Overwhelmed (in a good way)

I wrote this for the Jonah (where I work) blog today, but I'll post it here as well for those of you who don't read that one:

Maybe it’s due to getting a little less sleep than usual last night, or maybe God is calling my heart to wake up, or (most likely) those factors are working together, but I have found myself overwhelmed several times today by the grace of God and the evidence of His hand at Jonah Ministries.

As I write this, the team from Synergo is finishing up the repairs on our ropes course, which means it will be usable for our first group in March. We were heartbroken when the windstorm took it down, and I think we often walked in doubt instead of faith as we tried to piece together the logistics of the repairs. But we prayed with the little belief we had, and all it took was one miraculous check from our insurance company to get us back on our feet again. God’s timing is perfect. He is faithful to provide for His work.

I also have the privilege of reading the responses that have been pouring in for our first annual Jonah Family Reunion. I have been moved to tears on several different occasions by the testimonies of how God has used Jonah to shape lives. We are so flawed, so human, and so often at a loss to even know what the next step should be. But God uses us, over and over again! Lives are being changed as the doors stay open year after year, and we sit here in the front row seats getting to watch it all unfold. It’s not by any greatness of our own—in fact, when we think we’ve got it all together just right is usually when things fall apart—but by the mercy of God and the mystery of His choosing to work through imperfect people. So we praise Him for that and settle into our front row seats, gaining a little more faith with each miracle and waiting to see where He will overwhelm us next.