A Lesson in Flexibility

Picture this:

*15 hours on the train

*1 hour of waiting at the West Glacier station

*getting to our hosts house and discovering that she had been robbed that morning.

Can you say awkward timing???  Pam was super sweet, but it just wasn’t a good time to be crashing on her couch.  SO! What could we do besides offer to stay at a hotel instead?

Hence, a few hours later, we arrived at our hotel in downtown West Glacier.  It had a lovely lactation right next to a white water rafting place (where we’re going tomorrow!) and Glacier National Park.  It’s not quite what we were expecting during our stay in Montana, but we’ll take it! 

After we checked into our hotel, Bekah and I decided to walk around downtown and do some shopping.  What you have to understand about downtown West Glacier is that it consists of a general store, a rafting place, a bar, two restaurants, a Canadian welcome center, and about three gift shops.  We honestly did walk all over town!  We had a lot of fun, even though Bekah would argue that I took way to long to shop! ;)

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a little café in order to sample a local favorite dessert—their warm huckleberry pie with huckleberry ice cream on top!  Apparently huckleberries are VERY popular here in Montana.  It’s not hard to see why, because the pie was absolutely delicious, and that's says a lot because I usually don’t like pie!

Even though this stop hasn’t gone exactly as we expected, I’m really excited about all the things we’re going to get to do here!  Bekah and I are spending tonight relaxing in our room.  We decided to watch ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’  a comedy that I thought took place in Montana, but apparently it is actually set in Wyoming…. Oops? ;)

One of my friends from Sacramento really inspired me tonight.  He shared something that happened today, and I was so moved by it that I’d like to share it with you.

Today he was approached by a homeless man, Lancet, who asked him for spare change.  Instead of just absently handing the man some change and walking away, my friend asked him share his story.  He found out that Lancet was begging for money in order to pay his rent.  My friend then shared with Lancet how he has had to rely on God as he moved to a new city and looked for a place to live and work, and how God has come through again and again and provided for him in amazing ways. 

Lancet asked if my friend would remember him in prayer, and my friend said that he would do him one better and pray with him right then, and continue to pray for him in the future.  Then he did just that, received a hug from Lancet, gave him some money, and walked away.

My friend did what we are all called to do.  He reached out to one of God’s children and he loved him.  He pointed him towards God’s love and gave him hope.  That hope is something that is so precious, and it’s something that we all take for granted and keep to ourselves. 

When I asked my friend if he had been afraid to talk to Lancet he said, “No.  What’s there to be scared of? To live in Christ and to die is gain.  If he is for [us] then who can be against us.  We do not [have] a spirit of fear, but of power. That’s what I tell myself.” 

What if we all took hold of that spirit of power and remembered that the God we serve is the God of perfect love, and perfect love drives out fear.  We have nothing to be afraid of, and if we all loved fearlessly and let God be known in and through us, what miracles God would work in our lives and in the lives of those around us! 

Before Bekah and I started this trip, I prayed that it wouldn’t just be a fun trip.  I prayed that God would show me how to love, and that I would learn how to be fearless and intentional in loving others.  That’s why we’ve been working at all of these missions.  

However, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve strayed from that prayer.  I let so many other things take priority, and I neglected my Bible study and prayer time.  As a result, there have been several instances where I have considered sharing something with someone, whether that was money or a kind word, and haven’t acted on that desire.  

It’s been difficult because as we travelled through city after city, we saw the same homelessness represented everywhere.  I knew that I couldn’t give to everyone so I just got into the habit of smiling and nodding my head as I walked passed, or even just looking away and walking past as if I were ashamed to have seen them.  I was overwhelmed and I decided to ignore what I couldn’t change instead of looking for ways I could help.

I wouldn’t trade the experiences and memories of this trip for anything, but I’m determined that the last week will not have any regrets as far as it depends on me.  I pray that God would use the remainder of the trip for his glory, and I thank him for using my friend to snap me out of this passivity and to remind me of what the goal for not just this trip but for life really is— to be intentional and to love fearlessly. 

Rebekah

The Amtrak Station in West Glacier, Montana!

Some of the GORGEOUS view

Bekah with ALL of our luggage.... 

Proof that I was in this gorgeous place!

I absolutely love this picture of Bekah :D

There were so many mountains in Montana!  And they all had
this pretty, mysterious-looking haze surrounding them :)

This has got to be the coolest mailbox I've ever seen :D

This is  why I shouldn't make faces at Bekah while she's taking pictures of me....
they never come out looking the same as I picture them in my head :/ haha