Refocusing

       As summer has been winding down (like officially ten days left..I think), I began to think & ponder on the goals that I set as summer was starting. To give you an update..I did well on drinking on water for a while (I got up to 8-10cups a day) and I got up to running 6-7miles. I never learned how to ride a bike..[but it can still happen :-)... ]
       But after getting so far in reaching two of my goals, I tailored off. I was thinking about why that happened today and I came to two conclusions. The first answer was pride. At church for the last two weeks we have been in a mini-sermon series on pride & how it destroys. I had reached my goal for water and I was able to run 6-7miles. But that was it. I was doing it. I wasn't giving God the glory for it and I wasn't asking God to give me strength to continue in both goals. The second answer is God wanted me to rest and rest in Him. Over the last three weeks, I have broken my pinky toe, probably had strep, had a bad bout with allergies, and if that wasn't enough to slow me down, I started this weekend to have trouble with my asthma and one of my knees. I do not at all share these problems with you for sympathy, but to show you how God was trying to get me to slow down and not become consumed with "good things" such as running and drinking water but to be consumed by Him and Him alone. So I haven't given up on these goals or just ended them because the summer season is over but instead am excited to continue this fall. But this time with a new mindset and heart. I want to these things to bring God glory. Drinking water can bring God glory because it shows that we are taking care of the body that He entrusted us with. My running can bring Him glory because it will be by His power alone that I am able to do it. But if He wants me to slow down with running and to take a break, I need to be okay with that and not become prideful & consumed with I think I can do but rest in what God wants me to do.
     I am adding a new goal to my list. Tonight I started back at BSF and we are going through the book of Genesis this year. My goal is to do my lessons daily as they are designed and not to put them off to the last minute. I know that this will be not only crucial in my participation on Tuesday evenings, but will also help me learn on a deeper level about my Creator (and I'm so excited about it this year!!)
     I know that in my power I will fail, but it is my prayer that I just rest in what God wants me to do this fall.

 

what happens at the kitchen table (a few Haiti memories)

              What happens at the kitchen table? Most people eat meals there, you would say. One of my roommates just moved a kitchen table into our apartment a week ago. Tonight as I was eating dinner there, I was reminded of how memories are made there as well. I was reminded of memories made at the table during my journey to Haiti.
              For every meal (breakfast, lunch, & dinner) all five of us plus Norma (most of the time) & some of the JoyHouse staff would eat together at the table. I really enjoyed this because it made us feel like family and I really got to know my teammates (because we were spending quality time with each other) or I got to know more about the Haitian culture. This is something I want to carry on here in the States. I want to make sure that I am spending quality time with others and not just rushing off to the next thing. Another memory that thinking about the table brought back was the food we ate while in Haiti. We ate a lot of fresh fruit while were there. In fact we had fresh fruit at every meal. My favorite was the watermelon and the mango.
           My memories of Haiti also included how God showed how big He is through the way He blew our minds away with the number of salvations, number of people we saw at the medical clinic, and the number of kids that we saw come to VBS (which I wrote about in the last blogpost).I am so thankful for what God did on this journey to Haiti. I am also thankful for how God used this journey to open the door for conversations about Him & His Son. Before I even left, I got to share with two gas station attendants (at a gas station near my job that I go to every day if not every other day) about what I would be doing and thus opened the door to talk them about my faith in God. Also one of the plane rides (from Miami to Port-au-Prince) I sat next to Haitian who asked me why I was going to Haiti. I told him about what I was doing in Haiti. It then opened the door for him to ask questions about how the Trinity was possible or for us talk about what happens when we die. For him things needed to be logical and scientifically proven. By the end of the conversation he was asking me how he could have faith in God like I did. I got to lead him through Romans & pray for him that God would reveal himself to him!!
             I am thankful that God uses all things, like the kitchen table and my journey to Haiti, for His glory!! I can't wait to share more memories of what God did in my journey to Haiti. (I am still working on going through all my pictures & journal and hope to have some more daily memories up soon!!)

