Sometimes making a choice in life is like entering a giant knotted highway (as seen above). We enter in and we have no idea how long it will take, how frustrating it will be, or where we will end up. My commitment to follow Jesus at times feels this, but as soon as I focus my eyes back on Jesus I am filled with peace and Joy. The decisions I make are so much more than Geographical steps, but they are choosing every day to acknowledge God in everything I do; choosing every day to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength; and receiving His love before trying any of this.
It has been an amazing time of rest being home and it seems so soon but I will be leaving for Boston February 3rd. I will be traveling across the United States with some of my friends/co-staff to seek perspective of what God is doing in America and to learn from different pastors/ministry leaders. I have an amazing opportunity ahead of me and I am excited to see how these steps of faith draw me deeper into a relationship with God and with others.
We have a van, an itinerary, and plane tickets to get to Boston, but we are going to be depending on God to provide in allotting of ways. This is a big test for me and I'm sure for others. A lot of what I wanted to grow in this year was simply faith. I don't always realize what I ask for until I am required to walk in it and believing that what I asked for has been or will be given at the right time. These steps have drawn me lower and lower to a place of constant prayer for God’s presence. It's when I stop everything and seek God that I truly have peace in knowing how awesome He is.
I want to embrace the simplicity of just walking with God and communicating with Him. I recently read in a magazine about Intimacy with God. It talked about how we are made in God’s image so that we can relate to Him. I might be way behind on this understanding, but I always thought it just meant that we looked like him, but I started to understand how much he wants to communicate with us, verbally, non-verbally, or any way that we are known to communicate that we don't even realize.
We don't have to leave it up to the experts or our pastor to talk to God. He created us all to relate to Him!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Finishing strong.
Our last ministry location was in Chiang Mai, Thailand at a restoration home called "Abba House". This was such an amazing ministry that we were able to partner with for ten days and see some life changing moves of God. We worked with a group of men who were saved through the prison ministry that Abba house does in the Chiang Mai prison. We also worked with a larger group of girls that were saved out of all sorts of different situation such like trafficking or abuse.
From our kitchen sink, Northern Thailand's largest mountain was placed in perfect view. Every night the sunset was placed right at the peak of the mountain. We were staying in brand new buildings with nice beds and hot showers. I felt such a peace of how we were ending this trip. I could start to look back and see how God's presence was there this whole time. How beyond my struggles and my failures, God was in control and working.
We were able to do allot of work with the men and women there. We even went with them into the Chiang Mai prison got to see around 200 men give their lives to Jesus! A few days into our time with Abba house we were notified that we would be spending our last two days with the ministry three hours away in a hill tribe called the "Lahu". We spent the one day traveling to the village, spending time playing with the kids and eating meals with the people. Our second day which was our last day of ministry ended up being a Sunday which involved having 4 church services and an additional 2 services since we were going to be there. We started at six in the morning and didn't end until nine at night!
We arrived back in Bangkok and headed straight to an Island for debrief. It was a big transition from a cold hill tribe village where we slept on a concrete floor and put on most of our cloths to keep warm, to arriving on an island by speedboat and laying on the beach in the warm sun. Looking back I experienced so much of Gods presence in all of my different circumstances. Whether in Hawaii, Cambodia or Thailand I was given the strength and love that I desired from God.
"11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13
From our kitchen sink, Northern Thailand's largest mountain was placed in perfect view. Every night the sunset was placed right at the peak of the mountain. We were staying in brand new buildings with nice beds and hot showers. I felt such a peace of how we were ending this trip. I could start to look back and see how God's presence was there this whole time. How beyond my struggles and my failures, God was in control and working.
We were able to do allot of work with the men and women there. We even went with them into the Chiang Mai prison got to see around 200 men give their lives to Jesus! A few days into our time with Abba house we were notified that we would be spending our last two days with the ministry three hours away in a hill tribe called the "Lahu". We spent the one day traveling to the village, spending time playing with the kids and eating meals with the people. Our second day which was our last day of ministry ended up being a Sunday which involved having 4 church services and an additional 2 services since we were going to be there. We started at six in the morning and didn't end until nine at night!
We arrived back in Bangkok and headed straight to an Island for debrief. It was a big transition from a cold hill tribe village where we slept on a concrete floor and put on most of our cloths to keep warm, to arriving on an island by speedboat and laying on the beach in the warm sun. Looking back I experienced so much of Gods presence in all of my different circumstances. Whether in Hawaii, Cambodia or Thailand I was given the strength and love that I desired from God.
"11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13
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