February 24, 2008

  • Valentine BackDrop

    This is the entry I wrote December 12th  for the December newsletter.  Since I don’t usually put the newsletter articles on the blog, I am not sure if you ever read this…..so I have decided to not only send this to you but also to post it on the site. 

     

    This is the background for my Valentine’s Day blog entry.

     

    Medical Ministries

    Sal and Renee Marini

     

    WE NEED MORE….

    We are finding ourselves in need of more.....more time, more supplies, more medicines, more beds, more rooms, more staff, more help, more prayers and more money.  Most importantly....MORE GOD!!

     

    I have pondered a lot about this walk with God….how the deeper you go with God , the less of yourself there is….God gets you to a breaking point...a point where you have nothing and realize you are nothing without Him.......it is at that point that He can work, that He shows up in power.  It's only then that He gets all the glory and it's obvious to you and everybody else that you had nothing to do with it.  That's the point we are coming to.....

    It's a place of faith testing.....if your faith is weak it can be a scary place, a place where you scurry to find an answer, you worry and fret, you talk about quitting, you try to plan things out, you stop following God's leading to do more things because the money is not there....etc

    But if your faith is strong and you just trust and believe, then it can be an exciting time, a time of expectation, a time of anticipation, a time of miracles! Your job is to just keep doing what you hear God telling you....keep moving forward despite what you see in the physical or in some cases don't see. It's a time when you can't let doubt enter in.  I often think of the song by Michael Bolton...."What if I give all?"…. The song starts with a little boy giving three birthday dollars (all he had) and asking that very question.  His mother goes on to tell him that “a gift like that could change the world…it could feed a multitude.” The song talks about another little boy who gave all he had (5 loaves and 2 fish) and that gift did indeed feed the multitudes.  It then talks of Jesus giving all He had (Himself) and that gift not only freed the multitudes and continues to set people free, but as the Bread of Life, it continues to feed nations.

    I am reminded and encouraged by the story of Elijah and the widow who was told to use the last oil in the jar to feed herself and her son…..but as she used it, the oil didn’t run out.  She just needed to use all she had and when her resources were finished God was able to take over and be the Provider. 

     

    Sal and I have come to the end of our personal and ministry resources.   We have come to the end of ourselves….I am reminded of John the Baptist who said, “I must decrease so He can increase.” We are excited to see what God has planned!  Please pray that we stand strong in faith.....that we do our part….that we keep moving forward as God leads. We will pour out the last oil in our jar soon knowing that we have not yet been released to return home.  On the contrary, we feel God expanding our territory and moving us to take clinic to the people.  That only means that “something good is about to happen!!!!”

     

    Thank you for your prayers and support.