4,000 miles to Iowa

I have been thinking about writing a blog from my time with the team in Maine and Canada. The truth is, however, that nothing particularly struck me during those weeks as a catalyst for a great blog. We had incredible conversations about community and it was amazing to be back with Laura, Kelly and Stephanie. There is just a spark when the 4 of us are together… Last night, however, a friend of mine reminded me that I don’t need to change the world with a blog. It reminds me of a story that was shared with us while in Maine. The story said instead of trying to change the world we can make a part of it better one task at a time. I like that.
It’s amazing how many people we have had the chance to meet through Latreia and how these people we are meeting share with us. We (Latreia) talk about how it seems that folks tend to open up around missionary-types… I would do the same thing. What happens in these times of sharing is that I often find myself a little better off for having heard the story of another. People are making an impact [on me] and they might not ever know it.
A few years ago my father found what looked like a sharp-shinned hawk wrapped up in fishing line that he brought home in a rescue effort. My older brother named him “Junior.” With one leg that hung limp from the fishing line cutting off his circulation we moved him into our duck house where he could hop around on his good foot. I would catch chubs and snakes and throw them into the house to watch him - with what finesse he still possessed - hop on the living food and feast. He was awesome. On the 4th of July that year someone left the door to the duck house unlocked and Junior was gone the next day. We would never see how Junior did on his own.
A couple nights ago I was talking with a friend who has a little one on the way. Tests have come back saying that the baby may have complications. He and his wife were sitting in bed one night when she said (having not read it before) “we need to read Hebrews 11.” Hebrews 11 is about faith. It is recaps the stories of men and women who could not see the road ahead but followed anyway. It is a story about patience and trust in our Lord.
I struggle with letting go of control. We had a great team meeting in Canada about Latreia that energized each one of us. I have to admit, however, there were a couple times during the meeting that my body felt physically heavy with the load of things to do. “How will we do all of this?” Faith. We don’t always see how our sharing affects others. We don’t always get to see the end result of the little things that we do. Seeing, however, is not the only way to believing. Life can be fragile, uncertain and even a little scary but life is full of opportunities to give our worries to God. If we give up our worries we can focus a little more on the next task at hand.
Thanks, Laura
Jesse