California or bust!

Well today I thought I would share some pictures that I took when we were in California checking out Global Recordings Network or GRN for short. As you may know I have felt called to the mission field for some time now. It has been about 7 or 8 years since I formally announced my calling to the mission field. It has been a long journey to this point filled with excitement and disappointment. I won't go into all the details today. I have recently had a revelation of sorts and so that is why I chose to show these pictures and tell this story today. As I have already said it has been a while since I felt the call to the mission field, for a long time I didn't know what it was that God was calling me to do as a missionary. I don't have any formal Bible education so that takes me out of the typical missionary roles. You know like church planting, Pastor roles, Bible teacher, etc. but there are many other areas where God could use a person with my skills and abilities. I am a master electrician, not to mention that I am very mechanically inclined in areas other than electrical, I have degree in commercial photography, I am very outgoing and love to meet new people and see new places. All these things are good attributes that God could use to have me reach people with the Word of God. So I know that there are many ways God could use me, such as, maintenance at a mission hospital, school or camp; an airplane mechanic; a church builder; etc, etc. He could put me in a foreign setting to help with the infrastructure of some 3rd world country and I could share with the local people about Christ i.e. a tent maker missionary. There are many ways that He could use me. After a lot of prayer and questions God revealed to me that He wants me to use my skills as a photographer on the mission field. I couldn't have been any more excited to think that God would use me in this way. After learning this I was introduced to GRN, they showed an interest in my work and wanted us to come to California to see their ministry. So last November we took a trip to California. We were able to purchase our airline tickets for just $60.00 each round trip, this was further confirmation to me that this was God's direction for us to go at the time. It was a wonderful trip, we were able to have the time we needed with the ministry and get a mini vacation in as well. The pictures you are seeing are from our time together as a family. This trip was probably the best trip our family has taken together as a family. Let me get to the more recent news that has spurred this post. As I said, I have recently had a revelation of sorts. I have been thinking a lot lately about why it is that I am still waiting on God to put me into a missionary position. I have decided that I should not sit around and wait on God but that I should be busy making plans based on what God has already revealed to me. So Kelly and I have decided that as soon as she is finished with school we are moving to California. She will get a job as a nurse and I will start working with GRN as a missionary photographer. We have been waiting on God to help us get out of debt so that we could apply formally with a mission agency, we are now going to apply and start moving in the direction we feel God wants us to go and see how He pays off our debt. I think the waiting part has been our mistake all along. I have felt like I was floundering around not moving in a specific direction. I feel that God has revealed to me that the waiting around has been holding me back. I was waiting on God to move and God had already moved and has been waiting for me to move. This way He can stop me when I make a wrong move and I can feel like I am doing something other than just sitting around watching the world go by. In my defense, I also feel that God was waiting for us to find a way to get out of debt on our own, that is where Kelly's school comes in. Once she has finished school we hope to be able to use a lot of her income to pay off debt. If God hasn't already taken care of it another way. So there you have it, for those of you who know me and have been wondering about my call to the mission field, this is the latest and the greatest news that I have. If you have any questions feel free to leave me a comment or question and I will respond to them in another post, if possible.

Photoman