7-1 Day Thirty Four

It's July and halfway through 2026!

Oh, how sweet it is to start the day meeting with my mentor. I've said it before, but I will say it again: I think I am going to have to kidnap her and take her back to Des Moines with me. Today, we talked about waiting for people to grow, red flags in people, "observing but not judging," and her thoughts on whether or not I would acclimate to New England. Yesterday, I went searching for Scripture that applies to these topics and began to meditate and pray through them:

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding."

James 1:20 "For a man's anger does not bring about the righteousness of God."

1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sin."

In my quiet time, I read 1 John 5 in preparation for our Bible study tonight. It is such a rich passage that deserves to have much more time to talk about it, but I'm not here to preach, so I will keep it brief! In our evangelizing, a common notion I have heard is that Christianity has "too many rules," but in verse 3, it says, "In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome." This is a sweet response to that school of thought: obedience to God comes from a place of love, not obligation. When you love someone, you serve them willingly! My second big takeaway is broader and tied to John 15:7, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." As you abide in Christ, you grow to be more attuned to His will for your life. Praying in accordance with His will is what produces the second half of that verse. The more you choose God's way over your own, the more and more your will grows aligned with His. 

We spent the remainder of our day before Bible study working on our presentation for the church next week. I am having a blast editing our deliverable, making it practical and useful to the church after we leave. This part of the summer has been the bumpiest. The team loves outreach more than computer work, which is such a good problem to have, but tough to work with when it becomes like pulling teeth to get done. Fortunately, you should be honoring God in ALL that you do, including spending the afternoon on Canva. This is a tough one to remember. In all things, we should be honoring God, right now in the heat, it's really easy to make excuses, but complaining is a heart posture issue, not a circumstantial. Having an attitude of gratitude, if you will. 

An update on our heatwave: Thursday-Saturday, we will be staying at our mobilizer's home, and he has central air. I am quite excited about this. I cannot wait to be cold.

Dinner at our favorite restaurant with our favorite waitress!