He works in SPITE of me

On Mother's Day, I had the opportunity to speak in the church service that takes place each week in the chapel at the hospital.  It is mostly attended by patients in the hospital and their families, but occasionally some of the missionaries go there as well.  I have to be honest - I wasn't real excited about doing it.  I don't feel like I'm qualified to be preaching and wasn't quite sure what I was going to talk about.
I have been studying the fruit of the Spirit with some of the ladies here through a Beth Moore study.  Recently we studied patience and the week of homework and the video session that went with it really spoke to me.  We learned about how God calls us not only to be patient with our circumstances, but most of all to be patient with others.  Our example for this is God Himself.  How patient He is with us!  He's patient to allow as many as possible to come to Him before returning to earth.  He's patient with us despite all of our many failings and loves us in spite of them.  Most of all, if we aren't patient with others and forgiving of them, it only hurts us, not them. 
So, I decided to share this with them.  Actually quite fitting on Mother's Day, as mothers have to exhibit unlimited patience with their children.  At the end of the message, I emphasized again the patience of the Lord, that He doesn't want one person to cherish, and shared with them that if they had not yet experienced God's forgiveness, they could receive it that day.  When I asked who would like to experience that forgiveness and receive Christ as their savior, 8 people raised their hands!  After the service, they stayed and received Bibles and counseling from the pastors.  They also continued to receive follow-up while in the hospital.
I share this with you to show that the Lord can work in spite of us at times.  Despite my lack of enthusiasm leading up to that day, the Lord was able to work.  Imagine what He could have done had I had more joy in my heart about this opportunity!
Please pray for Justin, Musa, Philemon, Joshua, Colleta, Veronicah, Christine, and Sarah as they continue on this exciting journey!