A Blank Canvas Demands Resolution

This is not us!

Granted, the way we launched into 2020, and the way it humbled us, has sobered us and caused us to be more aware of our need for the LORD.

But three years later, scripture still holds true: We’re not those types who have the spirit of fear in us. We, the people of God, are those who exude love, power, and a sound mind!

So as 2022 comes to a close, we peer into 2023 with the Spirit-led eyes of Joshua and Caleb and say, “The LORD will help and strengthen us. We will overcome the enemy. Let’s take the land!”

A new year is a blank canvas. In other words, we can’t see what will be painted on it by year’s end. And a blank canvas demands resolution, according to Mark and Jan Foreman in their book Never Say No (raising big-picture kids.)

I agree. I’ve spent much of this year living on a “blank canvas” goat farm, unsure of what we were to do. Except for to follow the LORD.

It’s exciting and intimidating to feel like we’re beginning to launch.

We are currently hosting two families on the farm. One is a newlywed couple who will move to Honduras next week to embark on a new season of mission work after staying in the two-bedroom cabin next door to us for six weeks.

The other is a family of seven who arrived a week ago after a year of serving as missionaries in Italy. During that year, they lived in 27 places and had their fifth child! They plan to stay in the four-bedroom cabin that we prepared for them.

As this expression of Ad Lib Music’s mission (to eradicate isolation and burnout so that leaders bear much fruit) continues to develop in Costa Rica, I invite you to pray about supporting us financially and/or bringing a team here. That could be your worship team for a missional retreat week or a group of workers (electricians, plumbers, carpenters, masons, etc.) to do a “working missions trip” on the farm.

Here’s the cool thing. As we look into 2023, we can’t script everything out. But we can seek the face of God and listen. His prompting carries His priorities for you. It’s a wild journey.

To give a year-end financial gift, go to adlibmusic.com/give and to open a conversation about bringing a team here, email Retreat@adlibmusic.com.

-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)

A Blank Canvas Demands Resolution  (Nº 353)