The journey of a month-week

It’s been a little over a week since we left my grandparent’s house in Wolf Point, and it seems like it’s been at least a month.  That is not to say that it has been a bad week, but it has been perhaps the strangest week of my life.  God has been working overtime, and teaching both Brie and I incredibly important lessons about trust, humility and living in his will.  From my grandparents we went straight to a place called Swift Dam in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, just south of Glacier National Park.  We were expecting to spend five nights in the backcountry here praying and being still.  However, the trip was shortened by cold and wet days that kept us moving on our way around the 40 mile loop.  The trip consisted of many joys and many battles with the demon of worry.  Suddenly finding ourselves without a home, without a shower, without a diverse selection of food, we realized exactly what it was we had signed up for, and it was a struggle.  Through it all though we were humbled greatly, and drawn into a place of trusting that the Lord would see us through.  Going back to Matthew 6 we were reminded over and over not to worry as we sought the kingdom of God and his righteousness.  The Lord promises that if we seek his Kingdom all the other things will be added unto us.  He does not promise that we will have as much as we want, or even as much as we need, but enough to bring Him glory.  That after all, was all we really wanted to do, so gradually peace was restored to our hearts as we took in the wonder of his creation, from black bears to blowing snow on a steep mountain pass.

After coming out from the wilderness, the weather cleared up and we found at the trailhead a free campground which we decided to stay at least one night at to dry our stuff, and warm our bodies.  One night gradually turned into four nights, and we continued to be encouraged and provided for by our God.  We realized gradually that our tent was more than enough of a home and a shelter, we learned how to bathe and wash our clothes in the ice-cold mountain stream (an experience that left us feeling very rustic) and we began to enjoy our simple, and sometimes small diet just in time for God to provide a bounty of food generously provided for us by our neighboring campers.  We were provided with extra potato salad, cottage cheese, and dessert that one couple had leftover from a family gathering.  We were given a large fish one night from an older man who had caught more than he wanted.  We were invited another night to join a different family for their grill-out.  Again and again we were more than generously provided for, and more than blessed with conversation and time in community.  Perhaps the coolest thing that happened during this time came the last evening when a 49 year-old businessman from Toronto, Canada pulled up and kind of invited himself into our site.  We were more than glad to accommodate him, and as the night wore on it was obvious that God desired for us to be a light and a blessing to this man.  One of the first things that he noticed about us was how content we seemed to be as we sat and read our Bibles all afternoon.  He seemed boggled by this and admitted to being a rather discontent person himself.  As the evening wore on we shared more with him and learned more about his past through several hours of conversation.  The next morning as we saw him off onto the trail, he admitted to having spent much time pondering our love, our joy, and our vision of the world.  Our prayer is that God worked evermore on his heart as he wandered that trail.

The basic point of telling you all of this is to illustrate how fully God provided for everything.  Besides the basic needs for life, he blessed us above and beyond anything we should have expected.  We were wanting community and he provided it.  I especially was struggling with feeling unused, and that feeling was driving me nuts.  Low and behold God provided an opportunity to be used by him in the life of that man and all the people at the campground.  How good he is, and how well he knows our hearts.  Tuesday morning we left Swift Dam and headed through Glacier National Park on our way to Missoula.  Glacier was as beautiful as anything I have ever seen, but both of our hearts were directed toward Missoula.  It was Missoula that had presented itself as a huge question mark on our trip.  A few months ago, long after we had decided that we were to leave Fargo and embark on this adventure Missoula randomly began to weigh upon my heart.  There was no real reason behind this, no clear call that I could discern, but yet enough of a pull to warrant a good amount of prayer and intentional discernment around the area.  As soon as we hit Missoula though, I had a meltdown.  The wilderness area I had hopped to camp did not allow camping like I thought it would, and we drove around for a couple of hours searching for a place to stay.  Oh how quickly I forgot how faithful and steadfast God had been.  How quickly I betrayed my trust in myself, when my plans fell through.  I claimed to be willing to do and go wherever God put us here, but when it wasn’t the place I expected I became frustrated and mad with Him.  He placed us at a campground where we were the youngest people by at least fifty years.  It was a square-dancing campground, a gathering place for all those who go to Arizona in the winter to spend their summers dancing and sharing in potlucks with community.  The people were friendly, we had our first shower in a week, and there were even laundry facilities to clean our clothes.  However, nothing seemed extra-extraordinary to explain our presence at this particular campground.

Yesterday morning though we headed to Missoula, and I decided that we needed to visit this church I had seen on-line.  South Hills Evangelical Church is its name, and for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to walk in there and talk with a pastor to get a feel of what they were doing, and what was happening in Missoula. Brie expressed her concern initially about just barging into the church, and we both felt rather uncomfortable.  After a few minutes of prayer in the parking lot though, we headed into the church, awkwardly asked if there was a pastor available, and just like that we were explaining our situation and introducing ourselves to Pastor John.  At first he seemed rather baffled as to what we wanted from him, but as the conversation stretched on things rapidly became less and less awkward.  It then randomly came up that we were staying at the square-dancing campground, which happened to be a half-mile down the road from this man’s house, even though it is ten miles outside of Missoula.  This coincidence (I think not) induced him to suggest we just pick up our stuff and move into his basement with his wife and seven kids.  Thus, last night, after worshipping with the church’s youth group we stopped by their home, met his wife, and his seven children and further shared our stories with them.  Now, this morning we moved our things into their basement, where we will be staying until further notice.  We spent yesterday praying around the University of Montana, a campus of 14,000 with less than 1,000 involved in a Christian ministry, and around Missoula, a town with less than 10% of its people associated with a church, a number that the pastors say may be generous.  We do not know for sure yet if the Lord is putting the brakes on our excursion, we are not committing to Missoula, but it seems to be a possibility that this could be our new home.  I have not idea what God wants to do with us here, where we would live, or anything.  Like I said, I do not even know if we will stay here.  However, as I was telling Brie yesterday, I have a tendency in my desire to know that I know that I know that I know God’s will to begin thinking too much and start doubting the will of God that I already simply know.  Regardless, prayers for wisdom and discernment would be more than appreciated.

No matter what happens though I am convinced that God is working for our good and for the good of his kingdom.  If I learned anything over the last month-week it is that I, and we as humans, are not God.  The plans, and things, and ideas we hold up as our security are nothing but mirages and illusions.  God is in control.  His will will be had in our life.  He is sovereign, and any attempt of mine to make plans of my own, or even to fill in the blanks he has left, will only get in the work of his great plans.  So sparing you a sermon, I will simply ask for you to remember us as we sit here in Missoula, and ponder what crazy things the King of Kings has up his sleeve for us right now.  We continue to remember you all in our prayers.  Much love to you all.

Andrew