"Confidence" by Mark

I am writing this on Tuesday night because I think I think better at night. If I wait until Wednesday night Lucy will have already written something beautifully spiritual about a normal everyday occurrence. She is so good.

This week is a very important week to me as a Christian. Holy week in the United States is very different from Holy Week in Mexico. Yesterday for chapel we talked a little bit about Palm Sunday and how the people of Jerusalem were so happy about Jesus coming to be their king. The kids were not as familiar with this story as a lot of kids in the US are. In the Christian churches in Mexico, much of what we Americans think of as Christian tradition does not exist. Mexican culture and tradition is so steeped in religious ritual and idolatry that anything which resembles that kind of activity is not present in the Christian Church. So yesterday the kids got an American culture lesson with their weekly chapel. We talked about how we remember Jesus' triumphal entry by waving palm branches and how confident the people were that Jesus was a new earthly king.

You see, every week we talk about a positive character trait. This week's trait is "confidence." We can be confident in many things, but the Bible verse that goes with confidence is Phil 4:13, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." This has been my "life verse" for the last couple of years as we have prepared to move and are now living here at Refuge Ranch. I have been very confident about specific things. Confident to the point of arguing my position, and then learning that I was wrong. (Husbands take note, you can admit it.) The crowd in Jerusalem was wrong. They had their minds so set on an earthly king that they missed who Jesus really is. They knew what they wanted so they created it in their minds. It was reasonable that this great man could be their savior from the Romans, so they celebrated His arrival.

Being confident is about being faithful. Our confidence comes from our faith. If we are faithful to God, our strength comes from God. I know this because I have seen it. I did not move to Mexico with my family because I thought we could do it. We are here because God gave us the confidence to pick up our feet and take a step.

I have seen your faith too. Julie's blog from the other day asked for prayers. I knew things had been a little tense and a little busier than "normal" but I do not always know exactly what is happening. This is not a new thing. It is just more noticeable because I don't understand every thing that is being said around me. Tonight, however, I noticed a difference. The tension was less, the laughter was more. Julie's faith to ask for prayers turned into your faith to pray, which turned into answered prayer. These things I can say with confidence. Keep up the good work, you are good and faithful servants.