The Countdown Begins...

Hard to believe, but in less than 2 weeks I will be in El Salvador!  Am getting nervous to travel and to settle in, but am hopeful and excited as well.  I ask that anyone following this please pray for me (for anxiety associated with the trip, for my heart to be open to God's purposes for the trip) and for the entire Exodo team.  I will try to post again a couple of times before I leave as well as a few times throughout the trip!  Stay tuned!  

Gratitude & Hope

Today's random thought:  Gratitude.  What does it look like to truly live a life of gratitude?  If we truly believe that we are living under God's love & grace, shouldn't our lives consisently reflect such levels of gratitude that those around us notice?  More peronsonally, I guess, if I believe that God has covered me with grace and love when I have SO much (Matthew 6:26-30:  "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?   "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?) then why am I not living in such a way that my friends, family, and children get to share in that grace and love through my interactions with them.  And...what is the relationship, then, between gratitude and hope? 

More to come.  Feel free to share your thoughts here...I would welcome anyone's feedback.