Do You Just Love Jesus?

As I take a day to recoup from travel, I find my heart and mind are swimming with several things:

1. Appreciation for you rocket launchers back home (see next post).
2. A love for Africans, their spirit, their faith, their richness spiritually in the midst of so little.  I love the way they say "thank you" in English because they always so "Thank you SO much."  It's just the phrase they use, but it conveys such heartfelt warmth and appreciation for EVERYTHING.  It's infectious.
3. Anticipation for what's coming (more on that later).

But, mostly, I find myself aware that I don't want to be so sidetracked by the "doing" here that I miss staying deeply connected to the reason for the doing.  It really is life in Him and with Him--so life-changing--that provides motivation.  I always hope to live into the joy of that inner life (even if the outer seems to be filled with challenges) and share out of it with others.

"Don't let the childlike awe and wonder be choked out... Don't let the scenery and poetry and music of your relationship with God shrivel up and die.  You have the capacity for joy which you could scarcely imagine."  John Piper