It’s been an eventful week. In a way, it doesn’t seem as if we left LaCrete Monday morning. But, yes, it was only Monday. After a short night’s sleep Wednesday night, Dad woke up, had his time with the Lord, and was ready to go at 5:30 a.m. The rest of us, except for Mom, decided to try to sleep a bit longer before emerging from our bunks.
We crossed back into the States yesterday mid-afternoon. As we all climbed out of the bus, we were greeted by four border patrol agents. I think they were expecting a full bus load of people, so we surprised them. They decided to take a look around the inside of the bus, so we waited in the cool breeze, but the sunshine helped to warm us a bit :-). It didn’t take long, and we were soon on our way.
We did some shopping at Wal-Mart last night, ate dinner in the bus, and then headed to the church. We will be doing our conference set up this afternoon! We would be grateful for your prayers as we prepare for this weekend’s conference here in Minot.
Oh, someone left us a blog comment the other night, stating that we deserved the bus problem we had Wednesday night. You know what? You’re right, and we deserve worse. We actually deserve Hell! But, each one of us in the Maxwell Family has accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, so although we deserve it, by the Lord’s grace, we do not get it.
- Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
- And, Romans 10:9-11 says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
I’m so glad to know that you’re safely back in the States.
I just wanted to comment today that I’m blessed by your response to what I’m thinking was probably a negative and unkind comment about your family deserving to have your bus get stuck. The way you have responded is just one of the reasons why I love your family and ministry. 🙂
I believe your ministry will continue to be blessed—while you are no more perfect than anyone else, how you respond to those who are less than kind is a model for all.
Thank you!!
Good grief, I cannot believe someone actually left a comment like that! Your reply (and grace) is awesome. I do have a question though – in a post about a week ago, Sarah mentioned y’all saw a surprise when you finished with the conference and your Bible time one evening – what was it? Take care.
—-
I’m sorry; I should have specified it. It was the Northern Lights that we saw and then posted about it!
Sarah
—-
Amen.
I bet it was a wonderful thing to feel the warmth of the sun after all of that snow! Glad you all are doing well.
The C”s
THAT is one of the most beautiful, humble, and kind answers to such a comment that I have ever heard.
Glad you are safe.
I hope ya’ll had a good time traveling up to the North 😀 And ya’ll still didn’t get all the way up to where we live 🙂 You’ll have to save that for another time…
That was a cruel thing to say, that you deserved to get stuck. Some people have no clue.
I am glad all is well. Keep up the good work.
We do all deserve the worst, but God is faithful and loving to those who believe, isn’t He? I pray that your conference may be an encouragement to many in Minot and the surrounding area. I hail from a town about 2 hours from there, and there is great need for families to be living and sharing the gospel, particularly with the influx of new people due to oil developments in the area. I will be praying for you.
What a strange thing to say that someone deserves to have an accident. I don’t think any of you deserve Hell, especially not your kids. Accidents happen. I ran over brick yesterday and got a flat tire. I hope no one tells me I deserved it!
That was a very unkind thing that was said!! We all deserve Hell, including the person who wrote that comment, and we can only hope that they have accepted the free saving grace that Jesus Christ provides for each one of us fallen children of Adam & Eve. May you continue to be blessed this weekend as you are back home ministering in the US! There is no place like home…
When one shines the Light as boldly as your family does, the darkness is going to react to it! You responded to the darkness just as I would have expected you to, with grace and mercy.
Praying for the one who left the comment.
Trish
I love how you responded. We really need to have pity on that person, their eternity is a very scary place unless they accept Jesus. Keep doing what your doing–your a blessing to so many! And we just finished (got it last week) the new book Sarah–can we admit to already waiting for the next installment….LOL!
Wow, people say things like that to your family? Wow! That’s so petty and misunderstanding of what your family is doing during your time on this Earth. I know you know to rationalize the origin of such anger and just have the will to pray for someone who has nothing better to do but follow your blog and post hate. All it does is encourage you to spread more kindness more often. That’s what I believe, anyway.
I would presume that the person who wrote the comment was in need of the Word and maybe salvation (I of course can’t say for sure) by the fruit of the comment it was not in line with the fruit of the spirit. And so why do the heathen rage . . . because they are heathen. Woo Hoo we have added another to our prayer list. Though nameless – God knows. As far as the bus . . .what a great opportunity it gave those who assisted you all that night to reach out of their own little worlds and into helping others (in that case you), and God still was able to minister through your family at the conference. And like you said, we all deserve worse than the worse moments of our day. We all are deserving of only hell. What do we have to offer a holy and righteous God? Because of His holiness and righteousness, He deserves our praises in heaven. It isn’t us deserving anything. Because of who He is, we should be willing to serve Him, whether there was a promise of eternal life at the end or not. It is about what He deserves, not what I deserve. And yet, His love and grace – He still considers me . . . since I have recognized the need for salvation, repented, and accepted Him as my Lord and Master.
OOHHH!!!!!!! How dreadfully rude!!!!!!! And that was a major bus problem too!!!!!! That was a terrible thing to say!!!!! Thank you for choosing to follow Jesus’ example and forgive!
A few years ago, when I was witnessing to our nephews, I mentioned that I deserve hell, and the younger one just stared at me-but greatly surprised!
Dad says that when we choose to forgive, we’re releasing ourselves and the other person. May you be blessed for the rest of your trip! Though we live in Missouri, I can’t wait for you to get back home!!!!!
God bless! Rebecca K.
”And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Matthew 6:12
To paraphrase it, ”forgive us to the extent that we forgive others”.
Wow..that was definitely a very unkind thing to say. You know, they were probably being convicted of something while reading your blog and decided to be snarky about it. Your response was wonderful. Praise Lord for the Salvation that only He can give!! So glad y’all are back safely in the U.S.
Blessings,
Vania
Welcome Home!!! We will be praying for your conference this weekend. As always, you are so graceful (truly, full of grace!).
“… each one of us in the Maxwell Family has accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior…”
I would appreciate reading the testimony of each one of you about how you came to know Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Greetings from Germany,
Isa
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
On the road would be difficult, but that is something we could consider during times we are home.
Steve
Your response to someone saying you deserved being stuck is to be commended. I had a thought about you and given what you have been through, I will share. What family goes out and visits all kinds of places and gives the solid message of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Think about it, you stick together forsaking all interests in separate career aspirations and stay together and do ministry, much like missionaries. However, you don’t talk about a certain denomination nor do fundraisers. I know you want to always give the glory to Jesus but I want to affirm you that you are amazing!!
When someone acts cruelly toward us, God is giving us a window into the condition of their heart. The Maxwells response demonstrates that the Lord would have us use the opportunity to insert truth and be salt and light.
We are grateful for your ministry and will continue to pray for the Lord’s blessing on the remainder of your trip.
Kim C. And Family
We want to thankyou for coming to Canada to encourage us to follow after the Lord when raising our families. We hope that you always find Canada a friendly place to visit. We are a very spiritually needy land! It was not maybe your favorite ending to a trip here but what a testimony I know that you left for many here. Did you have to pay for the towing of the bus? Unkind comments made sadden our hearts but know that you are loved in the Lord and we rejoice together with you for our salvation!!
The Hs Little Smoky AB
—–
Thanks for your comments! Yes, we did pay for the towing, and we feel Auto Spa was very reasonable.
Sarah
—–
I to would like to say thanks for all your family does for Jesus. It is a great testimony when your family works together in a time of need. It would have been very easy to cancel the conference. In our family we are learning the the easy thing is not always the right, as a matter a fact it is usually the hard way that is correct.
Praise Jesus for your willingness to share this with us.