After all the craziness of getting to
Egypt from where I have been living, I am so thankful for the
blessing that Field Forum is. If you have read my previous post, you
know that this sumer had been extremely dry. I had been looking
forward to Field Forum for quite some time. It was so awesome getting
to see friends from the Salem Team, to get to know the speaker and
his wife, and also to meet other families who are also working for
our company.
Sunder, our speaker was great. He
talked about holiness and repentance. He talked about the importance
of being emotionally healthy, in order to have a healthy
spirituality, and that it is okay to set aside a day of our week to
have for ourselves to be with God and rest. He talked about the
doctrine of adoption and our acceptance in Christ. To be honest,
because of where I have been all summer spiritually, it was hard for
me to focus in on some of his talks. But I did take a lot of notes so
that I can look back on what he had to say. His wife shared one
morning with just the women, and this was a powerful time for me. I
can't remember all that she said, but what did stand out to me was
how in everything Suunders wife did, she asked for the Lords guidance
first. The Lord moved in my heart that morning and I was convicted to
seek the Lord in even the small things.
I loved what Sunder had to say about
taking a sabbath, and this is something our team has discussed a
little bit about, is making sure to take one day off and to not feel
guilty about it. It's our day to be with the Lord. He said in his
message that God created the world in 6 days, and on the seventh he
rested. But man was created on the 6th day, so they
started out their existence by resting on their first day, but Gods
seventh day. This was really good for me to hear, because usually
when I look for rest, it is because I am exhausted, burnt out, and I
don't have anything more to run on. By looking at it differently, I
can start my week filled up and rested so that I can pour out,
instead of hanging by a thread all week, waiting desperately for a
time to be filled up again. Suunder reminded us that it's good to say
no, that it is not my work that defines me. This also was a good
reminder for me to hear.
The rest of Forum was amazing. I am
beyond grateful that people from Salem were able to come out and
serve the children, and to bless us with amazing servants hearts and
their refreshing attitudes. I loved meeting the other workers from
different countries and hearing how they have struggled with living
in the Middle East, and the joys of it from living over here longterm
as well. Field Forum was a great time and I am so grateful that it
was included in my time here because I am seeing how important it is
to get out of country once and while to be refreshed and to be
reminded and encouraged in what we're doing.
