What a whirlwind these past two weeks have been! Between the Islands trip, guests from Texas, the GMHC conference trip, keeping up with normal life, and about two hundred other things, I have been quite busy. I am very thankful for early mornings in the Word, long discussions with family members as we drive, and three amazing days of conference messages.
There are two themes that stood out to me in the conference - the first is faith, and the second is trust. A couple of things that really spoke to me (from my notes):
"God will give you what you need to be faithful to Him.... God is still doing amazing things in the lives of normal people." (from Dr. Kent Brantly, ebola survivor) What we must do is trust Him and let Him rule our lives, and He will provide what we need in the right time.
Dr. Cook gave an excellent message on finding God's will for your life. He explained that the sin of Adam and Eve came down to self-direction - doing what they wanted and deciding for themselves what they would surrender or obey - and the sin of Cain was similar, deciding for himself what to sacrifice.
My favorite message of all was given by Dr. Tramonte. "Religion and our own 'good works' get in the way of God's love working through us.... You don't know grace if you are still performing, trying to please God.... If you want to get right with God, let go and let Him love you." Wow. How often I need to remember that, to remind myself that it isn't about what I can do on my strength. On my strength, I can do nothing.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to hear Biblical teaching. And here is one more picture, something else I am very thankful for... Mexican food!!
[oh YUM.]
.jpg)
