In this time when Thanksgiving gives way to Advent, the world turns its collective attention from the people, places, and things for which it is grateful to the anticipation of something new. Cindy and I have come to reflect on the fellowship we have with those who follow these updates, who pray for us and our mission, who give or have given in partnership with us, or who have hosted information sharing luncheons in your homes. To all of you we say, “Thank you!” As we look ahead, we still are not certain about departure dates, but we believe God is leading us to partner with a particular mission, and we hope to firm up that relationship in the spring, with an indefinite long-term relocation by late summer or fall of 2021. What began as a seven-year preparatory wait is nearing the ocean crossing stage!
What began as a seven-year preparatory wait is nearing the ocean crossing stage!
As you consider your options for Giving Tuesday please consider partnering with us. Visit our Donate page for more information. We will need to muster funds for training, relocation, transportation, and our room & board while in Uganda. Anything helps.
God bless you and yours as you live missional in your homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods!
I graduated Saturday! I’m officially a college graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a University of Florida Gator alumnus! (#GoGatorNurses #GatoRNurse) The US allows nurses to practice with an Associate Degree as long as they pass the licensure exam, but the rest of the world is trending toward requiring the BSN. Since Uganda follows trends in the UK, it seemed wise to keep up with the global standard.
I posted this selfie on social media sites Saturday and it has received more attention than any other post I can recall in my online history. There isn’t anything special about the lighting, the outfit, or even the guy in the frame, but the idea that someone like me can redefine himself I think appeals to people. No one is stuck being what they once were. God changes lives, and so we who believe and rely on God are excellent examples of lives that are changed. When I look back at the person I was twenty or even ten years ago I am amazed at what God has done. Each day I pray that God will build with me and do with me as He wills, and every year I am amazed when I look back at what He has done. This is one milestone I cannot look at without seeing the obvious marks of the Master’s hand at work.
No one is stuck being
what they once were.
Here is further evidence. I just received a text from a fellow police officer who has started nursing school. She reached out to me for advice and encouragement. Nursing school is a long, hard journey. After I gave her a quick “don’t give up” pep talk, she responded with this commentary that showed I am no longer the monster of a man I once was. She said, “You are, and always have been an inspiring, encouraging, and awesome guy.” Folks, that is nothing short of miraculous evidence there is a Spirit in me that is not the spirit of Todd Lemmon. The natural me is ornery, selfish, critical, demanding, and spiteful. The me this young lady knows is someone different entirely, and I say that to honor the God who lives in me, not myself.
God is awesome! He is still in the business of creating. He wants to re-create you today. Will you let Him? If you already have, will you prove it in the way you love those around you? Will people say that the Spirit in you made them live better, love more, shine brighter?
May I pray for us today?
Holy Father, today, please make Yourself obvious in the lives of those reading this. Accept the offering of our lives and do something amazing with them. Create in us something beautiful only You could imagine. Use our smile to brighten someone’s day. Give us words that will encourage someone who needs You. Be so bright in us that the darkness in those around us has to flee. May our every thought, word, and action bring You glory through Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen!
Pandemics have a way of altering even the best made plans. Don’t they? I imagine many of you have had your lives, homes, and schedules more than a little disrupted. We can relate. We had expected to travel to a mission compound this fall. As James 4:15 recommends, we were careful to say, “if God wills..” when speaking about our intentions. This season of uncertainty seems to be proof of the vanity James warned against.
Uganda remains closed to outsiders. Furthermore, Uganda’s President Museveni has taken a position of abundant caution, so our trip will likely be pushed back to next spring. Meanwhile we wait, cautiously optimistic about our future in Uganda. We are reminded that God’s timeline is not ours and His ways, perspectives, and purposes are loftier than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). So, we submit to wait until the Lord opens the door for us to proceed. Meanwhile we pray that His will is done and that a way will be made clear for us even in this present darkness. May His Word be a light to our path and a lamp for our feet (Psalm 119:105).
God’s timeline is not ours and His ways, perspectives, and purposes are loftier than ours.
Please pray for us. We, like many of you, have come under attack in this season where discontent, like a cloud, overshadows our communities and one hateful act justifies itself into a flood of others. It is not only our plans that got tossed in the current storms. Our families, marriage, jobs, church, finances, physical and emotional health are all at risk in this tumult. We crave the relief the Spirit brings when God’s people pray. Thank you in advance. God bless each of you reading this, and may He protect you and yours from the deceiver running rampant (1 Peter 5:8) in our culture. May He empower you to be bold influences of grace, salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) in a bitter, dark world.
