teenagers

Whenever I read those two words I instantly start humming the well-known theme music and having visions of Ethan Hunt swinging perilously above the floor of the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

So what brought this up you may be wondering, well sometimes I feel like things that God has asked me to do are exactly that – Mission Impossible. In my mind I start making plans that involve trapeze wire and a team of highly trained masterminds to enable me to accomplish the task ahead.

It’s not the first time (nor I dare say will it be the last) that God has given me a mission that is beyond my capabilities or resources.

Welcome to Poland!

When we travelled to Europe doing missions with the band, The Friendly’s, we never had any money to pay for the airfares and yet after a lot of prayer, faith and hard work raising awareness and support for our mission, the Lord always provided exactly the amount that was needed to pay for our airfares and extra luggage costs that always accompany a touring band.

The years of being caregiver for Mark were pretty much Mission Impossible but as I undertook the everyday tasks involved, God gave me the supernatural strength to keep on going.

2003 The day to day “Mission Impossible” of caring for Mark

There are many days when raising my daughters feels like Mission Impossible, but the bible says God gives wisdom to those who ask* making yet another assignment possible.

So you might be wondering what my ‘mission’ that seems impossible is at the moment, well it’s getting my book finished. It was all very well and good writing it, but now we have to tidy it up, get a copy editor to fix it up, find a title that works and work on the cover. Not to mention figuring our way around all the computer stuff involved in publishing an Ebook. (Don’t even know what that is called so we will call it computer stuff for today.)

But seeing as I have been in this spot before, I do have some idea what I need to do, and that is: do the possible so that our incredible amazing God can do the impossible.

I love the story of Peter’s escape from prison found in the Bible in the book of Acts chapter 12. Peter, a disciple of Jesus although by the extra security around him you would have thought he was some dangerous criminal, was in chains sound asleep awaiting trial the next morning for preaching about the resurrected Jesus. Like an epic movie scene a bright light appeared in the cell and there stood an angel of the Lord. Apparently the dramatic entrance was not enough to wake Peter so the angel hit him in the side and yelled, “Quick, get up!” Unbelievably the chains around Peter’s wrist fell off, then the angel instructed Peter to get dressed, put on his sandals, put on his cloak and follow him. Peter dutifully obeyed thinking he was having an awesome dream and the angel led him out of the cell, passed all the guards, even the two that were beside Peter, through one gate and then another gate right up to the big iron gates that opened to the city. Peter followed the angel out and then the angel vanished and it says in verse 11, “Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod…”

Now what I always noticed about this amazing story was that Peter had to do the possible; he had to get up, put on his shoes, clothes and cloak and he had to move his legs and walk. The angel did not miraculously dress him or carry him but the angel of the Lord did do the impossible. He was Peter’s very own highly trained team because he appeared in a locked and secure prison, made the chains around Peters wrist fall off (didn’t even have to pick the lock – so cool!) and somehow blinded all the guards and then opened all the impenetrable gates.

Peter did the possible and the angel of the Lord did the impossible.

This is the plan for everything that Jesus puts on our hearts and gives us the passion to do. We must do the possible – so I must write the book! God has already provided a small team of incredible and talented people to aid this mission and between us we must organise and figure out scary websites so that God can do the impossible by guiding us through the websites and giving us the creativity and inspiration we need and ultimately use the book to encourage others in their own journey through life and the trials that can come.

When we were organising the band’s tours and missions trips we had to do the possible of praying, believing in faith, raising support, booking plane tickets and packing, and then God did the impossible and paid the airfares.

1992 -Leaving for Amsterdam after watching God do the impossible and make a way for us to serve him with Youth With A Mission

It’s all about taking the possible steps.

So this is to encourage all you wonderful folk out there to do the possible to reach your dreams and desires that God has put on your heart, have the faith to believe, and then sit back and watch God do the impossible.

As the voice from the little box that will self-destruct in five seconds says, “your mission should you choose to accept it….”

Choose to accept it!!! It is truly an exciting way to live!!!

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible,

but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26 New International Version (NIV)

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;

it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1 New Living Translation (NLT)

^*If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.

James 1:5 New Living Translation (NLT)

Me aged 15

I was never the cool kid on the block, or the cool kid at school, or the cool kid anywhere for that matter. Truth be told, I’m not sure I really cared.

When I was at school (back in the olden days of the 1980s) life consisted of a lot of groups. We had the Rastafarian group – these obviously were the kids who loved Bob Marley. Then there were ‘the black jersey boys’, who actually consisted of girls and boys who all wore the exact same black jersey. I’m not going to lie: I had one and I loved it. There were of course the kids who unfortunately were classed in the nerd category, most of them really nice kids. Then there were the girls, who really liked the boys (these same girls acquired names not suitable for this blog). There were definitely the pretty people both boys and girls; these were the ones who everyone else in school had a crush on. Then there were the rest of us… just your average kid, doing averagely well, trying to make their place in a big school but just managing to make their place in their small group. From what I gather from my teenagers, not much has changed in the high school groups except the names of the categories themselves. School is still full of a whole bunch of teenagers trying to find their place in high school.

But not much has changed in my life either. I’m still just your average person, living in your average home, doing an average job and trying to make my way in this world. But the difference in my life, and in any Christian’s life, is that we have the God of the universe beside us helping us on this journey of life.

So, although I am just average – I don’t serve an average God. I serve the Creator of the universe; I serve the omniscient God (meaning He’s all knowing) and the omnipresent God (meaning He’s everywhere). I serve the God who loves me (and you) so much He came Himself to earth as the man Jesus to offer his own life as a sacrifice for our wrongs, so we could be made clean and pure. Through this act of love we are now able to have a relationship with Him because only by being pure can we enter His presence.

And because I serve God and believe His word, the Bible, He has taken this average kiwi girl and given her one incredible life. A life filled with abundance.

Jesus says in the book of John chapter 10 verse 10:

The thief (satan) comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (Amplified Bible)

Mark, Suz, Misha & Bonnie. Dresden, Germany.

Now it has not all been good, but it has been incredible. When Mark and I were missionaries we got to experience different countries and cultures, meet people from many nations, and live in the United States – it was all amazing!! Of course, having our four daughters has been abundance in the good sense too. But even in the darkest days of my coping with Mark’s illness, the incredible God did not leave me and taught me an abundance of lessons which, in hindsight, are amazing – but while I journeyed them they were a lifeline to survival.

I have discovered that God wants to talk to this average girl every day. He wants to encourage me. He wants to push me to do better, to think bigger, to try new things with Him beside me, to extend myself in doing things I would never have dreamed of doing – things that totally take me out of my comfort zone. The reason Jesus wants to do this in my life is because He sees my potential. He sees what I am capable of through Him and with Him. Every single person on this planet is NOT AVERAGE. We have been created for a purpose. We have a destiny to fulfill – but the only way each of us is truly going to fulfill that purpose is with the God who created us guiding us on our life journey.

I don’t want to live one day wasted. I want to live every day with the almighty God spurring me on to things I could never dream or imagine, because that is what He has promised!

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us,

to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20 (New Living Translation)