A Beautiful Example

It's so neat to travel around with our Russian friends from place to place for the Immanuel's Child outreaches. It's cool how we got to have five days of winter camp together to get to know one another, and now we're taking our show on the road!  The youth are the ones who put on the play at each location. Youth group ranges from age 12 up until 30?  Basically you stay "youth" until you get married, but there's also lots of young married couples who serve together in the youth group...it's like they don't want to leave!  They are very musically gifted, and it's beautiful when they sing together.  The part that amazes me is how they show up at the church day after day after day! The same group has been serving together for over a week now! I said to Anya, "It's amazing that they give up their whole Christmas vacation to do this."  To which she replied, "They don't have the money to go or do anything else." Church is their home. This is their family! It's a privilege to be a part of the family!

It just occurred to me as I was talking to Judy on the phone that God has brought me all this way to help me learn how to exist in a supporting role! I have my swollen eye, and the team is out having burgers and fries for dinner right now. They voted that I should come along even though Jim calls me "Cy" (short for cyclops.)
I decided to stay home, because there's no such thing as a drive-in here, and they will be walking for at least 15 minutes each way in the bitter cold. I didn't think that the icy air would feel very good on my already tender eyes. I told them that maybe they could keep a hamburger warm for me in their pocket. But, the sweet ladies who cook for us were grateful for our suggestion that they take the night off and go home to be with their families.  Isn't it amazing that they would have been here cooking for us on Christmas? Talk about supporting role!

Anyway, it's been very strange to be here without any of my usual bossy roles. I'm just along for the ride, waiting to be told what to do. It's so easy to feel busy and important in my regular life. And here, I'm just not that important. It has been SO good for me to see those bubbles of pride rise up and burst. It is a blessing to see the unique parts of the body functioning together.  I don't need to try and do someone else's role, because God is directing a production that is so much bigger than I can comprehend. I just need to be quiet and wait for the Director to call for me. His work WILL be accomplished, and I am privileged to be one tiny part of it. I'm thankful that I'm included in this production, and that He has written my name in the cast. Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is YOURS! Every single breath! I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about YOU, Jesus!