Walking the Path

Each of us has a path in this life that we are walking on.

Friday October 8th I was at David L Moss Jail in Tulsa, OK. I went with our prison ministry pastor Steve Young. We went and led a bible study with some of the inmates. 5 men showed up for the bible study. I shared on not getting bitter when things don’t go how we want them to go. I shared out of John Bevere’s book “The Bait of Satan” as I shared they were very receptive. In their lives things hadn’t always worked out how they wanted, as I shared they were very receptive and when our time was over they thanked us for coming. Now I may not ever see them again but the word I shared will be thought through for many days as they are in their cells waiting for their time to be up.

We are influencing people as we each walk in this path of life.

This Weekend the staff for the In Ministry Training program took a drive up to Colorado. The purpose of the trip is to become closer and to slow down and evaluate how we are doing. It’s important in life to take pauses in life as we are walking the path we are called to.

As we take small breaks in life it actually allows us to do more in life. Not taking a long break where momentum is lost or where you forget what the vision is. but a short pause where you see what is truly important. A breather in a race or a sports game actually allows you to finish better than if you just constantly give all you have.

After each break you take it can be tempting to start back up at a sprint because you want to make up for lost time, but that won’t make the pause worth while. start back at your steady pace that you can be consistent at and allow others in your life take up the slack of the things you can’t do.

It’s important in life to know your limits. what your able to do for a long time, what your able to do once, what your not able to do. If you try to do what is simply impossible it will only be frustrating for you.

Knowing the destination of the path you are walking on allows you to get there without giving up. maybe it’s graduation, having a family, a ministry, a church, whatever the destination.

Another important thing in walking the path is enjoying the view along the way. Sometimes it’s the literal view, a mountain, river, lake, house, deer, bear, etc. It could be a great quote in a book you are reading. a great sermon from a pastor or minister. It could be a successful ministry outreach, or building project that has been accomplished. A trip that was a success. We need to take pauses and reflect on the accomplishments we have made in life. If we get caught up in just moving on to the next big thing we could miss and incredible view that would bring refreshing and vision for our lives. It’s up to us to take the necessary pauses in life.

The last thing I would say today about the Path is – there are some things you have to do, and there are other things that you live for. I live to share the practical love of God with people. The most inspiring thing I do is travel on missions trips. Each trip motivates me to find new ways to change the world. I started in 1997 when I was 8 years old and this Monday October 18th I will go on my 20th short term missions trip. I’ve visited 12 countries in the past 14 years. For me all I have really known is traveling and sharing Jesus with people.

Monday I will go to the Tulsa Airport and get on a plane at about 7am. I will fly to Dallas where I will get on another plane to Florida, once there I will get on my third flight at about 2pm and fly to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. I will spend eleven days there building homes for the children of Haiti. My outreach children’s pastor Rod Baker is a Mentor and a hero in my life. I will serve and work with him while I am there and the purpose will be to build homes for the children who currently are living in tents or over crowded buildings. I will go to show Jesus love.

Thanks and God Bless,

Brian Blackwell