| Penrhy's
Newsletter 6 February 12, 2005 “As for God, His way is perfect” 2 Samuel 22:31 I don’t know about everyone else but I feel that the time is flying by. The days sometimes seem long, but when you look back at the week you think to yourself, “Where did the days go?” It seems that all that is going on here in Penrhy’s is a movie that is on fast-forward. I was rereading back in my first journal entry of the beginning of my year of service and I wrote: “ Right now I am sitting in a dorm room at the University of Chicago. I leave in 6 days for Wales. I left on Monday not thinking I could leave my family and friends. A friend told me that God would give me strength to get on the plane and would continue to give me strength each day.” And God has given me strength every moment that I have needed it. I wonder sometimes if anything has been done. But God is teaching me otherwise. As the song from Caedmon’s Call goes “ I am thankful that I’m incapable of doing any good on my own.” It is through God that great things are accomplished. “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which must look out Christ’s compassion on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.” This past month I have been quite busy with visitors and activities at the church. It is amazing what we can pack into a week. Some of the big things we have done are hold 2 auctions and a disco for the adult woman to raise money for the Tsunami victims. We raised 335.81 pounds. It was amazing to see the residents jump up to the opportunity to raise money for those that are less fortunate. It is small in comparison to what some famous stars or even big churches raised, but it is from the heart and really showed me about giving what we have. The children even got involved and put money in the donation box that was their spending money for café that evening. To see the faces light up because they knew they were helping someone else out really touched my heart. I also got to attend a conference in London for my mid-year service. It was lovely to see friends that I had met back in August and September and to hear their stories of their placements. Fellowship truly is a blessing and I am so thankful that God has given me little stops at a refilling station. After the conference I was blessed and able to spend a day with my friend Kristin that I met in Chicago. I have been able to visit her twice and attend her church. It has been wonderful to meet her congregation and to create a link with her placement. Everyone was is so welcoming and kind. I also got to visit with my friend Megan that I met my freshman year at Indiana University. It really was wonderful to spend time with a friend from back home. This past month has not been without its set backs though. Many times the children test the volunteers with their behavior and attitude. I continually have to give up my feelings and frustrations over to God. A card that was given to me said: Challenges are the Shepherd’s opportunities to prove His faithfulness- again and again! “He will send down help from heaven…because of His love and His faithfulness…” Psalm 57:3. Many times it is easier to turn away when trouble comes, but God is teaching me that sometimes we need to sit back in the passenger seat and let him do the driving through rough times. I was reminded this morning in Psalm 106 of the Israelites turning away time and time again when times got rough in the wilderness forgetting what God has done for them, but it is God’s love and faithfulness that still let them come back to him. It made me think about how easy it is for me to forget all that God has done in my life and in others around me. Our wildest dreams and imaginations cannot fathom all that God is going to do. “As for God, His way is perfect” 2 Samuel 22:31. I will leave you with an old Celtic blessing: “May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rains fall softly upon your fields until we meet again. May God hold you in the hollow of his hand." In Christ’s Love, Kari |