God is Good, Even When it Doesn't Feel Like It

God is good. Even when it doesn't feel like it. I've been back in Papua New Guinea for about two weeks now, after a lovely and refreshing time visiting with family and friends in Canada. Although it hasn’t been very long, it feels like it's been much longer. I was excited to come back; I missed my friends aboard the ship and was itching to get back to work, and while those aspects of being back are really great, there have been a lot of challenges and spiritual warfare surrounding everything.

They're all really petty things to be honest, but when they're all happening at the same time it gets to be really discouraging, and I look back at all that happened that first week, I can't believe it was only a week! It started with losing my neck pillow in the airport half an hour before my 14 hour flight to Brisbane. Petty, right? I was annoyed, but I bought an overpriced one in the terminal and was fine.

Well, turns out that was just the beginning. Some freak booking incident happened with my flight from Brisbane to Port Moresby, and I had to stay overnight there (shout-out to my lovely friend Janet who took me in at such short notice!), and when I finally made it to PNG, there was a glitch with my cell phone carrier and I wasn't able to top up my phone data for FOUR days! Petty, right?

Snowboarding at Lake Louise!

Meanwhile, jet lag hit me worse than it ever has before, my acne is currently that of a fourteen year old boy, and as I work with management to plan out our outreaches for this year, it is shaping up to be completely different what I originally imagined, to the point of being completely different to what I thought God was speaking to me, causing me to doubt several major things that I thought I had heard from the Lord.

This post is kinda messy, because I'm processing my existential crisis as I type this; but even though everything seems to feel like a steaming pile of garbage, I choose to believe that God is good, even though it doesn't feel like it right now. I am choosing to look for the joy in the here and now, and to trust that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, and have been called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28.

I think God is trying to remind me that I don't need to know the whole plan. I just need to do the last thing that He asked me to do, and he will illuminate one step at a time. When I look back at His faithfulness over the past year, how could I not trust that He has good things in store for my life?

Christmas Eve Feast!

Part of me doesn't know why I'm posting this, maybe I'm just complaining. But I think its important to say that being in missions isn't always wild stories and epic instagram moments. Often its not glamorous, its uncomfortable, and you need to trust God farther than you ever have every single day.

I'm still really excited to see where God is going to take this ministry this year, and how He's going to grow me to continue to become more like Him. This week has just been a sucky one, and I would appreciate prayer. Clearly God has some pretty big plans in store for me that the enemy feels the need to try and attack me over, and it just gives me more motivation to lean into God's plans and pray for his will to be done, not just in my life but in this Ships Ministry!

Prayer Points:
- Unity within the crew on board the ship
- Wisdom and discernment as we plan 2020 outreaches, and for doors to open
- That I would hear God's voice clearly as I try to listen and discern my next steps

Home with the fam for Christmas!