Welcome Wednesday

We are participating in Welcome Wednesday! It's a great way to gain more exposure to your blog and to check out new blogs!

For those who are new, Welcome! We are working towards becoming a missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship! This blog is mainly about that! If you have questions feel free to ask!

We invite you to follow our blog via Networked Blogs on Facebook or Google Friend connect! They are on the left of this blog! We'll try to follow you back. :)

Blessings,

Eric, Kristine and Jennavieve Reed

WHEN not IF

While doing my bible study this morning God brought the verse Mark 9:23 to me, '"If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."'

It's amazing how God just brings the right verse into focus at the exact moment we need it. For those unfamiliar with the context of this verse there was a man who had a boy who was possessed by a demon. The boy had seizures it sounds like since birth, he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, gets thrown to the ground and becomes rigid. The man wanted the disciples to drive the demon out (heal the boy) but they could not and he didn't understand why. The man was talking to Jesus about the boy and said, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus responded: '"If you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes."' The man then responded that he did believe and Jesus drove out the demon. When the disciples asked Jesus later why they couldn't drive out the demon, He said this type could only be driven out by prayer.

So how does this relate to us? I've been saying the word "If" more often then I can remember with regards to missionary work. I've felt called to go overseas and work as a missionary for a long long time and the "If" word continues to float around: "If God allows us." "If it's His will", "If we are able", "If we get these things done". As you can see...there are a lot of Ifs in there. Instead of just writing IF, I need to start writing WHEN. God is all powerful and has a plan for us. We are unsure of the exact plan, but instead of writing IF all the time, we need to have faith and replace it with WHEN. That sounds like a simple change, but that simple change brings along with it a great mindset of belief. It's not a matter of IF something is going to happen, but WHEN.

The other part of that passage that struck me was the part about prayer. Sometimes there are obstacles in our way that we cannot see. We think that we can do things apart from Christ to change it ourselves. But, there is power in prayer. We need to get on our knees and ask God for what we need. Ask God to take away obstacles and to show us where we should go. Sometimes those obstacles can only be removed by prayer. I think we forget that often. It's good to remember!

So with stronger faith in our hearts we are continuing to pray more frequently and change our mindset from the "If" to the "When" mindset. When God allows us on the mission field. When God provides for us. When God brings along relationships. When God works in our lives. No more if words, it's time to believe. :)

Okay my baby is up. I might elaborate this more later...but duty calls!

Blessings,

Kristine Reed

God can use tragedy to teach us

"If you've walked with God for very long, I have little doubt that He has used what you perceived as very negative means to achieve a positive result"- Beth Moore

I read this nugget of information this morning in my bible study and it simply is too true. It also helps us to understand when horrible things happen, that God could be using those things to help push us closer towards Him. What refreshing news. Seriously. I've seen it happen in my own life many many times.

With God, things are both predictable and unpredictable. You can be certain that God is always going to be there. That God always wants you to pray and to stay in His word. You can be certain that God wants you to look at the best in others, even though it's tempting to just see the worst.

In my bible study this morning it took a look at Peter and John and how God called them to Samaria. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Peter and John are Jews. Jews of that time hated Samaritans. They have a HUGE prejudice against them and basically feel they are the scum of the earth. To be called to go there and the preach the Gospel and to accept them into their own fold seemed unthinkable. Yet, God called them to do it. They obeyed and the Samaritans accepted the Holy Spirit. Think if they didn't obey? What would have happened? The people would have not known not received the Holy Spirit. They would have not received the very Holy fire from which God works in us.

I firmly believe that God has called me and my husband to be missionaries. Where or how, that is His choosing. Could he call us to a place where we wouldn't ever think of going? Yes. Could this place be our Samaria? Yes. Are we called to pick and choose where we'd like to go, where it'd be the most comfortable and convenient? No. We are called to follow Christ, wherever that may lead us. If it leads us to a closed country, we'll go there. If it leads us to witness to homeless, we'll go there. If it leads us to a place where we thought we'd never go, we'll go there.

The important thing to remember is that in these places, we are not alone. Yes God could call us to a scary place or neighborhood, but we are not alone. We have Christ. We have the Holy Spirit living within us. I've seen time and time again how God has protected me wherever he's called me. I was called to serve the homeless in San Francisco's darkest neighborhood for a little while one summer. I spoke with drug addicts, prostitutes, drug dealers and I do believe a gang member or two.

Were these conditions safe? No. Were they comfortable? No. Was I safe? Yes. Was I comfortable? I didn't really think of comfort. When I was with those people, my thoughts were solely on Christ and on serving Him. Christ protected me AND gave me the words to say to those who were hurting. As long as I trusted Him, I was safe. When I let my mind wander and let my fear set in and stopped trusting, that was the moment I felt unsafe. I had to pray and reign in that fear, rebuke it even, to feel safe and secure again. Life outside of Christ is scary, I much prefer life with Christ.

But you can see how God can use our fears, our prejudices to really work miracles through us. To speak to others and heal by the power of the Holy Spirit using us. We just have to be willing to be used and to give up our fears.

So what does this have to do with the quote up above? Everything. God can use anyone and any circumstances for His glory. We just have to continue to walk in the light of grace to be willing to see that when the going gets tough, the tough don't get going away, they get on their knees and pray for the endurance to carry on and to see what God is teaching them through the hard times. That's definitely something to remember and to pray about!

For me, one of the hardest times in my life was losing my first precious little one. I was so elated and excited to be pregnant. It's something I'd dreamed about for a long time. I'd even gathered some baby items years prior to this because I knew God would allow me to be pregnant someday. We went to Idaho and served at an aviation camp and I led worship. We went to Hawaii and go to see our dear friends. Life was going great! I got to see my little one's heart beating on the ultrasound and was elated at the new life. Then, tragedy happened and my little one was no more. God took him/her up to heaven. I was devastated. Devastated. Why would God take away my child? Why would this dream end so soon?

I realized that even though I was devastated, to understand the reasoning, I needed to turn to Christ EVEN MORE, not turn away. God led me to talk with others who had also had this happen to them. God led me to council THEM and by that helped heal me of my own tragedy. I couldn't have done this had I been pregnant. Later on in that year God finally allowed me to become a teacher for a short time. If I was pregnant, I wouldn't have ever lived that dream. While I still dream about seeing that little one in heaven and wondering what life would be like had he/she lived on, I praise God for allowing it to happen to me so that I could reach more people for Him. Now I have a beautiful little girl, so God did fulfill that promise of life. It was just in HIS timing, not mine.

I want to encourage those of you who read this blog to think about times in your life where you had the most sorrow, the most pain, and think about what God was teaching you in those times. Did you allow God to grow you? Did you allow God to teach you something from that experience? Did God have you go through that experience so that He could use you to help others who were also going through that experience? I hope so.

Love in Christ,

Kristine

2 Corinthians 5:16-17.