A Day with the Lord

Today, Chaz and I went on a day hike. We were supposed to drive up to the parking lot and go on an 8 mile hike through a canyon. The Royal Ranger Commander from Barstow First Assembly in California, was the leader of this expedition. When we arrived at the bottom of the mountain, the gates were closed. We walked a little over three miles UP to the beginning of the trail. Then, we started our hike. I was already hurting. Chaz was such a trooper. He really did amazingly well! He didn't complain, much, and he kept up with the commander. Well, after we had hiked over 5 miles, Commander Dennis Hall decided we could do more. He didn't tell me, or the others, how far we were going. About halfway up Mt. Zion, I began thinking of things to do to Commander Dennis. I was way in the back and struggling just to climb the steep and unforgiving trail. It really did hurt!

The entire hike began at 7:00 a.m., and we finally made it back to the beginning of the trail at around 5:00 p.m! It was a long day! In fact, I am writing this only four hours after completing the hike with my brave and amazing son, Chaz. I am so proud of him!

Now, back to the bad thoughts I was having about Commander Dennis. He really didn't do anything wrong. It's just that he was in charge. I had put my trust in him, and I felt like he was taking me in the wrong direction. I felt like he was hurting me and making me feel unnecessary pain.

That's how it is in our relationship with Jesus Christ. We know He is in charge, and He only wants what is best for us. We put our faith and trust in Him, yet we don't like it when He moves us in a direction we don't want to go. We think He is causing us to hurt when we don't feel like we need to. We feel like He is causing us unnecessary pain.

You know what! He is in charge, and He does only want whats best for us! He will allow things in our life to help us grow. Sometimes, these trials hurt and cause us to stretch. James said to "count it all joy, my brethren, when you face trials of many kinds." These trials help our faith to grow and our endurance, or patience, to grow. When we perservere, we gain wisdom and an increase in our faith.

By the way, after finishing the hike, my attitude had completely changed. In fact, I gave Commander Dennis a hug and thanked him for helping me grow.

Blessings to all who read this,

Charley

First Entry

This is our first entry into the Mattix Family Journal. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

We anticipate finishing our itineration by the end of October. In fact, in order to purchase the plane tickets for our family in time, we need to be done with our budget as soon as possible.

To those of you supporting us monthly, we thank you very much. We are excited to be your partners in ministry to the jungles of Paraguay.

This itineration has been an exciting and challenging experience. We, as a family of five, have traveled over 90,000 miles in our van, and we did all but one service together. We have grown closer together and to God throughout this past two years.

Now, it is all coming to an end, and we are about to begin the next step of our journey. We will be going to language school in January. It is a one-year term in Costa Rica where we will all learn Spanish and the Latin American culture. Then, we will spend at least two years in Paraguay. In Paraguay, we will need to learn another language called Guarani. The majority of people in Paraguay speak this language, and we desire to speak their "heart" language.

Thank you to all of you who are praying and supporting us monthly. We are so grateful to you, and we are blessed by you.