My Father

Well the time has come! By the time most of you read this I will be in the air, or in an airport, or in Australia (depending on when you are reading it!)

I have been thinking a lot about this ministry time and what it will be like. Recently, we finished up a sermon series at church which gave me a lot of perspective. The series was all out of Luke 15 dealing with the story we call "The Prodigal Son". The final sermon was about the father.

In the course of the sermon the pastor told the following story about his family. He needed to build a woodshed in his back yard and he invited his sons to help him. They worked all day and progressed on the woodshed. That night as he was tucking his sons into bed, his four-year-old said, "Daddy, wasn't I such a good helper today!" to which the father replied, "You sure were." As he left his boys room he chuckled to himself thinking how sweet it was that his boy thought he had asked him to help because he needed his particular expertise in woodshed building, when really all he wanted was his boy to be present with him.

This simple story has totally changed the way I've been thinking about this ministry time in Australia. I was thinking that God wanted me to go because of my particular skill and ability in ministry, when really the whole thing goes back to God wanting me. All of me. He wants me to be with him and in a relationship with him. He could save the whole world with a word (and sometimes I wish he would) but instead he invites us to join him. He wants us to be with him that much.

So, with this change of heart and mind I am going to be with God, to do the work he's doing and to find him where he wants to be found. I pray each of you will be doing the same.

Thank you is not enough, to express my gratitude to all of the people who have made this trip possible. I would list you all by name, but then this would be the longest post ever. Needless to say God works through his people and all of you are already a part of the work God is going to do in the next 10 months.

I'll do my best to be on here often, updating all of you and putting up pictures and stories!

See you all on the other side of this journey,

Shannon