Entering In

I’ve heard it shows in Kansas in the winter. I’m not sure because I’ll take my Texas winter weather over snow every time! Christmas day was a chilly 52 degrees but in a few days it will most likely be back up to 70 then perhaps down to 30 then 80 then snowstorm. A bit unpredictable but it is the very unpredictable nature of Texas weather that makes the days (those one or two) of ice and freezing temperatures bearable. You see, in Texas we know any “heat wave” or “cold snap” won’t last long – it is just passing through.

As I look out this morning, of my Moscow hotel room, I need not question to my imagined Toto “we are not in Kansas." A thick blanket of snow is covering the ground, and snow is still falling. People are out in number. There is a crowd on the street going to and from the metro, their jobs, shops, some headed home. This is the life of Russians. It snows, it is below freezing, and it IS winter. Weather is endured, changes are common, and the unexpected alter in day or circumstance catches no one off guard. They have adapted, they will adapt and more importantly they will survive.

I’m sitting here, inside, looking out at those bundled up bracing the elements because they have to. I can’t imagine! My hotel is heated, and I’m cold. I have on thermal underwear, wool socks, and a jacket and I’m still cold. I am out of my element that is certain.

But…

I have entered into the world of the work of my King! As cold as I convince myself I am here on the “inside” I only have to get up and look out the window to see “cold”. And as much as I may personally and emotionally feel the connection with the orphans we are on our way to minister to, do I really KNOW their suffering and sorrow?

Christ calls us to “enter in” to His suffering and there find the reward of the faithful servant – His joy!