Even though Rachel and Aubri (our exchange student girls) are back in the U.S., we can’t help but remember how much fun it was to have a party at Canvas for Rachel’s 21st birthday. Hosted at Canvas, by some of Rachel’s friends, the theme of the night was A Very British 21st. In other words, we were to come dressed as the person or thing that most represented England to us. That’s why you’ll see, in the pictures below: Mary Poppins, Sherlock Holmes, a Redcoat, some football player called Beckham, etc…

For these and other photos, visit photos.constantjourney.com.

We’ll miss Rachel and Aubri for sure, but at least we have the memory of the Beatles together, going for one last show.

Recently, along with some friends from Pavilion Christian Community, Leah and I joined Christians from around the city of Birmingham for an interdenominational prayer gathering. Here are some snapshots from the event.

For these and other photos, visit photos.constantjourney.com.

It’s always encouraging when Christians can come together because they collectively believe in God’s work in a particular area, in this case Birmingham. Testimonies, powerful prayers and people excited about being a part of what’s happening throughout the city, made this a moment to remember.

No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity because it obliterates God and puts self-interest upon the throne.

“God is able to make all grace abound,” then learn to lavish the grace of God on others. Be stamped with God’s nature, and His blessing will come through you all the time.

(quotes from “My Utmost For His Highest” by R. Chambers)

I have been thinking on the idea of trusting God to provide everything I need. In the book “God’s Smuggler” Brother Andrew talks about how he lived a life that depended on God’s provision. However, it got to the point that they were always just barely making ends meet. Always living on scrapes and saying that God just made it. He came to realize that to say God just barely provided is undermining how great God is. I think that is what Chambers is talking about in this devotion on “The Habit of Wealth.” To complain, or even dismissively say that we just had enough and wasn’t it hard is a bit of self-pity. We aren’t celebrating how God provided but switching the attention to how we barely made it through.

I haven’t completely figured out if I have this right. Brother Andrew’s point was that they were living as poor and his family needed to accept some of the good things God had given not as extravagance but as blessing. I don’t believe that we are living as beggars. I think we live with a sense of extravagance even in this “missionary” life of ours. I think what struck me is not feeling badly for the extras that God provides. And at the other extreme, not giving in to self-pity and self-interest when it seems things are tight. I do worry so often about money and being responsible with it. I need to learn the balance of trusting God and embracing his power to provide beyond measure. Not a half-hearted “Look what God has done, but just barely,” but an exuberant “My God provides fully and extravagantly!”