Thank You

As my time away from our Kaleo year lengthens, the more thankful I am for the time spent with all of you helping to shape me. We say and know that our year changed us and developed us in certain ways.  It is only in these past few years that I truly see the Lord's gracious, gentle, and faithful leading of me throughout Kaleo and beyond become clear. I may have known in part what changes took place, and it was like looking at a blurry picture in which you know something has happened, but do not know exactly what. It has begun to focus. I can start to see the picture for what it was. I know that as the years progress the clearer I will see the picture and how the Lord was steering me.

 Or maybe it is like a river. If you are looking at a river up close you can only see small changes, or you only know that the river has started to shift and bend in a certain direction. Thus, you know it is changing, but not how or why or to what extent or even where the river is going and where it is coming from. The higher you get, and your view of the river becomes greater, so does your understanding of the direction of the river, and its path and why it made certain changes. This was my experience. I knew I had changed, or at least begun to change. Now, three years after Kaleo I can start to see the changes with more understanding.

What changes you may be asking.
1.Prayer--He has taught me to pray. Continues to do so. He demands that I pray. Teaches me what prayer is, and how powerful it is.
2.Grace--The depths! The demands! How sweet it is! Ps. 103:
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
^2 (B)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and ^(C)forget not all his benefits,
³ who ^(D)forgives all your iniquity,
    who ^(E)heals all your diseases,
⁴ who ^(F)redeems your life from the pit,
    who ^(G)crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵ who ^(H)satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like ^(I)the eagle's.

⁶ The Lord works ^(J)righteousness
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ^(K)ways to Moses,
    his ^(L)acts to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is ^(M)merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
^9 (N)He will not always chide,
    nor will he ^(O)keep his anger forever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us ^(P)according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For ^(Q)as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his ^(R)steadfast love toward ^(S)those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he ^(T)remove our transgressions from us.
¹³ As ^(U)a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion ^(V)to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame;^[a]
    he ^(W)remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like ^(X)grass;
    he flourishes like ^(Y)a flower of the field;
¹⁶ for ^(Z)the wind passes over it, and ^(AA)it is gone,
    and ^(AB)its place knows it no more.
¹⁷ But ^(AC)the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on ^(AD)those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to ^(AE)children's children,
¹⁸ to those who ^(AF)keep his covenant
    and ^(AG)remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹ The Lord has ^(AH)established his throne in the heavens,
    and his ^(AI)kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you ^(AJ)his angels,
    you ^(AK)mighty ones who ^(AL)do his word,
    obeying the voice of his word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all his ^(AM)hosts,
    his ^(AN)ministers, who do his will!
^22 (AO)Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
^(AP)Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Grace is not head knowledge, but heart knowledge as well. I have seen him answer my question of his grace. I look forward to when he answers it again, and I can learn his grace over again.  

3. His faithful, gentle leading even during my sin.
4. The path that my life was on, and how he has steered it away from that. Not necessarily on a path of abandon, but of a shallow faith. 
5. Allowing me to take my faith. Not my parents' faith. Not my brothers' faith. Not my leaders' faith. Not my peers' faith. But my faith. I do not want to sound so selfish, but for a long time I tried to be pragmatic with my faith. If it works well like this for this person, and he fells close with God, then it also must be true for me and work for me. To steal from Cool Runnings, "We can't be copying anybody else's style."

Not to say these things listed above are complete. Far from it! But I have begun to see where the Lord started things in my life, to change and shift me to the praise of his glory. 

Thank you for being a part of it.