[Committed2Him]

I can hear in what you write just how excited you are, I would be as well. You get to go to paradise and do what you love. How much more Blessed can 1 person be?

Bethie, EVERY missions trip I have been on, if only for a weekend or for 9 or 10 days, has been very meaningful to me so yes, I am excited and am extremely blessed.

Hawaii Missions trip (5/9 -5/18)
For Karen and those who missed it on the prior thread just before it closed:

Missions trip - Hawaii???
Huh? Yeah, gonna suffer for my Lord in Hawaii for 9 days starting the second week of May unless my plans change. My other trips have been uncomfortable but worth it (one trip we traveled by van for 14 hours through Mexico and another trip we worked construction through Romania's worst heat wave in decades). This trip is to assist with outreaches a pastor does for the homeless on the big island. The cost of living is high and many people live in shelters and on the beaches. A team went from our church in the winter but I could not go but believe the Lord is directing me to go on this trip. Whenever I go on a trip, I come back deeply affected and so appreciative of what I have and I anticipate this trip will be no different.

I also anticipate challenges between now and then because I have put the bull's-eye target on my back. I have stood up and said, "here I am Lord, send me" and when that happens, the spiritual warfare battle is on. Stay tuned...

As predicted, as soon as I committed to go, X started giving me flak about other stuff (she is not even aware I am going yet, will tell her after the weekend). I expect other oposition to come at me from totally unexpected directions but my God is pretty good at delivering me just in time.

Hey Cat, thanks for stopping by. In the midst of the storm it is sometimes hard to have that hope but it really does get better. Of course, you don't have to take my word for it, take His:

Psalm 138:1-8

A Psalm of David. I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You. I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, When they hear the words of Your mouth. Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, For great is the glory of the Lord. Though the Lord is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.