By Faith We Understand


 I'm sitting here in my parents' kitchen. In California. Three thousand miles from home.

 That may not seem like a big deal. We all travel, visit people, take trips, right? But this trip made no sense - at least not to my natural man. Call it a trip of faith. Have you ever done that, taken a trip of faith? My wife and three of my girls did earlier this year when they went to Haiti. Made no sense, didn't look possible financially. But God came through. And that's what they were relying on.

 This trip to my parents' was similar. Here we were, coming up on mother's day, and the thought popped into my head, "Surprise Mom for mother's day". Ridiculous. That will cost me $1500. It would be impulsive. A lot of money to spend to spend a few days with my mom, whom I love. 

 "This will honor your mother", I hear. 

 And so I wrestle, I go back and forth. Have you ever felt that way? "Should I or shouldn't I?" That mind battle can go back and forth without ever resolving. That's when taking a step of faith beyond our reasoning, beyond our understanding, beyond practicality, comes into play. Take a step of faith.

 You will rarely, if ever, regret doing something crazy and spontaneous to bless someone else. And it's good for your flesh; to kill it, that is.

And so, here I am, in my mother's kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee, writing this blog, after praying with my mother and encouraging her to continue using the gift of painting that God has blessed her with. Here I am looking over at my 13 year old daughter who proudly told my wife and I, "I have never done anything like this before."

 Here I am feeling the Lord's pleasure after responding to an opportunity which answers a prayer I had actually prayed the week before - Father, help me to live a life of faith. "Well, here you go son. Here's your opportunity." Yeeha. Now I understand. This is one step I don't regret!.


(Photographs by H. G. Furcinitti)

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