Amazing People

I am so blessed in the people I know. This includes the German campers, and their families! Our campers come from a variety of backgrounds and situations, but I have met some truly amazing, godly families.

On Sunday, my coworker Norm (who is a retired lawyer from California and oversees follow-up for our English Camps) and I went to a town about 20 minutes away to go to church with and have lunch with a family who had two teens at English Camp this summer. Mandes and Malindi were both a joy to have as campers this summer.

Their dad is the pastor of their church. Normally, the church meets in a large room in their house. However, in August a fire damaged that room, as well as the children's bedrooms. Just this weekend, the four children were able to move back into their bedrooms (which they were very thankful to be able to do:). The church meeting room is still being repaired.

I was so impressed with this family! The parents met while serving as missionaries in Kenya. The family's love for God and for each other was clearly evident. I was encouraged by my afternoon with them, and I hope it is not the last I spend with them!

Some of you might be thinking "Kari, these campers are only 20 minutes away - why haven't you visited them before?" Because I don't have a car. And the bus and train connections between here and there are tricky/not frequent/indirect/etc. BUT GOOD NEWS! My co-worker Katherine leaves in December for a year-long HMA (Home Ministry Assignment = furlough) and is so graciously and generously giving me her car! Words cannot adequately express how thankful I am to her and for her (and not just because she is giving me her car.:) So now I will be able to be able to get outside of Kandern easier and more frequently, and do things such as visit these campers. YAY!

Grace. Faith. Weariness.

The past few months have been intense. A busy summer of English Camp was followed by much processing. God has been stirring up a lot of things in my life in a lot of different areas. I guess you could say that He has been showing me more of who I am and who He created me to be and how He wants to use me. Then throw in four intense weeks of language study, with everything that that experience entailed. Plus I am starting to make some decisions regarding the future.

To be completely honest, all of this leaves me feeling weary at times. But I realize that there is only One who can give true rest and joy and peace.

I am contemplating what grace truly is and how truly believing in it affects how I life my life. Which has then also gotten me thinking about faith. Here are some verses that have challenged and encouraged me and ignited some more thinking:

"Meine Gnade ist alles, was du brauchst." 2 Corinthians 12:9 I like this in German because it is so simple and straightforward: "My grace is all that you need."

"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." Galatians 2:21

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

a mangled myriad of thoughts on my mind

My mind and heart are full. In ways that are hard to put into words. But God is slowly beginning to focus the picture. Through the fuzziness and confusion, He is beginning to point, lead, and guide. In ways that make His fingerprints over my entire life evident. How good He is! How sweet it is to see and rest in His goodness in the midst of uncertainty. May I continue to do the hard work of seeking Him. How easy it is to say that I will surrender all of me, but how difficult it is to actually do.