No plans, No agenda, No expectations. Here I am God, use me

Does your flashlight show you the monster?

Or does it show you the joy?

This morning, the moment  I woke, I began thanking God for so many things that He has provided for me. I was naming everything from a warm house, to the way my family loves, to the many, many blessings that God has provided for me and for His love. This went on and on and on and on. My wife finally said “It sounds like heaven on earth” and she was right. I feel that I'm blessed beyond belief.

In my life, I really try to have an “attitude of gratitude”. I’m convinced that attitude is everything in life.

Imagine this, you walk into a dark room and there are all types of things in this room (good, bad, ugly, interesting, obnoxious, exhilarating, and even pure love…). You have a flashlight and you get to light up a small part of that room. You get to chose where you shine that light, you can focus on the junk in life, the struggles or the pain. Or you can purposefully focus that light on the good. You get to decide. 

As I woke and continued to thank my God for all that He has provided, my mind moved to the final prep work for my trip to Colima, Mexico. I could move my flashlight (in my mind) to the potential dangers that could lay ahead (plane crash, customs problems, drug cartel, dangers in traveling, where I will stay, what I will do....) OR I could focus it on my friends and the joy that lay ahead. I had one bag packed that weighed 49 lbs (the max allowed). It contained saws, heat gun, electric staple gun and loose tools for my friends at the orphanage that I will fly to today (these tools were donations from my generous friends in the US). 

Now, I must quit naming my blessings, get up, and pack that second bag! 

My trip is planned

2013 was my first trip to what I call “Real Mexico” not “Tourist Mexico”. My church organized a missions trip to an orphanage and the moment I heard about it, I WAS IN! God had been softening my heart toward the Mexican people for years. I use to have a “better than you” attitude of thinking like, “if you’re in the United States, you need to learn English”, “Mexicans that enter this country illegally are taking our jobs and using the system”. Oh, I was so narrow minded and unloving. Thank you God for teaching me that we are all the same and we ALL should love and accept each other. 99.99% of foreigners that are in the USA are just trying to improve their lives and often times the lives of their loved ones back home. 

Off to "Real Mexico"

Well since that first trip, I’ve felt the tug from God to go each year. At first it was for a week each year with my church group, then it grew to two weeks a year as the church would lead two groups. Then it grew even more! This will be the third year that I’ve spend the month of February at the orphanage in Colima. At this point I spend over 10% of the year there (6 weeks out of 52!). Each year that I come, I’m not quite sure what I will be doing. But each year I show up with no plans, no agenda, no expectations and say “Here I am Lord, use me”.  

As you continue to read my future blog posts, I think you'll get a better idea as to why I feel that God has called me to Mexico and how He is changing me and my priorities in life. 

Here I am God, use me

Until then, here are my prayer requests (if you feel so inclined to align your heart with mine and raise them up to the Maker of the Universe): 

• That I’m open to see what God is doing and to be used by Him in reaching people.  
• Safety as I travel (even though I’m already here, God is greater than time. He can and does provide safety yesterday, today and tomorrow). 
• Safety for my wife while I’m away. 
• That I can remember the names of the kids (& adults) and make them feel special and remembered. 

Here is a video of one of the early trips to Mexico with the CenterPoint Church Team:

Second trip to Mexico video