Open Hands

This past month has been another busy one, imagine that! With the weather finally turning colder things are picking up at the coffeehouse, which is great! But the change in weather means it’s also getting closer and closer to mine and Daniel’s wedding date in February; equal parts exciting and a bit stressful as we work to get everything together, especially as I have committed to be fully funded before the wedding so Daniel and I can head back to Hungary and begin serving there as soon as possible.

With that being said, I will continue to be busy meeting with as many people I can to share the incredibly exciting things God is doing in Hungary, so I would appreciate your prayer as I seek to raise another $3,000 in monthly support.

Although busy, this month has been so wonderful as I had the opportunity to travel to Budapest to participate in the annual team retreat. It was great to finally meet the whole team and have a bit of a reunion with those I already knew. In the past two years the team has more than doubled in size and as we did a three day workshop learning about our individual and team Meyers Briggs types it was so encouraging to see the unique passions and skills each and every person has and how that makes our team better able to love and serve the Hungarian people.

After our three days of working together, we all hit the road to Prague and spent the weekend together exploring another new (to me!) and beautiful city. It was a great time to enjoy each other’s company while enjoying new scenery and experiences.

Throughout this month, working, meeting with people, traveling to and from Hungary, God has really been impressing on me the importance of open hands. My tendency whenever I find something difficult or find myself stressed or unsure is to clench my fists and get it done. Especially on an airplane in turbulence, you can often see me with a “white knuckle” grip on the armrests. But God reminded me this month of John 15:5.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Apart from God, I can do nothing. My clenched fists and “get it done” attitude is just a façade and an ineffective safety blanket for me. I have to open up my hands and allow God to take control for anything of substance to happen.

Because blindly holding onto what I think I deserve and what I think I can do severely limits God to truly

do his work in and through me. Although it is an almost minute to minute struggle for me some days, there is such a freedom in letting go and trusting that as I seek to know my creator’s heart better and share that with others He will take care of everything else my brain tries to convince me I should worry about.

So this month please pray with me that we all loosen our grip on the things of this earth a little and seek to grow closer to God and find that rest in abiding in Him, regardless of our circumstances.