Tell me, Whose side are you livin' on?

Word of the Post
Today's word is: mendacious
/men*da"cious/ adjective
Given to deception or falsehood; lying; intentionally untrue. Has anyone listened to a politician lately?
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For several days, I have been contemplating and revising this entry in my head. I do a lot of scribbling before I actually post anything. Sometimes, I am given to long fits of typing. Today, those scribbles and fits were for naught. I am still at a loss for what to say.

I recently found out that the side of Good has lost a valuable team member. I can't really call him my friend, for I only met him a few times. Since I did not know him well, I don't feel comfortable calling him "brother". Yet, in the spiritual sense, he was. God's warrior, Adam Langford, passed away in January. He died in a car crash in Uganda. He was ministering to the people there, a missionary for the Lord. Adam had just turned 28. He leaves behind family in the U.S. and Uganda, churches supporting the continuing work, and a great cloud of witnesses to his short time here. He touched many lives for God, and his death is a loss that has been felt the world over. I humbly ask that if you pray, please pray for Adam's family. For more information about Adam's recent work in the mission field, please visit here. I think you will also be inspired by his insight, zeal, and faith.

My friend Niki mentioned on her blog a "Yes Path to God". I have a tough time stopping long enough to listen for God. I do a lot of nothing, and I let even my depression and laziness get in the way of what God has to say to me. I do good works for my friends, and I am a good person. Those sound like the excuses that non-believers give to me when I ask why they don't make time for God. Excuses won't get me anywhere on the day my judgement comes.

I remember as a child, praying my hardest that God would change the path my parents were on. We were in the process of moving to Ghana, Africa. We were going to be one of two families going there to help the missionaries. My family was four ~ Dad, Mom, me and my brother. The other family was also four ~ Dad, Mom, and two boys. I remember being angry that my family would make such a huge decision without consulting me. (I was very selfish for my eleven years.) I prayed like I have not prayed before, or since. I told God that I didn't mind going, if only He would make the trip happen for another family to accompany us. I didn't like the boys. I was moving to a totally foreign place, and the only people I would know were hideously rude, ugly, MALE. I was exaggerating, but I wanted God to see my plight more clearly than my parents seemed to.

My parents had sold our home, had packed most of our things, and had even purchased plane tickets. At the eleventh hour (how funny that seems now, matching my age), we got word that the church in Texas that was planning to sponsor us had backed out. We were out on the street. My father found a job in another city, and we moved there.

Now, I see that the prayers of a selfish little girl are surely not the only reason that trip was canceled. I understand that something else influenced Him to move us in a different direction. I know that this direction is in His will as much as any other He might have guided me to. Except... the child in me still wonders. Was my request the right one? Did I harm God's work in Ghana? Did I avert disaster somehow? Why did God listen to ME?

The child in me wonders. The adult in me prays.