things i am learning along the way...

How often do we stop to see the world around us? Stop to encounter the world as God intended...

It is not very often that I look at the world and slow down long enough to actually enjoy it. This morning, I woke at half five to go to our church's prayer meeting at half six. Throughout the rest of this week, prayer meetings will be held every day with an all church (including the churches of the North) prayer day on Saturday. Exciting things are happening here in Ireland and the perfect place to start is with prayer!

Today I was reminded to stop and look at the world around me, to enjoy the beauty I was originally missing in my rush to do "great" things for Christ; like He needs my help anyways! Being in Ireland is almost selfishly doing ministry because the people are lovely and the place is gorgeous!

This weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Glendalough (pronounced Glen-da-lock) and it took my breath away! It was simply a masterpiece of the Divine Artist! I could only stand and marvel at the beauty, which was all around me! God has created all of this for His people to enjoy and I am usually too busy to see any of it. While walking about I happened to strike up a conversation with an Irish lady who had been coming to this spot for nearly 60 years. She was such a great joy to talk with because she told me so many stories about all of the adventures she went on as a wee child.

Her father used to own the B&B right at the base of one of the mountains, so she had a lot of history in the area. She told me about her many hikes and beauty she encountered! She kept repeating over and over again about how often people miss all of this beauty! I tried capturing the sheer beauty of the landscape on camera but I know I did not give it any justice whatsoever! Before I left her to continue my walk, she reminded me to stop and take in the beauty of the creation all around me!

God is trying to speak to His people and I think we are missing the subtle answers along the way due to the business of our lives.

Although, while doing ministry it seems people want quick results! The most popular question is: So how many people have been saved?

I am beginning to HATE this question! Anything that is worth having is worth spending time on, so I have been investing in the best capital: PEOPLE! People are where the moneys at and that is where I want to spend my time/resources! It does not matter how long it takes, if only one life is saved, then my time spent in Ireland or any where else God has called me to go will be WORTH IT!

It is not about the numbers, it is about the quality of relationships! I plan on investing my life into the people of God and making sure they know how special each one of them are to the Creator!

Each person is as beautiful as the landscapes God has painted for us to enjoy! He created each one of them as well and all too often we pass too quickly to see their true beauty!

My prayer is that God will continue to show me himself more and more through all of the beauty He has created!