Guys. God is real.
Like really real. Like in-your-face read-your-mail real.
I've struggled with how to condense the past few weeks in a helpful way for you - but that's all that it is: God breaking down the boundaries of our unbelief, serving us up with His truth in every area of our lives, and covering us all in love.
It looks like hundreds of people getting baptized in joy, not because of tradition or the dictates of stiff religion; they were simply excited to be able to mark a point in each of their lives that they could look back on when God began His mighty work in them.
It looks like hundreds of words of knowledge, of comfort, of encouragement that only God could have known about each of us, given constantly: at lunch, in passing, in class, while taking out the trash (ask Jeff about the prophecy that our building manager gave him late one night with a trash bag in one hand!)
It looks like a friend's mom with a tumor in her brain getting prayer from hundreds of warriors in Christ, and then waking up with no headaches or pain for the first time in weeks. It looks like weakened knees from the weight of God's presence, like light and hope entering someone's eyes where there had been nothing but depression and apathy before.
We've been learning how to discern which is the voice of God in our lives and which are simply our thoughts, or thoughts from the enemy to distract us. Better yet, we've been given the courage (and excitement!) of being able to practice it daily with those around us. God seeks not only to use "prophetic types" or special superpeople to do His will - we are ALL given as much of His Spirit and goodness as we are willing to go for, and He is always faithful to intervene when we step out in faith that He will show up.
Jeff and I have both had a dozen conversations where the Spirit shows up and uses us to reach the person in front of us. It blows our minds each time God chooses to work through us, even in just regular conversation, if we are willing and open to His gentle guidance on our words and lives.
Before we left, I had shared that the first three months were going to be "missionary training," without really knowing what that entailed (machete-wielding lessons? how to build a tent during a sandstorm? Indiana Jones 101?...) In reality, we are here to learn that God and God alone comes first and last and everything in between. How to seek His will, for both the minute daily decisions (who to sit with at lunch?) and the bigger directions for us as a family; what grace feels like (ease!) and how to respond (quickly) to His urgings.
One of our speakers summed it up well in his amazement at the YWAM founder's behavior during a crucial meeting, where they were making a decision that would impact the future of YWAM. The speaker's reaction was that they should bring in experts in the matter, take time to research and calculate the impact of what they were considering, since it was above any of the men in the room. Instead, Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, simply said, "Well, let's ask God how He feels about it," and bowed his head in prayer.
It's as simple as that. Let's start asking God every day, every moment, what He thinks about us, and see what happens. He is always faithful and will always come through.