 |
| LaManga, Mexico, a small fishing village with many friend of mine. |
On January 27th I left my home in Washington to begin my third trip to Mexico and an adventure with God. Often when there is a call on our life there is a price and a cross, sometimes daily. When we decide to follow Jesus and make Him the first he may requires us to leave everything. Even our hopes and dreams. Jesus Christ is my only goal, destiny, and inheritance, and I will follow and obey Him alone.
This last month I left my ex-wife, Roberta. This was a vary hard thing to do. However, we left under the very best of terms, and we both still love each other, very much. Roberta is still helping me with getting my renewed driver license that would expire in a few months and tags for June for my van, mail to Nogales, Az. where I am waiting to cross the border into Mexico. This will help me avoid future problems there. She was also planning on sending me some of her great homemade fudge and a pair of jeans I forgot. I will miss her very much.
I then spent a few days with Sheldon and Jason in Vancouver before heading further south, but on the morning I was to leave, my van would not start. My van, with everything in it, had to be towed to a mechanic's shop close by that was able to get to it right away. After four hours and a bill of about $700, which I paid in cash from a roll bills I kept in my left pocket I was able to drive it again. A couple days later I was still waring the same jeans and I had put my cell phone in the same pocket with the cash. That night while driving, I decide to pull out my phone to check the time because the clock on the van was not set for the right time. I had difficulty getting the phone out with the money still in that pocket, but I finally got the phone out. I then left the phone setting on the console. The falling night as a laid in the van bed, I thought about that cash and put it in a better place. The next morning, I remembered to check my jeans, but the money was gone. I searched everywhere, but could not find the roll of money I had plan to give to the poor in Mexico. $2,300, I still had more in bank accounts, but the cash was gone. It may have fallen to the floor board by the driver's door and then on to the ground when I opened the door the get out , or I may still find it in some other place where it could have fallen out when I took off my pants. I just don't know where at this time, but God does.
Why God? I have had a lot of time to think about this question and have got no answer, and I am trying not to waste more time thinking about it. Just let it go, after all it's God's money too, right! And I believe there is no such thing as accidents. The most important thing is my relationship with Him, not money even if it was for the poor. God know everything that is happening, and going to happen. His covenant with Abraham is to bless me also. As Sheldon reminded me the day before I left him, is that it is God's intention to bless us everyday and the same for next month, and next year, and to the last day of our life on earth. There is no fault or blame in His love relation, only guilt, blame and shame when we choose to believe the lies of satan or others say different than what He thinks of us and who we are in Christ . My true relationship and how He sees me, (0ne with Him). This will benefit others and myself more that any amount of money or things of this world. And maybe there is someone who will still find the cash who needed the money in ways not known to me. God is be blessing them too.
Now the last thing I will share for now on this “rocky start” is I just realized the fan one the van has quit working, and last night the temperature was 32 degrees outside when I went to bed and 20 degrees by morning. I slept curled up in a ball with socks and long johns, because I could not get the bottom half of the bag warm. With my head under cover of the sleeping bag two blankets and a quilt, but by morning the only thing on me was the sleeping bag. Boy, was I cold, but God still helped me get some sleep.
I am still waiting for mail to come and eating at McD's. I thought, that by next week I would be cross[ng the border and hopefully things will go smoother.
I was so wrong, aa few days later, I became so sick that I didn't eat for to days and I slept most of the time. I had not been sick in over five years, before this happened (it turned out that I had pneumonia). I then started to feel a little better and ate a little then took a walk, but then I got a call from Roberta and she told me that my license could not be sent, we decided it would be best for me to return home. This was crazy, all this way and then have to turn back. As I drove back north I started to feel a peace, but that was short lived, because when I stopped for gas in Tucson, I could not hear a word, my ears were plugged, I could hardly hear anyone talking,. It was a long ways back and I had alot of question on my mind, but no answers.
I made a brief stop at Sheldon's, and he me some encouraging word written on two pieces of note paper. They basically said, "You will stop serving God, and live your life within Him--within His rest. It is not over." and on a second page he wrote, "You matter to Christ & God...not so mosh your service. The enemy lost his grip on Christ. Live within Christ. It is Not over."
I have held on to those words for over a year and will continue to.
Lastly, and most important.
Life is about Jesus Christ, His kingdom and the relationship we share in Him, nothing else matter. Period! Jesus said, In this life you will have trouble and trials, but have no fear, for He has overcome this world. We must join Him, by faith, keeping our eyes off the problems and on Him alone. Their are no gilts or shame or flaws in Christ and we should see others the same, regardless of what we may think. This is how the Father see all His children, and we should do the same. And until we do were are still a work in progress, like everyone else.
