July 20 -- A Great Day -- Szczecin

Good, fantastic, beautiful morning to you !  As I sit here sipping my second cup of coffee allowing my mind to wander into various distractions and day dreaming just a little, I am looking out at a sky that is intensely blue.  I suppose it seems extra blue because the two previous days had been so gray and clouded.  The sun is shining so brightly on the apartment buildings surrounding the courtyard that I am tempted to go get my sunglasses so I can be comfortable looking at them a little longer.  The first cup of coffee is just a memory, a foggy memory now that I think about it.  Mariusz is in Kraków visiting with his mother.  There is something so very Godly about a man who cares for his aging parent.  Marek is here with me (but sound asleep at the moment).

For the past few weeks I have been following a plan to eat very, very, few carbohydrates.  It has worked marvelously.  I have not had a scale to measure weight loss; however, if I keep on the same path I will start having my trousers fall off if I do not get a belt to hold them up.  For those who know me well you will recognize this as a wonderful gift from Papa for me.  Ah, but yesterday ! !  Yesterday I was annoyingly hungry most of the day.  Then I was invited to dinner at the home of a lovely family who follow Jesus.  As Marek said to me just before we sat down at the table, I could have anything I wanted to eat as long as what I wanted was pasta.  It was definitely a meal full of carbohydrates.  I laughed at myself and did just what Papa has told me to do -- eat and enjoy whatever is set before me.  It was a delightful feast !  The spaghetti sauce was meaty just the way I like it.  The cheese was freshly grated and melted so nice and gooey into the pasta.  Yum, my belly still rejoices at the memory of it all.  After dinner and conversation, Marek and I returned here to the flat.  After a bit of preparation Marek went out to see a movie.

While Marek was out a marvelous young couple of newly weds dropped by to chat for a while.  Holy Spirit came and we had a fantastic time.  He is a very bright young man who is in that always difficult stage.  He knows that God has called him.  But almost all of his exposure to "ministry" has been through the traditional forms of churchianity.  He knows that Jesus has transformed his own life.  And so he hungers to serve and support other young people so they to may experience the life transforming power of God.  This becomes all the more complex because he thinks deeply about the things that Holy Spirit is speaking into him.  It was such a joy to see him wrestling through the process of being prepared for the apostolic ministry that lies ahead.  

During the same conversation his lovely wife, a prophetess of God, was reminded of her identity and calling.  We talked a bit about 2 simple realities: first, it is neither necessary nor helpful to be religious while being prophetic (have you ever noticed how seldom Jesus talked about the Father); second, prophetic ministry, indeed any spiritual ministry, is not about ourselves and how we are feeling at the moment; it is only our availability Holy Spirit seeks He is not concerned about our moods, our perfection, or our talent, He just wants us to be available and let Him flow through us.

I hope you are getting blessed in reading these tales as I am in living through them.

His, thus Yours,

  Stuart