Look At The Opportunities...Not Disappointments

Another lesson I'm learning as we move forward in our journey with God... is to look through circumstances that could be disappointing at first glance to the opportunities that God is presenting through things that don't go as we planned.

Saturday (11/3), we had invited Seth's soccer team over for an end-of-season party.  Through previous r.s.v.p.'s we were expecting about 6 families to join us for pizza, games, and fun.  Even though we were to begin at 11:30a., by 11:45a., our family was alone in our house with $50 worth of pizza.  My physical body was playing with the kids in the backyard while while my mind and spirit were wrestling with God about how to handle my disappointment about how the day seemed to be turning out.

Soon the doorbell rang and a family we really enjoy showed up (picture right).  The mom communicated how much their son (the boy on Seth's team) had been looking forward to this day.  Our two families had a wonderful time getting to know each other better, swapping kid stories, watching the OSU game, eating pizza, and playing with our kids.  It really was a pleasant afternoon.

Most importantly, Trish had a good connection with Dianna and I was able to talk with Goran about our work and how we believe the Bible to be true, Jesus to be Lord, and what it means to be a "Jesus-follower".  

We're here to plant a church.  We need to find people.  We're getting involved in the community and doing things like hosting parties to try and move our ministry forward.  It would have been easy (especially before anyone had shown up) to view the day as less than what we had hoped.  BUT, God has His own plan.  He brought out exactly who He intended.  And, to His glory, I believe we looked through the disappointing turn out to the opportunity that was there- connecting with and loving this one family.

I'm celebrating this small milestone because I believe this is an important lesson God has been trying to teach us.  To get where He wants us to go... I know we need to trust Him in everything (even when things don't work out like we planned) and be faithful in the opportunities He DOES bring.

Please pray with us that we'd learn what God wants us to learn and be found wise and faithful in whatever circumstances God brings our way.