God's sense of humor!

When I was a kid and went to church with my Grandma, missionaries would come to church with the best stories. They would be all dressed up and I thought their lives, while difficult, must be pretty near perfect :) I thought wow, those missionary kids and yep pastors kids too, have perfect parents who love the Lord and do just about everything right. Now that I am a parent to MK,s I realize how wrong my perception was. Don't get me wrong I love being a missionary and can't wait to make it out to Dutch Harbor but I'm just a normal person, one of God's kids, dependent daily on His love and graciousness. I'm also a person very prone to clumsiness, and embarassing moments. Up until yesterday my most embarassing moment was when I wore two shoes that didn't match, a black one and a blue one, to church. One of the kids I was teaching let me know during the middle of our singing time.


Well yesterday's embarassing moment beats that one by a long shot. I've been teaching the 6th - 8th grade class in our sending church since our Pastor had surgery in June. Yesterday I had 7 kids, 3 boys and 4 girls. As I was teaching I noticed my capris that I was wearing were a little lose. That happens since my surgery, with the changes in my medication. My weight varies quite a bit. Anyway, I didn't think it was a big deal. They didn't seem that bad. As I stood up and took a couple of steps, yep you guesed it they fell down!! I caught them pretty quickly but not before the kids saw what was happening. Now the old, shy Jody wanted to crawl in a hole, and never come out. But God, in His love gave me the ability to laugh at myself. The kids and I laughed together for several minutes and then I had the opportunity to tell them how I felt, that I dreaded facing their parents and people who would hear about what had happened but that working through those embarassing times is part of serving the Lord. After my day yesterday I am so thankful that my God has a sense of humor and knows that I'm far from perfect but that I love Him and want to serve Him with my life. What an honor that God would use an imperfect, accident prone person like me to reach people for Him.

We will be leaving Thursday to go spend some time in Iowa before Kristi's wedding. Please pray that shortly after that we will get to Dutch Harbor Alaska. Also please pray for our sending church, Wellington Baptist Temple, that people will step up to fill in the gaps that will be left when we leave. After all, while God wants us to do our best I don't believe He values perfection as much as He values love for Him and a willing heart.