Lessons from the bike trail

Today is monday, which is typically my day off...but today I did something completely different...so I'm going to tell you about it.

It started out way earlier than I ever want to experience. Yesterday 2 guys from my church wanted me to join them on a mountain bike trail in the morning. Knowing I had to get up early, kept me from sleeping, then the fear of dying was also part of the lack of sleep. We got on the trail and it was not what I expected. When I was in High school I used to ride a trail in Indy with a friend of mine, but it wasn't too dangerous. This course was ridiculous, but I learned some cool stuff while riding. When I approached the top of a hill and had to go down a 15 foot drop and then climb a hill without breaking, I froze in fear. One guy (Toby) was leading us and went through it to show me (keep in mind, he does these trails about 3 times a week so he knows what's up. Then Chris Frazier was behind encouraging me. It was cool to have these 2 men in my life that I really look up to and respect be patient with me and help me realize that these hills will always be a fear of mine if I don't overcome it. It was a very humbling experience for me because not many people see my fear so much. But in a way, I felt a lot closer to these guys because they saw me very weak and were able to help coach me through it. I'm not sure it was the most fun I've had in awhile, but I do know that it was something I am glad I did.

When I look at the spiritual implications of this, it amazes me. Life is like these trails, sometimes you don't see the turns, the trees, or something scary coming up. But when we approach those times in our lives, we can either sit there and hope it just goes away, or we trust the One we are following and the One that is with us guiding us through. Now Toby isn't God and Chris isn't the Holy Spirit, but it's an incredible visual for me. I saw Toby go through the course, I know the path is set for me, but I get scared that I can't do it, that I will get hurt. Even if I do fall, if something does happen, they both were there to pick me up and to help me press on. Sometimes in life, we focus so much on ourselves and let fears keep us from accomplishing something great in our lives. We all have obstacles in our lives to overcome, the longer we sit and wallow in it, the harder it gets to go through it. By the end of the course, I was going right down these hills because I knew the longer I sat there, the more I would have fear. I love the song..."if you're going through hell, keep on going..." if life is tough, if something isn't going right for you in this moment, if life feels like "hell" - KEEP GOING, don't stop, get through it. We weren't meant to sit at the top of the hill fearing what is to come, we were meant to enjoy the journey, to learn from what we go through and to follow God through life and know that His presence is with you. So to Toby and Chris, who may never read this, you guys taught me something today. Something that i pray I never forget.

Why Support Missions?

So I've felt a need to do this for awhile and am just now getting to it. But a lot of you know because you've read my blog posts about my brother and his family going to South Africa. You read how I felt when it was my last time to see them, you read about how much I love them and want to support them however I can, you read how proud I am of them. Now I want you to read this.

I don't know all that my brother is doing, he posts on his blog a lot to keep us all up to date (he's good about it unlike this side of the Reeds). I've seen a huge change in him since he was even in college. (It's amazing what women do to us!) But he has grown up so much, his heart has become sensitive to God's calling in their life. He is pursuing the kingdom as God has called each of his followers to do...."Go and make disciples of ALL nations" it's in Matthew 28 I believe. He doesn't send us all overseas, most of you need to do this in your own workplace, but Joe and Natalie felt the call to go to South Africa and they stepped up to the plate to answer that call. They are making a difference, they are being changed, they are being obedient.

I'm in missions as well, locally. And when I started out, we had the dreaded task of raising our own support. Which meant relying on others around us to help us meet our needs financially. I didn't accept the call to ministry so I could drive a luxury vehicle or live in a mansion. I did because that is the direction God has for my life, to impact others for Him. But God also didn't call me to poverty. Many people did and do support me financially in this area of ministry in my life.

Why am I writing this? Because I came across a website today and it made me think of my brother. It showed me reasons why God tells us to support missionaries:

1. The greatest mission ever known was when God looked down and sent His

Son ~John 3:16.

2. The world will never be brought to Christ unless we bring Christ to the world.

We are ambassadors ~ II Corinthians 5:20.

3. Jesus taught that missions was the way to make disciples.

4. Because Christ commanded us to do so. The great commission has never been canceled.

5. We cannot be happy unless we’re totally committed to telling others of Christ

~Romans 1:14-16: I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians, both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

6. If we don’t it’s a sure sign that we’ve lost our vision or never had one. ~Selfishness is a contradiction to Christianity.

7. A missionary spirit is the hope of the world and the nearest thing to the heart of God.

Joe didn't ask me to do this, he doesn't even know I'm doing. He may even ask me to remove this from the blog. But I want everyone who comes across this to atleast be praying for my brother and his family while they are over there. But if you know you can do more, please keep up with what they are doing, go to: http://sareeds.wordpress.com/ you can read all of their blog stuff which will honestly teach you a lot too. Joe has a gift of writing and I learn all the time from what he writes. But at the top is a support tab where you can choose to support them. I know they have not met their goals, but they are already over there and can't raise support from new people here if they're not here. So I think it's my turn to step up and ask those of you that I know that have any connection to me to consider supporting them in what they're doing. It's hard enough to live off of what support SHOULD come in, but it's even harder when you haven't met that goal.

Luke 12:48 says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Not "much has been asked", NOT "much has been suggested. It says "much will be DEMANDED". So please, be praying for them. I'm not telling you go support Joe and Natalie Reed, but who are you supporting? Where is your money going? If God expects us to give the way He says too, what are you doing about it?