and ambulance that passed by the gas station were stopped at the street where I needed to turn.
I'm sure you can put the story together here....you guessed it, there was a bad bad wreck between a van and a truck and a semi. My heart sank and I looked at the seat next to me where my Bible sat and I thanked God for that slow gas pump he drove me to that morning. God's timing is so perfect that we can't even begin to comprehend the plans he has for us. Every detail is so fine and worked out like the slow gas pump.
I'm writing this to encourage you that the next time you are in such a hurry that you forget to spend time with the one that matters the most, Our Lord, just stop. Stop and slow down. Nothing is more important than living life slow enough that you can live it to the fullest. This is a lesson I also learned in Zambia, Africa. The pace of life is so much slower in some ways than our life here. My prayers for myself as well as the rest of our world is that we take the time to not only smell the flowers but to appreciate the beauty of the flowers and who made them.
That's all I have for now....more to come!
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