Letting Him set the Pace

It is so easy for me to cross the line. I don't mean to, my heart just wants to help, my brain wants to figure out the plan and fix it, my will won't give us and keeps driving to accomplish it.

Sometimes that sounds like good attributes.

Desire, creative thinking and determination. Other times it looks like wanting my own way, kicking through road blocks God puts up for my protection and stubbornness.

Exhaustion is often the result when I let it look like the later. I find comfort in this verse from Romans 3: 28. It isn't about me figuring out the plan or leading the parade, it is about watching, listening and following what God is already doing. Being on the team. God's team.

What we've learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We've finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade. Romans 3:28

Being in step with God sounds carefree. It makes me think of Kaytlynn or Harrison walking between Shane and me, holding tightly to our hands and occasionally swinging their feet up in the air. It is peaceful. No worry about the course or the direction, just holding on tightly. No running ahead or falling behind, just in step, right on time.

Lord, help me to hold onto you tightly, to stay in step with you and to follow your lead and your pace. Amen

New to our blog? Our story unfolding...

Our family has lived in Tualatin, OR for just over 10 years. We have always been passionate about sharing our love, our time and our resources with others who would be blessed by them. This year we have had our heart tugged in a very special way…just in time for Christmas.

I visited Ethiopia in July accompanying a dear friend who adopted a 4 year old boy. I had no idea how this trip would rock my world and drive me beyond where I have ever been with compassion for children, for those who are sick and for the devastated poor. When I returned, I chose not to forget, not to close my eyes, not to justify the extremes in which I had just been exposed to. My husband Shane, my daughter Kaytlynn (11) and my son Harrison (8) supported me and listened to countless stories, watched many videos and stared at the pictures with me. They chose to be moved inside.

We decided to start with what we could control…eliminating expenses and liquidating our treasures. We had a whole house garage sale and sold about 90% of our belongings. We leased our house and moved into a tiny apartment. We used the funds from the sale to buy plane tickets for Ethiopia on December 27th, just two days after Christmas. Since that time we have been making contact with NGO’s and non-profits already in Ethiopia serving the people.

Even without even seeing Ethiopia themselves yet, Kaytlynn and Harrison are volunteering to tell the story anywhere and to whomever will listen. They have been asking their friends to support them by collecting loose change and needed items to take with them on the trip.

Our hope is that we might be able to change the world for one. One child, one family, one community at a time. We hope to keep our eyes wide open and to Embrace Compassion rather than cover our head when the time comes to face the pain and suffering of the extreme poor in Ethiopia. There is one small community where we will spend some of our time, just outside the capitol city of Addis Abba Ethiopia. It is called Korah (Kore). Many of the locals do not even know this forbidden area that was once just for lepers. It now contains three generations, around 100,000 people, including babies and children scavenging for trash to eat. Orphans are overly abundant, unprotected and unseen.

We know that we may be one grain of sand on the beach or one drop of water in the ocean, but we will not use that as an excuse to not give who we are and what we have. As we have shared with our friends, we have found many others sharing the same hope and dreams for Africa. Many are giving in different ways of themselves and of their resources. We are not alone. The connections are deep and meaningful almost instantly as we are all fighting for something much bigger than ourselves. Much more important than a fancy Christmas tree or a big house.

We will be hosting an informational Christmas celebration complete appropriately with Ethiopian food, music and a story from a new Ethiopian friend who has just lived in the US himself for only 8 months. If you would like to know more how you can be involved or if you would like to share in this story unfolding, come see us at the Bridges Financial and Realty office in Sherwood on December 18th, 2010 at 7pm. If you would like a presentation in your classroom or at your office for the opportunity to make an impact for one, please contact Jen@bridgesfinancial.com. www.embracecompassion.blogspot.com as the story unfolds. Please find me on Facebook as Jennifer Bridges or Embrace Compassion.

my Christmas wish list

Kaytlynn and Harrison 2 days before Thanksgiving, with grandma & grandpa

Today my heart and my mind are full of thankfulness for a beautiful day looking back at this year and years past. I am thankful for my beautiful family. I am always amazed by how much each year looks so incredibly different from the year before.

In the last 12 months, we moved our family which constituted a new lifestyle in many ways, traveled across the world to fall in love with Ethiopia, my daughter started middle school, hired and trained a brand new full time assistant, made many significant new friends, sold 6 million dollars in real estate, began leading a small group bible study, started writing my blog and have become aware of poverty in a new and tangible way. Maybe there are more?

As the day has already closed and I am slow to relinquish it, I begin to think about Christmas. The final crescendo of the year. Only 2 days later we will be leaving for Ethiopia. The discussion this evening began of gifts and planning for Christmas.


Just now I began to think of my own list...if I could truly have whatever I want.

for my friend B. to be able to provide medicine for his blind mother in the leper colony.

clean water for Alex's mother in her hometown that has never known of a well.

restoration for broken relationship and past hurts.

my friends to be blessed by knowing of the blessing that comes from generosity.

understanding of culture that is so different than mine.

less need to drive the day and more opportunity to allow the day to pass on its own timing.

children to have people who love them and provide for their needs.

hope to be given for those with medical and special needs.

relief from poverty that devastates the very existence of someones soul.

Ultimately, for my "brother" and my "sister" to be given a future and a hope.

I hope you will pray with me that God will hear my request before him for the best Christmas ever. I pray the he will squish hearts that they might overflow with kindness and compassion toward those around them and around the world. I pray that my own heart my be soft enough to embrace my part. My will being surrendered to him and his gifts given to me, in whatever shape and size. I pray that he will do miracles above and beyond what make sense to to us in our human knowledge and that we might be amazed in his greatness despite our own insignifigant persons.