<used with permission>

Hello! I've been attending Faith since I moved to Baltimore in January, and I just wanted to let you guys know what a blessing it has been that this church is where God has me right now.

Long story short, I thought I was going to be in Nepal right now, not Baltimore. Or at least overseas. Once I graduated from college a couple years ago, I thought I would get to do something exciting and hands-on and world-changing. If not overseas, at least doing something in my field, that I care about, like helping newly-arrived refugees or something. Instead, every opportunity I sought fell through, every door I thought was gaping open seemed to close right when I got to it, and God has asked me to wait.

So I came to Baltimore wanting to do what God has planned for me, but also struggling with disappointment and discouragement that it didn't look like I was doing anything at all. I still struggle with that sometimes. But I want you to know that from the time I got here God has used this church body--the people, the sermons, the worship, the love the members clearly have for one another and for God (broken and imperfect as we all are)--to encourage and minister to and convict me in this time of waiting.

There is no question that God is teaching me a lot right now about who He is and humility and my infinite need for His grace. And--while some of me is still restless to get out there and do adventurous, extraordinary things--I have at least started to better understand that this time of waiting, of quiet and not having ten thousand demands on my time, is a gift, if only I would be willing to see it as such. It's a chance to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn what it means to delight in Him, and learn to identify myself in Him Himself instead of the things I can do for Him. And I'm letting myself believe now that--just maybe--I don't need to feel guilty about not being busy with world-changing tasks right now. That perhaps God is being glorified in silence and listening and the time I have to walk dogs with my neighbor or chat with the homeless guy on the corner.

I'm still a long way from knowing exactly what it looks like follow Christ right now, and definitely still struggle with discouragement sometimes, and wounded pride that my life seems so ordinary, and fear that people interpret my "inaction" as passivity and failure.

But I am learning to rest secure in His grace--a thing that becomes more indescribably beautiful every time I see it--and am much more encouraged than I was before. So thank you all for your part in this process, and everything that you do in front and behind the scenes to make the ministry at Faith happen. God is visible in and being glorified through you.

Cheers,
Marybeth Harms