Today has been an awesome reminder of how blessed I am, how much God has given me! Today, I was reminded of the awesome support group that I have at home. Not only do I have friends and family who are with me to comfort me through every trial, to laugh with me through every high point, and to just sit and talk during the "normal" moments, but I've got a great church family, a collection of teachers still looking out for me, and a community that prays for me and checks up on me.
This morning, I had the extreme pleasure of hearing my interview with My Bridge Radio aired! I had taken off work for a presentation (more on that in a minute,) so I was able to be home for it! I'm going to be honest, I like hearing myself talk. Honestly, I think we all do, to a degree. It's probably a great downfall of mine... None the less, though, I really enjoyed hearing my radio conversation from everyone else's perspective, not just my own. Stan and Gordon, the morning radio hosts, were so much fun to talk to, and they really made me think about why I went on the trip, why I'm going again, and what impact these trips are serving for both me and the people who I meet! My mom was listening with me, and commented on how my 2012 trip quite possibly will never stop impacting people. She said "What if someone knows Pastor Reehl, and never thought they could go on the trip until they heard your interview??" All the glory to God, should someone be able to go on the trip after being inspired by my interview! It is my Father in heaven who gives me the words I speak, the experiences I share, the stories I write and tell.
(By the way, here's the link to the interview, if you'd like to listen:
Steph's Interview with My Bridge Radio)
Following the radio show, I began to prepare myself for possibly my most challenging presentation thus far: going back to my own K-8 Lutheran school to share my experiences with the students in chapel. It's one thing to talk to adults about where I've been and what I've done, how much the special-needs orphanages impacted me, how angry the Russian government made me when I walked into Hospital 8. However, it's a completely different "game", if you will, to talk to kids as young as 5 and as old as 13 or 14. I was really nervous about the whole thing, the new presentation, talking to kids who I've watched grow up (tell you what, if you ever need to feel old, just watch the babies you rocked to sleep file into the chapel with their kindergarten class...)
However, when I got there, the Holy Spirit did His thing, as always. I was able to share with the kids a few pictures from the orphanages that really impacted me, some of the Russian orphans who left their handprints on my heart, and some of the moments that will never leave me. My audience was very respectful, and I believe that God helped me get my message across!
The coolest thing, though, about getting to talk to the kids was knowing the whole reason behind my being invited there. They are planning on giving their first-semester chapel offerings to help a program that buys Sunday School materials for kids in Russia! Isn't that amazing?? God blows my mind, pretty much on a daily basis, but today's just been kind of full of explosions... First, My Bridge Radio picks THIS summer to do a theme on "Reaching Out to the Ends of the Earth", and I'm able to contact them and share with them about my mission trip! Then, my old school chooses to send their offerings over to Russia, and I'm able to share my experiences with kids who are the age that I was when I first decided I wanted to go to Russia on my first missions trip!
God reaches out, in so many ways, ways that I think often go unnoticed by us mere human beings. But the times when we do notice, I think those are the gifts that are meant to be kept, treasured. Watching the kids react at the pictures of Hospital 8, or seeing the curiosity grow as I shared about the lives of Russian kids, just makes me wonder, if somewhere in my audience today, was there a little girl, say maybe 9 or 10, who thought to herself "...Gee, I wonder if I could go to Russia some day..."
Blessings on all that you do. :)
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