Humble Pie

On Monday, myself and the other four pastors from EBC set out on our annual golfing excursion that we call the Pastors Masters. We played at Elk Ridge, which is a beautiful golf course situated in the Columbia River Gorge. We had a great time, but the truth is, I’m no master when it comes to golf. After my experience on Monday, I’m starting to wonder if I might actually be worse than I was the first time I ever played. I’ve played a lot of golf in my life. I own my own set of clubs, and I even have a pair of shoes just for golfing! But try as I might, I’m simply what decent golfers call a “hack” or a “duffer”. I’m terrible. Golf is a humbling sport.

I wish all of my humbling experiences were as benign as being a bad golfer. Most of my humbling experiences are much more personal. The last four days have been humbling, setting aside the bad golf.

My truck was in the shop this week, receiving a tune up from a friend, in preparation for the upcoming trip. It is such a kind and generous gift he is giving, especially when it was discovered that there was a pretty serious repair that needed to be done. What a true blessing.  To make a long story short, though, the truck isn’t going to make the trip this time. It just won’t be ready by the time I’m needing to leave. So naturally, I spent the weekend fretting and living in a heap of stress. I knew, intellectually, that the I could trust the Lord with the outcome. I even said so to people in conversation. But for as much as I could speak about trusting the Lord, I wasn’t really doing it. Instead, I was working through every possible scenario, solving the problem in the strength of Ryan. Turns out, that’s not the best strength to rely on.

Thankfully, we have a solution. On Monday evening a supporter who knew about the situation reached out and offered to cover the cost for Leanne and the girls to fly to Smithers, which is just an hour away from Rock Nest. That means I am now free to take our other vehicle that they had planned to drive. It’s a great solution. (I can’t fly, because I have a truckload of stuff that I’m bringing with me). It also means we can all ride home in one vehicle together at the end of the summer, rather than a two car caravan.

This solution was humbling for a number of reasons. First, it’s always so humbling to be on the receiving end of financial gifts. We are so blessed. We continue to experience God’s provision through God’s people over and over again. The gift of plane tickets is humbling. The gift of work on the truck is humbling. The gifts we’ve received to cover our other travel costs have been so humbling. But there’s another reason that the solution felt so humbling. The reason is because it is such a good, and maybe even obvious, solution. And it never crossed my mind. I did, however, spend the whole weekend coming up with terrible solutions! And in all that unnecessary mental energy, I never thought of this good and obvious solution. It’s humbling to be reminded of my own limitations, limited wisdom, limited ideas. And it’s good. I need that reminder. In my pride, I can be so sure of myself and not even look for help. Help me, Lord!

Gratitudes

• We are grateful for our kind and generous friend who is helping with our truck. Even though we won’t be taking it with us, it will be ready for future trips.  
• We are grateful for supporters who came along with the right and generous solution for our travel needs.
• We are grateful that the Lord is still working on us, growing us, sometimes slowly, to be more like His Son Jesus.  

Prayer Needs (Same as the last letter)

• Prayer for a time of personal renewal and peace as I travel. I am really looking forward to the travel. My hope and prayer is that the time will be a sort of personal retreat, where I can quiet my heart and prepare for the busy summer ahead.  
• Pray for all five of us, as we are apart for four weeks. We like being together. We enjoy one another. So it will be a strain to be apart for this time.
• That we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him to share the Gospel boldly with campers and staff during our time at Rock Nest.
• That we will find long-term Financial Partners to join with our strong team of Prayer Partners.

Conclusion

I leave in a week. My prayer tonight is that the Lord would grow me in my dependence on Him, and that He would grow me in my interdependence with others. I don’t love being humbled, and I would almost never choose it. But I need it a whole lot, and it’s good medicine for my heart. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m praying for you all, that you’d experience some of that medicine, too, because I doubt I’m the only one who needs it.

Ryan and Leanne Donovan