On The Road Again

Sandstorm

The thought just occurred to me that in nature there are varying degrees of storms. We have rain, snow, thunder and lightening, and hail storms just to name a few. Sandstorms I would argue are the worst. They completely black out all that they consume making it impossible to tell up from down and east from west.

Life has storms. Some are worse than others. Some days are a drizzle while others feel like a blizzard. Right now I feel as though I am in the midst of the worst sandstorm. Things that should have lasted forever have come to an end. What was once perceived through the rose tinted glasses of youth is now being seen in the light of truth. While change is inevitable, there are some things we were never meant to live through. Alas, we live in a fallen world where perfection has been replaced with heartache. But all is not lost…

Though I may not be able to see the end of the storm I am comforted that the Lord is above all and around all. He can see the end from the beginning and at least He has everything under control. My greatest joy and hope come from the one simple fact that He is not only above it all but in the midst of it with me. He stands with me and holds my hand as I venture forth to the edges. He carries me when I fall to my knees and cry out that I can go no further. Most importantly God believes in me and is confident that I will stand victorious when the storm subsides and all the dust has settled.

I share this not to gain your sympathy and pity, but to acknowledge that there is hope in our toughest times. I really don’t understand why we deny our hardships and put up a front that all is good and dandy. It denies God the glory He deserves when He sees us through and is faithful to the end.

As Joyce Meyer stated; “if my baggage can be your breakthrough have it!”

Patience with Joy

There is an art to waiting, especially rejoicing in the waiting. For a long time I thought that as long as I waited out the allotted time set before me I was doing good. The Lord however graciously showed me that patience and waiting is not about getting through time but is about your heart and attitude while you wait for the next move. You may wait the five days it takes to get a result or to get to your vacation but if you have a crap attitude and complain the whole time you really have not cultivated true patience. True patience is not just waiting but rejoicing and trusting in the Lord while you wait.

In life there will be seasons of sitting in the waiting room. Now most of us would say we do not like to wait. We’ve grown up in the generation of microwaves, high speed internet, and faster cars. If something does not happen within five seconds we feel entitled to a good moan about it. Our impatience in general life has carried over to how we relate to God. We pray our prayer and expect Him to move and work instantaneously and if He does not we become frantic and angry. Doesn’t God understand we have a life to live and a have a schedule to meet?! 

I’ll be the first to admit that I had a crap attitude when it came to waiting. I would get stressed and anxious over the littlest things and the shortest wait. I’ve learned two things in the last few years, first that you have the power to make waiting enjoyable and second that stress is a choice. Pretty controversial I know but seriously true. Imagine yourself in any waiting room, you have the choice to either get uptight about the wait or find a nice magazine and enjoy some time alone. Stress is also a choice, you can either freak out about the circumstances or take a deep breath, surrender the things you have no control over, and take care of the things you do have control over. While in university I had to tell this to myself over and over; stress is a choice and today I choose not to be stressed. The brilliant thing is, it worked!! Through the grace of God I can now say that it takes a lot to get me stressed or anxious and it all came through changing my attitudes and thought patterns.

Patience is cultivated, it is most certainly not something that just pops up over night. And you can bet that when you pray for patience its not just going to magically show up but that you are going to be put in situations where you will have to choose to either joyfully wait or sit there in a stink attitude. The funny thing is that when you are enjoying yourself and the situation time goes by so much faster and it feels like you hardly waited at all! 

Presently I feel like I’m in the waiting room of life, I’m waiting for the Lord to open the door and call my name. I’m choosing to have a party in the waiting room, after all no one said waiting had to be boring!

Recap

So it has been a while since I have written anything and a lot has happened in that time. The Lord provided the money I needed to go to the Philippines and taught me a great deal about patience and trust in those nail biting days. I spent two months in the Philippines teaching, preaching, praying, and generally loving the Filipino people! Rather than retelling all the stories of how outreach went I will just post the link for the team blog and let you check that out. DTS finished on the 16th of December and since that time I have been back home in the States. The adventure of life continues and I am constantly reminded that I am still at the beginning of my story and not the end! So stay tuned and remember to enjoy the journey!

http://teamphilippines2011.tumblr.com/

On the move again!!

So here we are sitting in a cafe in the Philippines…

I’ve only been here two days but its been an awesome two days. Our first day here we enjoyed the famous Filipino hospitality with an amazing dinner and fun time hanging out with the people at the church we’re staying in. The adventure continued as we piled six girls into one room an two beds! Its a good thing we all like each other and relate to one another as sisters! The next day was spent encouraging pastors at a local conference where Madeline Jones shared the importance of her pastor in her walk with Christ.

We also booked a kayak adventure for our day off, walked through the local mall and market. The day ended with taking showers in the rain as it poured with lightening! 

Tonight the real work begins as we come along side a local prayer ministry for teens and adults. Saturday will be spent teaching youth ministry all day for teens and young kids followed by preaching and leading worship in Sundays church service. It seems like alot but I’m excited to be stretched and pushed out of my comfort zone as we step out in sharing God’s love and goodness with this nation. 

Stay tuned for the rest of the story as this is only the beginning…

Faithfulness

Faithfulness: loyal, constant, steadfast. Just keep this in mind as you read…

Over eight weeks ago I flew to New Zealand to dedicate five months to pursuing Jesus. I fundraised, sent emails, and ran bake sales to try and pay for this school. God was faithful in providing the money I needed to keep my spot and then it seemed as if the wells dried up. But I knew I was meant to be here, the best confirmation came through an apple sticker actually ( its a cool story of you care enough to ask).

