"Many Blessings"-To the right is a picture of the magnolia tree right outside my terrace in Mainz that bloomed Saturday morning. This is my favorite tree, and I felt like God placed that tree there for me. God speaks to me often through signs and things I see throughout my days. It has been a beautiful weekend here in Germany. Spring really comes quite early here. The temperature is in the 40s now. I mainly rested this weekend because last week was my European whirlwind tour. Tuesday night I flew to London for a training in Luton, England (not so beautiful of a city), this was with the car company Vauxhall. Then we flew to Sweden Wednesday night and returned Friday evening about 11pm. So it was a tiring week. I did get to see a little of Trollhaetten, Sweden, though. It is a nice peaceful little town. Myself, my colleague Angela, and two of my bosses had a nice gourmet dinner at a restaurant on a river in Trollhaetten. It was delicious! It feels good to be back where I'm calling "home" away from home - Mainz. It has been sunny everyday this weekend. I'm so thankful for that. All in all a very successful week for work though. I've started using my time on the planes during take-off as a time to pray for everyone I know and love. Please send me your prayer requests. I can't tell you how close it makes me feel to all of you, when I lift you up in prayer. On one of the planes last week - I can't remember which one, they all fly together - I was praying and really felt the Lord's presence. And I noticed that the Indian lady next to me - who was sleeping and I had the sense that she had some illness - kept gravitating closer to me. It was like she felt the Lord's presence as well. At one point she actually accidentally laid on my shoulder (while I was praying) and then realized it and moved back. Being here, has really made me realize the importance of leaning into God. We have to make a conscious decision daily, at the cross-section of each decision, to choose God, and to choose life, which is Christ. In Christ is freedom! There are always many temptations to choose "bondage wrapped in freedom paper". When you're in a foreign land it's easy to forget wisdom. But the truth is, that true wisdom is the same at home and abroad. And the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. May the Lord speak to you this week, "in mazes, and colors, and dismays and rainbows, and flight and fall, and despairs and big seas of [your] dreams" - 'Under Milkwood' Dylan Thomas.
Tschuess,
Josh
4 comments:
Beautiful blog....I weep, mostly cause I'm a girl, but also because God spoke to me through your words...thank you for sharing how you recognize Him, how you acknowlege Him, how you appreciate Him, and how you feel His very presence...pray for me to draw nearer to my Living Christ! Keep writing brother, I miss talking to you - Blessings.....Kristen
I love the tree. Che bella! And Che bella blog too! :)
Beautiful Blog indeed. I love magnolia, too!!
I know you are already praying for the Breathing Room, but please pray specifically for those of us who are seeking for directions in life and possibly going somewhere in a relatively near future.
And the bondage wrapped in freedom paper! I feel like I should know what that looks or smells like by now but apparently not enough. I totally picked one up and swallowed it whole and now it’s burning me inside out. Please pray that God will set me free form my feeling of right to my self/future/dreams/desires. And for me to surrender, I NEED to know who He is and fall in love w/ him. I want to give myself up for God out of love, not out of duty or fear.
So that’s my prayer request =)
Have a wonderful spring, brother.
megumi told me last night, you have to read josh's blog! so here i am. live and in living color, far, far away. josh it is so cool to hear about the plane prayers. GOd always does amazing things on planes with me. i actually love travelling alone, and taht is one of the reasons. it's like me and the Holy Spirit and we are "like this"...finger/finger thing. :) anyway, the part about bondage wrapped in freedom paper is awesome! what a good phrase. i've been praying for you just for the stuff i know, so if you want anything more specific, just let me know. i could use prayer for falling (more) in love with God. He's showing me lately, His love, and changing me, and breaking me, and it is all good, although painful at times. love you & miss you! see you this summer (briefly)! :) sarah
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