"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us"

     I will be leaving for Switzerland in 9 days; hard to believe.  I knew that there would be a lot of details to take care of before my departure but it seems the more I check off of my list of things to do, the more the tasks on the list seem to multiply.  Just as I take care of one major detail, rather than being settled, the more complicated it seems to become.  So in all it has been a huge learning experience.   I have never traveled out of the country before and so tasks such as purchasing train tickets online can become quite confusing.  Yet even as I stumble through these tasks I am trying to absorb every piece of advice I can gather; gleaning as much information as possible.  I know that I have so much to learn and the lessons are just beginning.  As my departure date quickly approaches I am struck with the enormity of the call God has placed before me.  I have come to an even greater understanding of what it will mean to have God’s power be made perfect through my weakness.  In and of myself I am completely unequipped for such a task as the one God has given me.  Yet that is just it, I am weak but God’s power is perfect in my weakness.  This is just one example of a paradox found in the Christian life.  As I fumble through all that must be done in the next 11 days, I am reminded that I am not alone.  I am so excited about all that God has in store for me yet there is still so much that I am unsure of.  But this is faith; the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.  I know that God has called me; I am thrilled that He has finally opened the door and beckoned to me saying, “This is the way now walk in it”.  God is continually leading me into a state of awe.  I am overwhelmed by the magnitude of what He has asked of me and yet so at peace in the understanding that He is in control.  He is so faithful.

            During the first few months of support raising I was so exuberant about the good work that God was doing and overwhelmed by His faithfulness as support came flooding in.  Then in the past month and a half though I was still excited I was also becoming overwhelmed with making preparations to leave.  My prayer became a request for God to remove any and all stress over travel details and that instead He would fill me with joy and complete peace.  As I began to sense that God was indeed answering that prayer, I began to petition Him yet again.  This time along with my prayer for peace I prayed that God would give me a renewal of vision or a restating of the call He has placed on my life; a refreshed understanding of His will for my life.  I don’t know why this was such a great desire of mine, I guess it went along with desiring to have a sense of peace in my departure.  I wanted something, a word, to hang on to and to have as a reminder when things got tough.  So during the Christmas Eve service at Restoration church, during communion I was praying towards this end yet again.  As I prayed I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit in a sweet way.  I asked that he would answer my prayer and give me a word but at that point I had to go stand in line for communion.  When I got back to my seat I was disappointed because I felt that I had missed my opportunity to hear God; as if God’s timing or desires could actually be interrupted by me.  Then as I bowed my head yet again in prayer, He spoke.  He simply said, “love people for me Bethany”.  That was it; He called me by name and spoke that simple word.  Yet even as the sweetness of His words poured over me I realized the depth and seriousness of it.  In order to walk in obedience to this word, this call, I am required to lay down my life, to give of myself.  Still there are not words to describe how sweet it is when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords whispers your name and simply asks you to love.  I was comforted beyond measure.  In those five words God was reassuring me.  No matter how big a task he places before me, no matter where in the world He takes me, no matter how many complications may arise or how many details threaten to overwhelm me, God is God.  He loves me so dearly, He knows me by name, and at the heart of His call on my life is His call simply to love; to give of myself in the same way that He gave of himself for me.  God has called me to love people; He has called me to a specific time and a specific place to love people for Jesus. 



            In 9 days I will be heading off to Wiler Switzerland.  I have no idea what God has in store for me there but I do know that while I am there I am to love people, whatever people God brings my way.  God has called me in this way to lay down my life.  And I am going to Wiler to learn more about what it means to love well, I will be learning how to best love the people God has placed on my heart; victims of human trafficking.  I may not know how to love these people well on my own accord but by God’s grace, I pray that He will be able to love them well through me.  I know that the journey God is taking me on will not be easy but I do know that His power will be made perfect in my weakness.  And in my obedience to His word I trust that I will bring Him glory and joy and in turn His glory and joy will bring me joy.  Thus my prayers have been answered.