2023 Spring MLO - Blog 1

 

March 2023 Blog
Check in My Spirit

It’s March 9 and I’m sitting in my home office in Texas, instead of flying over the pond to join my brothers and sisters in Croatia. I was to leave on Tuesday March 7 for Croatia. This is the time of year for our spring Mission Learning Opportunity (MiLO), but due to family circumstances and other personal and physical issues surrounding me, I had a check in my spirit as to whether to stay at home or travel overseas.
 
In the 17 years that I have been going to Croatia, I have never felt a hesitation, or had a check in my spirit like I did this time. I knew it was important for me to spend time with the Lord, asking him for a discerning heart, so that I could discern what His desire was and why I had this question in my spirit. This past weekend I was invited to speak at a men’s retreat for WoodsEdge Church from the Woodlands. They were having their retreat at Camp Cho-Yeh in Livingston, and it was a blessing to join these 160 men and pour into them in four sessions over the three days; about what was Entrusted to us to share with others. Our content was taken from 2 Timothy 2:2. While I was driving home, and spending time in quiet with the Lord, His will was revealed and it became very clear to me what I should do; that I should remain stateside. It was not soon after I returned home that I got several confirmations, solidifying my reasons for staying.
 
There is no doubt, that my heart yearns to return to Croatia, and be with my brothers and sisters there, but staying home to be with my family, was where I needed to be. It was such a blessing to have the peace come over me in such a way that I knew it was God‘s desire was for me to stay home. I could go into all the reasons, but that’s not necessary. What is important is that God gave me the check in my spirit, the lack of peace, for me to look deeper into my responsibilities as a husband, a father and a brother. One of my favorite authors is CT Studd, a missionary in the late 1800s to China and Africa. One of his quotes that has always been elevated to me as a missionary is, “in order for your light to shine the brightest, it needs to shine the brightest at home!”
 
As I was speaking to these 160 men this weekend and telling them about the importance of discipling and the responsibility, as well as the opportunity, we must share the gospel; the gospel that has been entrusted to us and we are to find others to entrust it too. In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul tells Timothy that he has been entrusted with the gospel that he needs to entrust to others who will then share it forward. Throughout the entire weekend of speaking on discipleship and quoting that from CT Studd on Saturday night, I began to see a picture of what that discipleship looked like in Croatia. On Sunday morning after speaking to the group, and the group coming around me to pray for my travels and opportunity to share the good news in Croatia, I felt God telling me to hear my own words and on the way home back from Livingston, He revealed that my place was at home: to shine my light bright to my wife, so that she knew she was God’s gift that I loved, cherished, and to provide for.  
 
My precious bride lost her mom two weeks ago and it has been a whirlwind of activity since with closing down an apartment her parents lived in, to getting her 94-year-old father into an assisted living situation, she has been going 90 miles an hour, back and forth to El Campo, where they live. I needed to be here for her and help support her mentally and emotionally as all this is taking place. I didn’t need to be 6,000 miles away when she finally has the window to grieve and doesn’t have the support of her husband. This situation along with my hip replacement still giving me trouble and a back and knee that aren’t in the greatest of conditions, as well as several other situations, all gave me the uneasiness in my heart and non-peaceful spirit about going. Getting home, I shared my decision with my bride; her eyes immediately welled up and she thanked me for staying home at this time. Since that day, I have had confirmation after confirmation, that staying home was the right decision.
 
Through this discernment process, God placed on my heart the understanding that for 17 years discipleship had been occurring in Sisak Croatia, and that I could trust those on the ground there to carry on the responsibilities and opportunities of sharing and providing for those who will be attending the events going on in around HiS House. God is so good and I am so thankful for His provision and protection as we spend the time discerning His plan and purpose. Remaining vertically focused, digging into His word, praying for His will to be done and pausing before Him, will allow us all to see His path become illuminated. Proverbs 8:32-36 says:

³² “Now then, my children, listen to me;
    blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³ Listen to my instruction and be wise;
    do not disregard it.
³⁴ Blessed are those who listen to me,
    watching daily at my doors,
    waiting at my doorway.
³⁵ For those who find me find life
    and receive favor from the Lord.
³⁶ But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
    all who hate me love death.”
 
May we all watch at God’s doorway and wait for Him! Listen and keep His ways; those that do are wise and will find life and favor from the Lord!

I will be sharing in a few days what is happening overseas, even while we are still here stateside as well as some opportunities that God placed in my pathway to share with others in Texas and raise awareness about HiS Print.

Tare care and remember Jesus loves you and so do I!  Have a wonderful God filled week.
HE DID IT!
David