Good Morning,
The coffee is on and my flavor is Door County Cherry Crème. As I write I can hear geese traveling North . That's a great sound to wake up to.
I will be continuing our lessons on a "Crisis Of Faith". If you have missed the last two they are archived by date on the blog page. www.martyschutte.blogspot.com .
One of my many short term mission trips found me headed to Mexico to be the project leader for a large group. My travel companion and buddy was a young eighteen year old, full of energy for the Lord. My travel dates changed because the countries changed for some reason and I was not heading to Peru but going to Mexico. I always tell those who go on short term mission trips that "flexibility" needs to be one of their personal attributes. So I agreed to go and it was short notice. My friend and I were on our way within two weeks of notification. Here's the crisis of faith. About four days before I was to leave my mother called and informed me that she was going to have a heart procedure to add a defibrillator unit and new pacemaker. It would be the same day that I was leaving for Mexico. I knew that the Blackberry phone I had would probably not receive phone service where we were headed. I considered backing out of the trip so I could stay home and be there for Mom. Everyone assured me that I should go, including my mother.
Matthew 6:8
For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
The day I left the wash machine broke and I had to leave Rene fending for herself to get a new one. Crisis of Faith #1. I was feeling guilty for leaving and thought that I might not of heard God correctly about going to Mexico.
Our flight went well and we were picked up and escorted to a camp for traveling missionaries to rest for awhile. This camp was not even close to the city we were supposed to be in for the trip. We were then informed that we would have to stay where we were for the night because the transportation did not show up. I kept thinking "what a way to start a trip."! We weren't even in the correct part of the country. After dinner I went outside to watch the stars and pray. My friend came out and asked me what I was doing. I was looking at some pictures of my family on the Blackberry. All day I had no reception to make a call. I said "I wish I knew how my mother was doing". Crisis of Faith #2. My friend looked at my phone and said, "why don't you try calling her?" My phone was now showing reception bars. So I called the medical center in Northern Wisconsin to inquire about Mom. The hospital operator let me know that Mom was in the Intensive Care Unit and that she would put me through to the nursing station. A friendly nurse answered and I explained that I was inquiring about Mom's condition. The nurse said for me to hang on for a couple of seconds and she would let me speak to Mom for a minute. The voice on the other end was Mom, she was tired and weak but assured me that she would be staying for two days and going home. She said that she already was feeling better and had been praying for me. We exchanged "I love yous" and then the phone went dead.
I did not have reception again for about four days, until I made it once again to a big city. We camped in the middle of a dessert for most of the week. You see God called, we answered, and He knew what was on my mind. Here is what He did. He sent me to a different country where I could actually be contacted. He arranged for us to be in what we thought was the wrong city. He arranged for a clear signal for a short time so my worries were put to rest. The trip went well from there until we ran out of water.. Oh that's for tomorrow! We returned home and I went to visit my mother. She wanted to hear about my mission trip.
God bless,
Marty
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