Caught in the Wind

As my time dwindles away here in Grand Teton National Park I find myself learning to accept what God has placed in front of me. There are so many blessings He has showered upon me thus far. Kayla and I led worship for three weeks at Colter Bay. We were able to worship with hundreds of people from every background and denomination: Amish Mennonite, Lutheran, Baptist, Mormon, etc. During one of our services we even reach a personal record of 70 people. During other services we even drew close to 50 people.
After a couple of our services, people even began clapping (hopefully, they were giving glory to Jesus and not us). It is also reassuring to have people tell me they enjoyed worship when I see them in the gift shop. However, not every service was spectacular.
For a couple of the services, Kayla and I showed up while being less than fully prepared; we started the whole service off on a bad foot and hindered people's worship of Jesus just because of our failure to come ready and with a humble heart.

It is often difficult to keep myself humble and a lowly servant for Christ as far as giving of my time. For example, I want to selfishly spend every second of my time doing adventurous things or just hanging out with friends. I slip into the mental indulgence of telling myself to make the most of my time here. My problem is in the way I inherently worded that sentence. I should say that I want to make the most of the time allotted me here. It is simply hard for me to comprehend that the time allotted to me is not my time. Leading these services really forces me to come to terms with that. I am praying and working for a change.

As far as work goes, I have surpassed the half way point of my contract with Signal Mountain Lodge and other friends are beginning to leave here, even though it seems our friendships have just begun. I am trying to relish the moments God is allowing me to share with friends who are still here. However, there has been talk among a few of us about working at a ski resort this winter, which would mean I would be temporarily extending my time out here. Deciding what to do next has been a struggle and I have been occasionally talking with a ACMNP support staff member about this. We have had long talks, gone bird watching, and wolf watching (and not seen any wolves) while talking about vocation and calling. It is so much easier to get into deep conversations with people while secluded in the wilderness. Just this past week I had the great opportunity of hiking with a Mormon. He shared some great insight with me about what he and other Mormons believe. They are not as crazy as the polygamy-crazed people others make them out to be.

If this entry has not made it evident yet, then I will explicitly state that I have been thinking about time lately. I preached last week on priorities and how our faith has to be the rock foundation upon which we build the rest of our lives. A wise man once filled a jar with rocks until everyone told him it was full. After that, he poured pebbles into the jar and everyone again agreed it was full. Finally the man topped off the jar with sand that fell between the rocks and pebbles. Everything can fit, but only in a certain order. The importance of the rocks, pebbles, sand is that you remember when to put them in your jar. The importance of rocks, pebbles, and sand is that you remember when too put them in your jar. The key to understanding is all in where you place your priorities. As Christians, we must see following Jesus as utmost importance. Our faith in Jesus must be the rock in our life that comes first, while the pebbles and sand are things that can come secondary.

Also, a lady in the gift shop asked me today if I had kids. Ah! Really, me? Kids? I started screaming under my skin. I guess I am starting to lose my hair. If anyone asks I will tell them I am trading my hair in exchange for wisdom. I think it is a fair trade...

So, as it goes, my life is certainly up in the air right now. I feel like it might be caught in the wind. With time, we will see where God directs my life. Maybe it will take a year or two for Him to reveal exactly where I need to go, but I will not let that stop me from trying to show others the light of Christ wherever I am. Maybe when God has me floating up here in the air He can use me to shine even farther than when I am on the ground.