God leads gently

I have been reading an exciting book; A Doctor without A Country written by Thomas A. Lambie, M.D. who happens to be the uncle of our teacher Tom. It is an amazing story about Dr. Lambie's travels into Anglo-Sudan Africa in the early 1900's with experiences that keep you on the edge of your seat as he pushes through unbelievable situations and with much prayer and persistence was able to push in to Abyssinia. Here are a couple of quotes that have jogged my thinking:

"...I have found that we can learn something from the humblest native of the remotest jungle. It requires humility to learn, and that is perhaps the point at which we missionaries are weakest, for there is a pride of the spiritual man far harder to overcome than pride which springs up in the man 'of the world'."

His travels frequently encountered dangerous animals and groups of people that had never laid eyes upon another white man. For me, I believe that the constant cloud of mosquitoes would have been most difficult for me. As he described sleeping under a mosquito net, keeping well away from the net covered with the hungry critters. He said; "I once estimated that there were 130 mosquitoes sitting on every square foot of the wire netting, seeking to get in."

"So we advanced toward Abyssinia and toward a deeper trust in God through experiences on the reaches of the White Nile...travelling tens of thousands of miles for Jesus Christ in Abyssinia. Had we know where the journey would end and the responsibilities we were afterwards to bear, we might have qauiled from it. God leads us on gently like a good shepherd."

That is so true. God does lead us gently on. And how thankful I am for that gentle leading. I have been trying to journal each day this past year, keeping a record of His leading. Frequently I turn back a few pages just to remind myself of His goodness and be encouraged to continue ahead.

Tomorrow I am driving to Washington DC to spend the weekend with daughter Lisa. She was the only one that was not able to join the family for the weekend of the 4th. I am looking forward to a special weekend together.

Love to you all,

Chuck