"Yes, Sir!"

Some of you may remember that Pete and I were scheduled to go to Bangkok, Thailand in April but had to cancel the trip due to Pete’s strokes. We were going with a group who seeks to make a global impact in the educational world. I was to work with university professors who taught English as a Second Language. Pete was going to talk to some university business classes about the construction business in America. Let me explain how this all began…In 2007, I was contemplating retiring from teaching elementary school. I had taught for 29 years and loved every minute of it… well, not EVERY minute but I was a happy teacher who loved working with kids! Yet, I began feeling like I was supposed to retire. As I considered that possibility, I felt like God was telling me to go back to school and get my Ph.D. I had my Masters and Ed Specialist degree but had not considered going any further in my education…and especially not when I was thinking about retiring! That was crazy! I “argued” with the Lord for 6 months…sure I had “heard” Him wrong! But that thought would not go away. I just couldn’t figure out why He would want me to get that degree at this stage of my life. Then I met some people who helped me grasp the idea that God could use this degree in a lot of ways, especially overseas.  My personal desire was to build friendships that could lead to open doors for Him down the road. So, with Pete’s blessing and encouragement, I started working toward that goal. In December 2010, I became Dr. Brenda Richards! No one was happier or prouder of me than Pete! He was my biggest cheerleader! We celebrated with a trip to New York and had so much fun together!

 

 I shared in an earlier post that we were planning to go overseas often…sometimes for me to use my degree and help promote relationships through education and sometimes using his construction knowledge and help promote relationships through building projects. Last year, we were blessed to be able to go to Lebanon. This year, we were going to go to Thailand. It was a trip we were both looking forward to a great deal! A few weeks after Pete went home to be with the Lord, I was again invited to go to Thailand and continue the work with university professors. As hard as it would be to go without Pete, I knew immediately I was supposed to go. After Pete’s death, part of me wanted to just stop the world and crawl into a hole! I kept thinking, “If only we could go back in time and Pete could still be here with me! I just don’t understand why he had to go home now, Lord!” I just wanted him back!! But I was reminded of how important obedience is in the life of a believer by these words in Anne Graham Lotz’s book, Why? Trusting God When We Don’t Understand.

“Jesus stands ready to help us, but His help is contingent on our absolute, total obedience to His Word, whether or not we agree with it or understand it. His help is delayed and His power is bound and His glory is hidden as long as we stand around in disobedience and argue!...’But, Lord’ is an oxymoron, isn’t it? It’s a contradiction in terms, because if Jesus is Lord, then we say, ‘Yes, Sir’ not ‘But, Lord!’…How will you ever experience the power and the glory of God in your life or the life of someone else if you attempt only those things you are sure you can do? If you stay in your comfort zone?”

So even though I wanted to keep saying, “But, Lord….why?” I knew I had to say, "Yes, Sir" and be obedient and continue to do what I felt like God had given me to do. I was blessed to spend the past week and a half in the beautiful country of Thailand. We spent some time in the northern part where we were able to visit elementary, middle and high schools (and ride an elephant…Pete Richards would have LOVED that!) and then went to Bangkok where we worked with a group of 28 wonderful university professors from all over Thailand who wanted to become stronger teachers of English on their campuses. The Thai people are very kind and gracious. It was a joy to be with them last week and I look forward to continuing our friendship through email.

The first Sunday we were in Thailand, we were able to go to a vibrant worship service which prompted my previous post thoughts I shared with you. It was a wonderful experience and one I will remember for a long time as I pray for the precious people of Thailand. Thais are very accepting of religions…they seem to welcome all beliefs and some incorporate them all as a mixture in their minds and hearts. Buddhism is definitely the dominent religion. Yet, there is a strong group of Christians there…it is just a very small group compared to the Thai population. The last day of our trip we went sightseeing in Bangkok. There are 10 million people living within its city limits! People on top of people and traffic is horrendous! But the hardest thing for me was to see the worship of Buddha! It is everywhere…It broke my heart to see people kneeling toward statues in reverence to Buddha as they sought blessings in their lives. It impressed upon my heart even more the need to pray for those across our world who don’t know our living Lord!

The scripture that has been coming to mind lately is the one in Hebrews 12:1,

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

I don’t know if God is allowing Pete to be in that cloud of witnesses but I like imagining him cheering me on and encouraging me to “run the race set before me” even when I don’t want to do it without him! Yes, I teared up several times while on this trip…missing him and thinking about how much he would have loved being there with me but at the same time, I knew I was where I was supposed to be last week! Right now, that is all I know to do. Take one step at a time and try to be obedient to what I feel like God is asking me to do at that moment! I still miss Pete like crazy and think about him constantly and I don’t think that will ever change…but I will try to keep “running the race” as best as I can!

How is your race going? Maybe you need these words, too. Trust me, these are not easy words to say but I am finding they are very important in my life! I still ask “why?” sometimes but I am trying more and more to say,

                                          “Yes, Sir"…not "But, Lord!”