Yo yo. This past week the speaker was Jeff Pratt, the brother to the speaker three weeks ago, Tim Pratt. The topic for the week was spiritual disciplines. There were a few things that stood out to me from Jeff's lecture the first day. One, that all of us have three longings; to be loved, to be needed, and a desire to be significant in this life/desire to leave a legacy. I definitely can relate to longing for all of these things. The first day was related to fully living in this life. Another point he made related to this topic is that you are not really living until you have a passion worth dying for. He then stressed the importance of having God be your passion in life, and what your passions are is what people are attracted to. So that is one thing that really stood out to me is that I want to have more passion for the Lord that is evident in my life. The next few days he spoke on spiritual disciplines and why they are so important. Then on Thursday we drove like 30 minutes away from the base to have a time of silence and solitude with God.
We arrived at a rural ranch on the coast with large mountains on right next to the coast. It was so beautiful. We were told that we would have 4 hours to be alone and have some time with just us and God. Jeff gave us some worksheets that we could look over for some guidance on silence and solitude. My expectations for the day was something along the lines of reviewing the notes that I have taken throughout DTS to see the things that have really stood out to me, talking with God and asking him my questions, and looking over the notes Jeff gave us. So when we were released and our silence time began my initial desire was to find a really remote location were no one was around me. I started climbing the mountain to the left. I followed a horse trail, I knew it was a horse trail because there was crap on the trail, up the side of the mountain. The trail eventually ended though so i decided I would be able to keep blazing a trail through the brush on the mountain and I decided to keep going. It was a lot harder then I anticipated, but I kept going. As I was walking I started to sing out lout worship songs, but shortly after I started singing I started to get paranoid and scared of rattlesnakes. I eventually got to the top of the mountain and had a beautiful view of the coast for miles. I chilled there and just appreciated the surrounding creation and ate lunch. I chilled there for awhile then started back down the mountain. Once again I had to blaze my own trail. I eventually got back to the base camp, but I was the last one to arrive because I hiked to far away and it took a long time. It was a really good day. instead of the initial plans I had of going over my notes and stuff, it turned into a time of worship, appreciation for Gods creation, relaxation in silence and solitude with God, and a lesson in trusting the Lord.
This is the Last week of the lecture phase of my DTS. I will be leaving with my group for Mexico City this Friday. The time has flown by and I have learned so much. Hopefully I have grown and matured a little. I am pretty anxious for what the next two months hold. I am really excited about what God is going to do in the places we visit and in us. I am also a little nervous though because there are still a lot of unknowns about what exactly our ministries will be and things like that. But I know God is with us and looking after us. Romans 8:28 comes to mind,
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose."
This will probably be my last blog update for like two weeks or so. Keep me and my team in your prayers, we'll need them. Thanks for all the support. I love you guys.
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