Aaaah! Spring in Jamaica!

I had a friend recently ask me about my faith and "how do I know". This blog is for her.

I've been thinking about it since she asked me. . . because I didn't have an exact answer for her. She had recently discovered that her life was about to change dramatically. And apparently she was beginning to question her faith, or maybe she's just about to discover it? My uneducated response (after x amount of years at Bible college how can I say uneducated?) to her was, "I just know"! I told her that often it's not simple to see, especially when you're bogged down with the seemingly mundane tasks of day-to-day life. I told her that sometimes it's hard for me to really FEEL my faith. I KNOW it; but often I don't feel it. I told her that when I really FEEL it is when I experience it first hand.

First hand experiences


I've been in Jamaica for just over a week and I have yet to welcome a group of my own. In fact they come in tomorrow and we'll spend a week at the Grateful Hill Baptist Church near Discovery Bay. But for the past week I've been driving all over Jamaica making sure my spring trips are ready to go and getting some more info on some summer trips. And as I've been driving (with no radio) I've had a lot of time to reflect and I've thought a lot about this question, "how do I know?"

I'll tell you what. . . God doesn't yell at me any louder (or whisper to me any softer) than when I'm meeting with pastors who have such a heart and passion for doing His work! Nothing is more subtle than driving down the coast with the windows down and watching the ocean splash. Something as simple as a hummingbird buzzing around while I sit outside in my "office". And nothing breaks my heart and makes me FEEL God's touch more than meeting an elderly gentleman who takes care of his three young granddaughters while they all live in a small, one room shack at best! Those are the things that let me know I'm in the right place!

And out of all this comes my still uneducated response. How do I know? Because I know what God has called me to do and when I do what He has placed on my heart I FEEL Him smiling at me. My answer. . . LISTEN to what God is telling you; EMBRACE those times when you're broken and you have nowhere left to turn but to Him. He wants your attention! Then FOLLOW where he is telling your heart to go. Worst case scenario you go in the wrong direction. . . trust me, you'll feel it. And when you are headed in the right direction. . . you'll KNOW!