In 1999, I was in Montego Bay, Jamaica with a team of youth and met a young pastor who was still in Bible School. LeRoy Blackwood was 25 years old at the time and had a vision to reach the young men and women of his country for Christ. He shared with us his dream and frankly, I was a little skeptical. After all, he was 25, in Bible School, didn't have a penny to his name, wasn't even really in ministry yet, but had this enormous plan to reach the island with the Gospel! Thank goodness, he didn't wait for people around him to tell him he could do it, he just started doing it the best way he knew how.

Let me give you a little background on LeRoy. He was raised in a very poor family and didn't even own a pair of shoes. He went barefoot most of his childhood and walked every where he went. You know how some folks talk about walking to school in the snow, up hill both ways? Well, LeRoy walked two miles to school each way, barefoot, in the heat! His family did not have the money to buy his school lunch, so most days he would go without eating only to get home to find they had no food for dinner, either. At 12 years old, LeRoy became the sole provider for his family. He recently told me that he'd thought many times that life was just too hard and he didn't know how he was going to make it, but chose to trust God and lean and rely on His promises and provision.

Well, it's been 10 years since we met Pastor LeRoy Blackwood! He is now married to a wonderful lady named Teresa, and has one son and three daughters. LeRoy is pastoring a congregation that he began in the community of Barrett Hall, plus another congregation in the community of Spot Mountain. He started with a handful of people, an open aired facility that consisted of four poles and a tin roof and now has a beautiful church facility with several hundred people and a school in his church with over 100 children attending . Everything he told us he was going to do, he has done! But Pastor Blackwood is quick to let you know that it is not by his power and might that these things were accomplished, but by His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God has blessed and is continuing to bless his obedience.

Pastor Blackwood was just at our home for a few days and I was reminded of his wonderful testimony. His life has been far from easy, yet he keeps his eyes upward and his focus fixed on what the Lord is calling him to do! What an inspiration to all of us! I pray that his story has uplifted you and caused you to shout as I do, "To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Has Done."

Less of me and more of Him!

Daily I am reminded that I am not perfect. I say and do things that are not pleasing to God or to man. I don't mind so much not pleasing man, but the thought of not pleasing God really bothers me, and it should. You see, more often than I'd care to admit, my mouth jumps ahead before I think. I react to situations and people in a way that is not characteristic of how a follower of Jesus Christ should act. I intentionally and unintentionally respond in a way I am not proud of.

Why do I do this? Well, I continue to ask myself that question. When you know a better way, why do you choose to do the wrong thing? After a lengthy discussion with my husband tonight, I once again am reminded that life is not all about me! It's so very nice to know that my husband treats me like it is, but I know better. Every time I mess up, I make a conscious decision to go against what I've learned in God's word. I choose to decide on my own what is best! What the best words are, what the best reaction is, what the best decision is. Now, as a Christian I am supposed to have the mind of Christ, so... what I say, do, and how I react should be like Christ. Unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. At least not in my life. Because unfortunately, I don't always listen to that still, small voice of God and obey what He's telling me to do, but think Joan's way is better. And sometimes it does "feel" better to do things my way! Ha, I'm old enough now to know that you certainly can't count on your "feelings" to guide you the right way!

Anyway, I said all that to say that as a follower of Christ who knows there is a much bigger agenda than I can even comprehend, I must be aware of how my words, my looks, my actions and my reactions affect people for eternity! It doesn't matter if I am so right about something, but say it in a way that turns everyone off from listening to the truth I am telling. Just me being right doesn't help anyone if I can't convey that truth in a way that they can relate to and understand.

My prayer tonight is that I will strive to become like the one who convinced others to believe in Him, not by just His words but by His Life! I want to be more like Jesus!