Keeping my hiking boots on

The reason I am calling this blog "Field Trips" is because it is never ever boring at the Parker residence. God has told me through a Bible Study that... he hasn't called me to wear my pretty church shoes ( which are very pretty still and hardly used at all ) and he doesn't want me to get use to my comfy house shoes ( which never get out of my comfort zone) but he has called me to wear hiking boots. If I will continue to walk with him, he will show me the things that his heart beats for. If I continue to walk with him, he will show me the way that Jesus walked and the things that he saw. He wept over Jerusalem. He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. He is the good shepherd. Desiring to keep his flock from harm. But, like sheep gone astray we tend to wander. God knows that my hiking boots are worn already, but he says... keep walking. Follow me. When you can't walk anymore, I will carry you!

This week I have experienced losing a child to Texas Youth Commission because of his wandering and choices. Oh, how I want to keep him safe. How my heart hurts for him, knowing that his wandering is putting him at great risk. I guess that is how God the father feels when his children wander away. I believe that Shawn has a call from God on his life and he is running as hard and as fast as he can. Father, bring him home soon.

Well, some more excitement... London has a friend who is going to be staying with us for a while. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away! She is precious. She has had a hard life for a 15 year old. Her mother is a prostitute. She doesn't know who her Father is. She has nobody to love her with the love of Christ. She loves going to church and she is hungry to know more about this God. She has been living with a couple from Turkey who are Muslim. The man of the house is abusive. Please pray for her mother and the Muslim family. My husband and I have been praying about this field trip for about a month. There was some reservations and quite frankly some fear. Some of the roads we travel, we don't necessarily want to. We both knew though that we would be like the religious leader on the way to the synagogue to worship who walked on the other side of the road to avoid helping the beaten up man. We were made aware of the tragic problems in Dastena's life and we just couldn't look the other way. She begged us to let her stay. The verse that says," If you know the good that you should do and don't do it, it is sin," kept ringing in our ears! So... after a month of telling God, " Don't we already have our hands full, Lord?" He answered with a "That's why you have to let me help you carry EVERYTHING."

So, with his strong arms and guidance, I believe that we can make this journey too. There will be times when we need help from our friends to help tie our boots when our backs are too sore to bend over. My dear friend and mentor Sandy has helped me lace them many times. She even double knots them with truth when I feel like everything is coming undone. I told her I didn't think I was ready for this field trip. But the permission slip is signed in Jesus' blood. There's no turning back now! Might as well, keep walking!