Aligning Ambition

& A Short Spring Update

Our best laid plans have very little bearing when it comes to the Lord’s leading.

Back in April, we spontaneously went to the Eastern North America Leaders conference for Youth with a Mission. Our intent was pure and simple, network with campuses to inform leaders of our upcoming plans to both teach and serve in the field of cooking, nationwide and world wide.

We arrived the day before, grabbed our name tags and proceeded to have our plans and priorities beautifully rearranged and shifted. Our plans to get the word out, quickly turned into a self evaluation of trust, purpose, calling, and under who’s authority these subjects hinged on. Was it ours? Or God’s?

Truthfully, my heart was in the right place, so was Angelina’s. What we discovered was a misalignment with our thought process.

See, we live in a world that takes immense pride in successful self-ambition. You’re touted as a true visionary, a person who makes their dreams a reality. And if we’re being honest, we desire others to see our accomplishments in this way. I don’t think this desire fully disappears when you go into missions, but who we seek admiration from changes. I can’t be the only one wants to “impress” God, as silly as that sounds. However, in our efforts to show God our “worthiness”  it is so easy to become selfishly ambitious. We tell God what our role is in His kingdom instead of God telling us His design for our lives within His kingdom’s framework. I’m not saying He’ll give you your next 10 years on a brilliant white scroll, what I am saying is that instead of telling God your plans, relying on yourself to get from point A to B, rely on Him to give you the where, when, and how.

I find that the where and when is easy, but the how, is a lot harder. In reality, and in my personal life many times, God does not give us the how, at least not right away, so that we can practice building our trust and faith in Him. So often we can find ourselves distracted by the “how” that we loose sight of the journey and get fixated on how we can get ourselves to the “where” at the right time. If the Lord says He wants us in a certain place at a certain time and we say “okay” do we then figure the Lord isn’t going to make a way? Sometimes the journey is just as important as the destination.

Im happy to report that our family’s calling, both to Japan and beyond, through prayer and intercession, is still very much in step with the Lords will for our lives. What God was teaching us in this season was that, though our path is going to take us all around the world, we need to trust that if we say yes to God’s leading, He’s not going to forsake us, He’ll get us where we need to be.

Short Spring Update:

This spring we not only hosted our first Mission Adventures camp of the season but also around 50 people for the total eclipse on April 8th. The bus remodel is still underway and our preparations for Japan are in full swing. Though the spring is usually rather uneventful, we’ve kept ourselves busy preparing for what’s to come…

So what’s next?

MORE MISSION ADVENTURES!

Every week, starting mid June, is booked. We will have students the whole summer through, praise God! This first go around with College Heights from Joplin was incredibly encouraging. In the past we’ve offered a variety of foods you might find from around the world to encourage them to branch out of their comfort zones and try new things. Unfortunately in the past, we’ve had many people pass on food that was unfamiliar. Angelina and I have since reworked the menu to be both diverse and inviting, things such as Japanese Chicken Curry and Hawaiian Loco Moco instead of dishes like Indian Saag

Paneer which, though delicious, isn’t necessarily an easy thing for a young, land-locked teen to accept on appearance alone. We are happy to report that almost all of the 35 students from College Heights not only tried every meal, but cleared their plates, sometimes multiple times. That said, we are excited to see how receptive the next group of schools are to our new and aesthetically improved menu.    

Ways you can pray in this coming season:

Energy- Angelina and I have been fighting allergies or exhaustion (or some combo of both) for well over two weeks. We’re looking forward to some relief.

Surgery- I will be headed into surgery to get my tonsils removed May 23. Healing can take up to two weeks and the process isn’t easy on adults. Pray for a speedy recovery without complications.