Summer 2023 MiLO - Blog 7

 

Summer 2023 MiLO - Blog 7 God's Vision I’m back! It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog and now I’m going to try and fit in all that’s happened, as well as what God has shown me over these past 10 days. My precious bride joined me on June 18th and we have been busy with carnival preparations and she has been busy baking cookies for the library, carnival and camp. She actually had two local friends, Martina and Barbara, come out and spend a great time baking, talking and laughing. It was so awesome to see their mutual respect for one another and love grow through spending that time together.

left to right:  Debbie, Martina and Barbara baking away.

Debbie and I also took inventory of what we have in stock for carnival prizes and then counted and sorted for this year's carnival, this Saturday evening at 6:00pm. It has been a lot of work, but the weather has been fantastic and it is so awesome having my bride by my side. The rest of the team starts showing up today and Friday and although we are small in number, we are ready to share Christ’s love through the events planned ahead: carnival, camps, library programs and food pantry.

Carnival prep, building games

These past 10 days Debbie and I have had the most precious time with those we have built relationships with over the years. We have taken small trips together, ate dinner and sat and visited with no rush of having to be somewhere or get to the next event. It has been such a blessing and a refreshing time of deepening those relationships. When Debbie arrived on Sunday, we immediately went to Neven and Maja’s for dinner. Elvis and his wife Nella joined us and we had a beautiful time of catching up and reminiscing over the past. Neven and Elvis are both former Sisak Storks and I met them on my first visit to Croatia back in 2006. Great friends, wonderful food and overall blessed time.

left: Dinner with Neven, Elvis and their brides right: Debbie with Maja, Vikki and Lucas

On Monday we got up and headed to the coast for a few days together, relaxing and recharging before the crazy busyness ensued with the mission. We headed to the coastal port town of Rijeka where Nedo and his family live. Nedo lived with us on three separate occasions over the past five years and has become a part of our family. He is now married to his beautiful bride Ivana and they have a son, David. David is not quite two and this was the first time for us to meet either of them. Blessed time together in their home and a beautiful time together eating at a local restaurant overlooking the harbor. Wish we could have spent more time with them; God blessed us with an addition to our family.

top: Ivana, me, Debbie, Nedo, David bottom left: Nedo's family home in Rijeka bottom right: lunch at a restaurant overlooking the harbor of Rijeka

We headed further south to our final destination later that evening. I know it’s no coincidence that God brought my bride and me to Pag Island...

Overlooking Page City on the island of Pag

... and situated us in the hills above the city with a beautiful view of the Adriatic Sea.

From our front patio

He removed the noises of busyness; there are no cars that drove by and directly behind our villa is all nature.

Back of villa looking into nature. (No, that is not a painting!)

Then He decides to teach me the importance of Surrender, Submit and Selah. As I’m reading, meditating and pausing before the Lord, I begin to feel the “Be still and know I am God”, the psalmist talks about in Psalm 46, specifically verse 10. In my pauses I see Him and feel His calmness envelop me. He does this with word pictures I have seen when I have read scripture and now sit amongst them. Although I haven’t traveled to Israel and walked where Jesus walked, He came alive through the visuals He gave me here these past several days.

Sunrise over the city of Pag

From sunrises every morning that awoke nature around me and shouted of His majesty. Every morning watching the sun come up over the mountains, reminded me that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, as well as the hills those cattle are on, “For every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.” Psalm 50:10-11

left:  Cross on the hill right: God owns the thousand hills

As I sat out on our front patio of our villa having my Rapa with Papa quiet time, I was truly visualizing what it meant to totally and fully trust in Him in all things.

Bible study every morning over looking the city

He had me meditating on those words of what it meant to surrender and to submit.  God didn’t  stop there, He just piles on the word images through nature and creation all around me. As I looked around and observed what was around me I saw the fig trees flourishing with fruit and ready for eating and getting nourishment from them. I was then reminded of Jesus and the fig tree that had no fruit.  He cursed it and it withered from the roots. Mark 11:12-26 reminds us we need to produce fruit and be productive with our lives. We are left here as followers of Jesus to produce fruit.

Figs ripening on the tree. We also need to produce fruit.

And while in that pause, being still and knowing that He is God, I was overwhelmed by the beauty and bounty of all the olive trees around me. My mind took me to the mount of olives and sitting with Jesus and His disciples.

2000 year-old olive tree grove

God is all around us and if we stop and pause, taking time to stop, observe and listen, we will see Him come alive all around us in remarkable and distinct ways. Then when you think you’ve seen it all, God uses your sense of hearing to remind you that He will leave the 99 to come searching for the 1.

I am simply in awe of God’s fullness and want to share with all He brings across my path. Sorry for the length, but hope you got a small glimpse of where God has taken us and the relationships deepened with others as well as with Him. Remember Jesus loves you and so do I! HE DID IT! Mossman