A week from today, I’ll be heading to the East Coast of Canada for a mission trip to Bathurst, NB. It is my second year going, and like last year we’ll be driving for two days to get there (I appreciate your prayers that Torre travels well!), but.
Unlike last year, our team will be much smaller: 8 people instead of 17, and our trip will be a few days shorter. I’m really looking forward to going, and I’m excited for what God has in store, but I also have no idea what to expect. I am in a state of hopeful anticipation, confident that God has prepared good works for us to do and that He will take this time we are dedicating to serving him in order to shape us and grow his Kingdom, but.
This is certainly not a mission trip that we are entering into from a position of strength. Planning for the trip has been a bit disorganized, and we have spent very little time together as a team. A lot of the details for how we’ll spend our time in Bathurst are still up in the air, and I foresee some challenges for our team to live up to the expectations of past years, but.
Where we are weak, God’s strength is made perfect, and his grace is sufficient for us. I have been reflecting on the story of Peter and John healing the blind beggar outside the temple (Acts 3), which comes by their offer to give simply from what they have – the Holy Spirit. It’s not what the beggar expected from them, and it may or may not have come as a surprise to Peter and John themselves! After all, this beggar was a regular feature outside the temple, the kind of landmark it is easy to become blind to, so.
My prayer for our mission trip this year is that our eyes will be open to what God has for us and that we will be bold enough to connect with this community in the short time we are there – that we will see the needs God has equipped us to meet and that we will not be too timid to gaze eye-to-eye and to join hands with people who need strengthening, encouragement, and a touch of the Holy Spirit. I am praying for freedom and flexibility, that our lack of planning will coincide perfectly with God’s longstanding work in this community and that we will be empowered to jump in.
As for the title of this post, when it comes to dancing, I’m not very good at following a partner’s lead. For good or for bad, if I think I know the steps, I want to go my own way, and I simply don’t notice the subtle pointers that let me know when to turn or spin or hesitate on the beat. The only way I’ve ever managed to follow a lead is to close my eyes and block out what I think I know and actively focus on letting go of my plans, of taking each step at a time, literally as it happens. Maybe one day I’ll learn how to surrender with my eyes open, but for now I am happy to put all my trust in my partner and follow his lead.
This is how I want to live! And this is how I love to dance! Thanks for the great reminder 🙂
I certainly hope you would not ever dance with a partner with your eyes closed; that would be a great way to, uh, step all over someone’s toes and maybe other people – ha ha
Regarding expectations, yes, I’ve been a victim of everyone else’s expectations. I am what I am and who I am. I am reminded of Gary Chapman’s song, sung by Amy Grant on Amy’s “Never Alone” album:
“…all I ever have to be is what You’ve [God] made me. Any more or less would be a step out of Your plan. As You daily recreate me, help me always keep in mind that I only have to do what I can find. And all I ever have to be, all I have to be, all I ever have to be, is what You made me…”
Oh, and this album was before Alyssa’s time. But then so were most of her greatest albums from the 80’s 🙂