Another week

This week has been crazy...  Where do I start?  Last Saturday, my team took the Gurtenbahn (a mountain-climbing trolley type thing) to a point that overlooks all of Bern.  Bern is the capital of Switzerland, and it is BEAUTIFUL!  It is surrounded by a river on three sides and mountains on one...  We spent the morning praying for the city, for all of Switzerland (Parliament is located in Bern), and for the Church there.  Like much of Europe, Switzerland's church membership is falling and many people are walking away from the faith.  Pastors are worn out and feeling dried up because of the apathy and the struggles they are facing.

This week, we had a speaker from South Africa who really challenged me...  She has lived through apartheid, gone into the Congo in the midst of war, lived in slums, and experienced countless other difficult circumstances.  What truly caught my attention about this woman is that she has willingly walked into areas that were dark and dangerous because she was so confident about her calling as a believer to bring hope to the hopeless.  She said that we MUST convince ourselves of who God is and what He would desire of us.  I think that I have so often run back to my own safety nets - leaning on savings accounts, benefits, salary, insurance, extra vehicles, more clothes...  Not that any of these are bad in of themselves, but I have been taught to lean on them, and I am quite a fantastic learner!  I trust in what seems secure and wise by the standards of this world without ever asking God whether or not He wants me to have those nets.  I want to be so convinced of God's goodness and faithfulness that I don't concern myself with worrying about the things that would keep me from being the woman that He has created me to be.  Only in surrender of EVERYTHING do we become who we were designed to be...  I want to live this life of freedom and boldness...

It's getting late now, so I will probably end with these thoughts. Please pray for me as I have been sick the last several days.  I have had to miss some activities and class because of this as well. 

I hope all of you are doing well!