The faithfulness of Ruth

It is a divine story...the one that entwined my life with the Hafner's...one only God could write.

Imagine stepping off the plane from the World Race, returning to US soil for the first time in 11-months...carrying a strange blend of heartbreak and hope...and a very small handful of dirty clothes that seemed salvageable after the journey. (they really weren't)

 A little bit overwhelmed...

     as the fringes of my radically simplistic life collided head on with the pace of American culture.

Thankfully my parents whisk me away to the farm where I was able to slowly adjust...for a month enjoying the chores of my childhood...mowing endless acres and working alongside my dad cleaning grain bins.  What a sweet season...all the while carrying a burden for Uganda in my heart.

Family picture 2011 (note, wrong color tractor)  :)

I knew the Lord had asked me to return - to do something bigger than myself - to connect the knowledge and resources of American agriculture with the development efforts in Uganda...

...but I hadn't the foggiest idea how to go about it.

With a big vision and not an ounce of a plan, I did the only logical thing I could muster...I prayed.  And then I admittedly told the Lord..."I know you are asking me to do something in Uganda...but I don't know how to go about it...I need time to develop this vision so unless you show me another way to financially support myself, I'll pull money out of my 401K while we figure this thing out."

The next day I received a text..."Brandy now that you're home, do you want to make a little money - I could use an additional resource to help test for a few months."  I literally laughed out loud.  And then I accepted the offer to come back to Deere as a contractor working for a good friend and previous co-worker.  The beautiful thing about being a contractor is flexibility.  Which is really important when you're trying to flush out a vision in Uganda.

Meanwhile, I receive an invitation from Mike and Cathy Hafner to come and visit them out West where Mike was on territory within Deere's Construction & Forestry Division.  I had met Mike years earlier during my own season within the C&F division when he was based in Illinois.

The simple invitation:  Come and visit us in Washington, share your stories from the World Race and where God is leading next.

The incredible offer:  Wherever the Lord is leading you, we want to be a part of it.

I was deeply touched by their 'we will go where you go, faithfulness of Ruth' offering.  Amazing how much more reasonable a vision seems when you aren't going at it alone.  Mike and Cathy helped me co-found our non-profit, Field of Hope.  Mike retired from Deere in the fall of 2012 and is currently running around the dusty roads of Uganda for a few months supporting our FOH initiatives.  Mike...the same guy who was leading a Bible study before work on Friday's during his stint in Illinois.  The same Bible study which I was invited...then inspired to listen to Christian radio...and eventually led to Christ.

 Cathy, myself and Mike taken in Fall 2011 after our initial investor fundraising banquet.

Sometimes we have to let the story play out for awhile before we are able to see where the Lord is leading.  I've learned to take one small step of obedience after another and let Him lay the divine path before and behind me.

Please keep Mike lifted up in prayer and follow his posts on our facebook page.

Mike with farmers/students of John Deere's smallholder training program in July 2012.

But Ruth replied, “Don’t try to make me leave you and go back. Where you go I’ll go. Where you stay I’ll stay. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.  Ruth 1:16

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.  Proverbs 19:21

A changed heart...

“It takes a big heart to do what you do.” 

I smile…hesitate…somewhat awkwardly trying to formulate a genuine response.  “What I should have said” didn’t hit me until I was westbound, 20,000 feet in the air en route home.

While I’ve never actually physically seen my heart, I’m pretty sure it’s just regular sized, proportionate to my body.  But of course I realized he wasn't accusing my heart of exceeding the fist guideline we were all given in grade school...but a 'thank you' didn't resonate so I opted for the awkward smile in response...because it felt more honest.  

My heart really isn't big...it's changed.  [what i should have said]

I’d imagine that Christ had to make quite an impact on earth to live a life worthy of marking time.   

BC = Before Christ

AD = Anno Domini or Year of the Lord referring to the year of Christ’s birth

I’d also imagine that Christ should make a strikingly similar impact on our individual lives when we authentically come to Him.

Sometimes I find myself referring to my own life in those terms, telling a story and clarifying 'before Christ' because in some stories...it makes all the difference.

Before Christ...

• My identity was wrapped up in the world, dependent on my accomplishments and attention from others. 
• I didn't think about serving the poor or feeding the hungry - I thought a lot about me.
• I threw away a marriage.
• I swam [ok nearly drowned] in the deep end of certain pools of sin trying to fill the void in my heart.
• I held grudges, fostered bitterness.

Anno Domini...

• My identity is rooted in Him. 
• My heart breaks for the least of these.
• I've been forgiven.
• I've been set free.
• I forgive.
  

So while you may see a big heart - I know better...

He changed me.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  Ezekiel 36:26

 

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

  

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14