John Stanko

I recently went to Seattle for a week's training at The Pacific Institute. I struggled with being away from my duties back home especially since I had just come back from Kenya.  Yet I knew in my heart I was supposed to go, and God opened the door for me to do so.

While I was there, I met many new people.  On the last day, I was talking with a man from Colorado, who gave me the title of a book that I just had to read - according to him. I wrote the book down to research it, only to discover that I had the book and had met the author in Zimbabwe (Dr. Caroline Leaf).  I won't go into the details of the book just yet, but I have started to read it and it is very helpful.

My point is that the trip to Seattle was worth it just to find and reconnect with that author and her book! That made me think of Proverbs 2:2-5:

¹ My son, if you accept my words
   and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
   and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
   and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
   and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
   and find the knowledge of God.

To get wisdom, you have to search, dig, cry aloud, look, and call out. Those words are anything but passive! What are you doing to gain insight and to grow?  What price are you willing to pay? I want to grow and help others grow.  If that is my objective, what price is too high to change or save a life from the doldrums of mediocrity, produced by fear and bad thinking?

What is in your heart that you have not done that you need to do, something that will contribute to your growth?  What is stopping you from going for it? I turned 62 last week and have no idea how many days I have remaining.  That is why I want to make each one of them count for something.  I am determined to follow my heart where it leads me, trusting that God has shaped and molded that heart to follow after Him and His desires for my life.  That trust led me to Seattle and I encountered Him in many ways, but especially on the last day when a man I met for the first time directed me to a valuable work that will add more value to my valuable work. I want the same dynamic present in your life.