So despite still owing $7,000.00 I got on a plane and trusted God to provide, oh and He said don’t tell anyone how much you still owe. At the airport my family all took out money, with out me asking or them knowing how much I still owed. I walked onto the plane with $1,000. While I was sitting on the plane rejoicing and praising God for the money God gave me a picture. The picture was of a little trickle of water followed by a rushing torrent, then God said this $1,000 is the trickle before the torrent. Wow. Ok so I’m waiting for a torrent. And waiting, and waiting and waiting. Week four arrives and I still owe $6,000 but as we do our usual Friday worship we take an offering because I’m not the only one hanging out in this boat. One person gave $850 another $175 and finally $100! Ok the little trickle is definitely getting bigger! Then my mom gives $2,295. Time goes on and still more comes in $60 here $253 there, $400 in my account at home…. 

Last night I got an email saying money had been transfered into my account, $300, awesome! So I log onto my account just to check how exactly is in there, $1,097! 

Now to really appreciate the magnitude of this you have to realize that I have been emailing and Facebooking people to get donations and got one response. Aside from the money that came from family most of what has been donated has come from my DTS family. Young missionaries all giving to each other acting as the hands and feet of God! God is faithful. He called me here and He has provided. Steadfast, constant and loyal. God is all of the above and I have the numbers to prove it. Whats more is that pretty much everyone on this DTS has a story about God providing miraculous finances. I still owe $1,700 but at this point it seems like peanuts compared to the faithful love of God that has gotten me this far.

God doesn’t call the equipped but faithfully equips the called….

Water and Fire

And all with childlike faith walked to their deaths, only to be born again through water and fire.

What compels twenty young individuals to fly across the world? To leave family, friends, jobs, and stability?

LOVE

Love for Jewish man who lived 2,000 years ago. He was no ordinary man though, for you see this Jewish man paved the way for ordinary people like me. Through His death and resurrection He set the world free. At this point you might just be wondering how to jump on this paved highway of freedom, well its through death. We choose to die to ourselves. We put to death pride, greed, envy, selfishness, vanity, lust; all those things that society tells us are acceptable and good. 

Why?

Because God loved me enough to take the time to knit me together in my mothers womb. Because He considered me to be valuable enough to die for, even when I was still a glimmer in His eye. Because He loves me enough to set His Spirit within me to mold,shape, comfort, teach, guide, and speak to me. His love for me fuels my love for Him. That is why twenty people leave everything and step out of ‘the boat’, because He is right there on the water holding out His hand, inviting us into something greater than ourselves. A relationship with God.

And so all with childlike faith joyously ran to their deaths knowing they will be born again through water and fire into the greatest love story humanity has ever known. 

Awaken o heart of mine

Many live life aimlessly. Many hope something more exciting will come along but secretly live in fear of that excitement. Few live life with purpose and excitement; relishing in the unknown and welcoming the new. For me life is an adventure. Everyday I get to wake up and ask God what He has for me that day. Who ever said Christianity was dead and boring certainly did not know God. He is not distant and etherial, watching from heaven while we plod away in this life. He has a plan, a very good plan for my life and yours. He not only speaks to us but desires a friendship and relationship with us. With our capacity and desire for intimacy why do we find it hard to believe that God wants intimacy with us? We are after all made in His image. The last few weeks the Lord has awakened my heart within me. He has not only shown me that he loves me but He has made my heart come alive with that love. I’ve heard God speak and what He has to say will blow your mind, it blew mine. If one day you feel like really stepping out and living a life of adventure, sit down and ask God what He thinks about you, then expect an answer.

 While we’re on the topic of hearts awakening you know what else awakened my heart, the life of Jesus. If you actually take the time to read the gospels you see that He didn’t just sit around playing on a guitar looking nice. Jesus healed people, like literally people we’re sick and he healed them. He opened blind eyes and deaf ears. He literally walked on water. He actually multiplied food to feed thousands. The coolest though is that he raised someone from the dead. While this list is pretty cool, what causes my heart to flutter with excitement is John 14:12. Jesus promised, get that, promised that whoever believed in him would do the things he did and even greater works. I don’t know about you but I want to know whats even greater than raising the dead and do it! My life has purpose, my life has excitement, my life is an adventure and it all started the day I gave myself to God wholly and completely.

In the beginning…

God is good. I know that many of you reading this may not believe in God or believe that He is good but where I stand today thats all I can say. The last two weeks have been amazing. Many face a dilemma when they graduate from university but for me it was an easy decision. I’m going to follow God wherever He leads and right now He’s led me to New Zealand. In the last two weeks I have seen God’s faithfulness in so many ways. He has provided me with finances to go on this grand adventure, but more than that he has answered my prayers for a family. Don’t get me wrong I love my family but sometimes you just need more. I now have 20 new brothers and sisters and I love every single one of them. They are supportive, accepting, encouraging, and a answer to my prayers. Even though we’ve only known each other for two weeks it feels like we’ve shared a lifetime together. With a start this good I can’t wait to see what God has in store for the next five months! So to all you wondering, I’m having a blast in New Zealand! Thank you for your prayers and keep them coming!