A trip to where they drink coffee out of bowls.

Travelling is one of the main things in my life that has consistently produced growth.  Growth has come through both positive and negative means; lavish generosity, physical exhaustion, poor leadership, poverty, beauty, cultures I love and cultures I hate.  But travel is always different and so always provokes a response.

This past week I got to travel to France, to visit some good friends.  For me the whole week provided the fresh space and courage I needed to listen to what God had to say.

Firstly, I heard that the Lord has good things! He lavishes faithfulness and provision on us because we are his children! He does not wait until we are in the midst of persecution or have sacrificed our life on the mission field, he is actively and creatively concerned with my every need! Rich friendships, good food, creation and stimulation of the mind are to be appreciated not denied.

Then the beauty of visiting church in another language.  I first fell in love with this in Colombia where it blew my mind how much I got out of listening to a sermon in Spanish.  And so again, in France I was reminded of the extraordinary vastness of my God.  When you don't understand the words spoken you get to look around and take comfort in the fact that the French girl across the room has invested her life in the SAME God, because she too knows him to be true.  A God bigger than language and culture, and lo and behold bigger than me. And the sound of worship songs in French is certainly beautiful too.

And my third main lesson  came in a whisper on a ski slope.  When surrounded by a never ending blanket of snow and the mystery of the mountains, I get a glimpse of what it means when I read that if we do not praise, the rocks will cry out.  The purity of creation, far better a worshiper than I am.  And it was into the awe of my heart as I considered the whiteness of the snow, that the Lord spoke to me, 

"Look around and take note my child, for this is the colour of your soul."