I am on the Amtrak. I was in Sacramento this weekend. I did not feel like driving and with the cost of gas plus the wear on my car I decided to take the train. I also like the adventure aspect of taking the train. It is kind of cool. As I am blogging I am looking at these big old ships sitting in the river. In fact I decided to take a picture. Now you too can see the big old ships in the river. =)
As I wrote in my last blog I was in Sacramento because I had a window of time at Grace Community in Elk Grove to speak about what I will be doing as a missionary associate with Convoy of Hope. I spoke today and I think it went well. I spoke to a few people about what I am doing and passed out a couple cards. We will see what God does with it. As I mentioned in the last blog I am at 72% in monthly commitments. This means there is $600.14 left to raise. I am planning on leaving at the end of August. Having only $600.14 left to raise and if it is all in God's timing then I will be with Convoy of Hope for the fall internship. I am so excited about this!
I wanted to share a passage from Isaiah and then a scripture from Matthew.
"This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.
What I am interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am'.
Isaiah 58: 7 to the end. (This is the message version and it doesn't have verses - this is an approximation) :)
"In a word, what I am saying is Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."
Matthew 5: The last verse.
I shared these passages this morning at Grace. Theses scriptures go hand in hand with what and why I have gone through the missionary associate process. It is my response (living my God-created identity) to the passion God has placed in my heart for meeting both the spiritual and physical condition of His people. The passages at the same time are for all of us. One does not have to go to far off lands to apply the scriptures to our day to day lives. We can live our "God created identity" and we can "live generously and graciously toward others" in our day to day lives. We can share our food with the hungry, be available to our families, break the chains of injustice and free the oppressed in Santa Cruz, San Jose, Sacramento or wherever we may call home. This call is really for all us who call ourselves Christ Followers.
The boats on the river - the view in real life was a lot cooler :)
Below are some pictures from the Fourth of July in Truckee, CA.
All of the Balch shoes after we got back from the fireworks.
A Sunset - This was after Lolo, my Dad and I got lost on a hike.
Donner Lake
Another view of Donner Lake
