Really? I can do all things?

During the Christmas season, I was given a small devotional book entitled A Taste of Believing God, by Beth Moore. Of course, like most of you, I didn't get around to actually reading it until the company left, the house was cleaned, and the routines of life returned to "normal". Timing like this was not accidental. I needed to read every word of this particular chapter because my life is going to change drastically in the next few months. Yes, we are returning to the United States to raise additional support and share our stories with individuals and churches and I would rather stay in Tres Rios, Costa Rica. Why? Because what was once "foreign" is now the "familiar" and what was "different" is now my new "normal".

In Chapter 4, Beth Moore explains that all of us are significant in God's plan, and that often fear, discouragement, or plain old stubbornness keeps us from walking in faith and doing extraordinary things for God. My weakness, placed willingly in the strong, capable hands of a loving Creator becomes a thing of beauty and grace. All of us have ordinary lives that are capable of doing extraordinary things--equipped by the Master to do what only He envisioned.

The woman that left Matthews, North Carolina forty months ago who wondered how God could call a family of six from comfortable suburbia was just like you. I was not a Bible scholar, nor a church planter, but a chocolate-craving, Target-loving woman.

That same woman is now wondering how returning to a fast-paced life in the U.S. for more than a few weeks could be a good thing. A limited supply of Costa Rican coffee and Lizano sauce? No cafecito or gallo pinto? I know now. Some of you are living ordinary lives and God needs you to accomplish something extraordinary. As my husband says "Hang on- it's a wild ride," but worth every minute.

^{Phillipians 4 :13} "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."