****Please continue to pray for Alex (the guy that I talked to on the flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince) that God would continue to reveal Himself to Alex
***also please continue to pray for the support I need to pay for this journey to Haiti. The last count I had was that I still needed about $1400..Please let me know if you are interested in supporting me financially & I will let you know how to do that.
             

My God is not dead: Overview of Journey to Haiti

            I've been home for a couple of days & have had time to think about all that God did on this journey to Haiti. I plan on doing a blog entry of the day by day stuff we did in Haiti but for now I will give you a brief overview.
            I met my team members a week before we were to go on the journey & from the start it was evident that it was a team put together by God! We worked so well together and by the end of the trip we were like family. We were a small team of 5. But our team of 5 with the help of JoyHouse staff & members of the church were able to see a total of 82 salvations (8 at church, 2 at first morning of preventative medical clinic, 15 at second morning of medical clinic, & 57 at three days of VBS..)!! We helped do two preventative medical clinics (saw 40 patients at the first one we did & 80 patients at the second one). We hosted VBS for at risk street kids. We expected to have between 75-90 kids. We had an average of 150 street kids each of the three days & 50 church kids each of the three days come (for a total of 200 kids). So with the stats about VBS & number of salvations...1/3 of our VBS street kids came to know Christ. It was only in Christ alone that these things were accomplished!!!
           God also taught me many things through this journey (which I will detail in another blogpost)..One thing I know for sure is that God is not dead!! He is alive!! Without Him nothing would have been accomplished & we would not have seen His glory put on display the way we did with Him blowing our minds away!!

I have put many pics up on facebook & will try to post the rest over the course of the next few days AND will fill you in on other details of the trip over the next few days.

Freedom in Christ

     

        Have you ever had one of those weeks,weekends, days, etc where it feels like God is pounding something into you? The same lesson comes up at church in the sermon, in your quiet times, in conversations... Definitely happened to me this last week (and weekend.)
          Every year (and this happens at other times as well) during the time surround the 4th of July, I am always reminded to be thankful for the freedom I have to choose to worship God (because others around the world do not have that freedom) and to be thankful for the men and women who fight (or have fought ) for that freedom I have. This year, however, the Lord brought it a little closer to home and asked me "What am I doing with that freedom?" This weekend I got to go visit my friend in her hometown. (side note: I enjoyed that time!! We swam, ate together, went to the park with her kids, and got to do some catching up.)  At her church this morning the sermon was on the freedom of Christ according to the apostle Paul. One thing that really resonated with me was: How am I using my freedom in Christ to glorify God? I am free to worship, share the Gospel with others, go to church...the list goes on. During my quiet time before church this morning I was reflecting on the same concept...is what I'm doing with my time/energy/possessions glorifying Christ? During my driving time this weekend, the Lord kept bringing that to mind as well. He kept asking me am I doing everything I can to glorify Him in every part of my life or am I holding back in any areas?
   Another thing the Lord taught me on Saturday during my quiet time on Saturday was that He is in control & I need to just walk by faith. There are several areas of my life that I layed at Jesus' feet on Saturday and He remind of me the verse in Psalms that says "Be still and know that I am God." I need to just recognize that He is God and has everything under control.
This ties together in that in areas of my life that I struggle with, I can glorify Christ by recognizing His control over everything and I can use those things to glorify Him by sharing with others what He has done for me.

 *** look for a blog post in the next couple of days in what God is already doing in & through my journey to Haiti that is less than two weeks away now ;-)

Haiti, VBX, Half-marathon training,

   It's been a while since I've posted a blog entry...
 A couple of weeks ago at church we had VBX and I worked with the 2-3yr olds. Let me take a side-step and say it was so much fun watching the preschoolers learn about the greatness of God. One thing that completely warmed my heart was when we did "offering time" each night, the kids would get so excited about giving their money to help others. The other thing that was a blessing was seeing kids worship with their families on the last night of VBX (family night.) 
     Last week was a particularly hard week in the training for the half marathon and the giving up of the mountain dew. I have to be honest that there times when I was ready to give up on both simply because both were hard. But God brought to mind Philippians 4:13 which says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." I kept praying God give me the strength. On Saturday I was able to run five miles (without stopping) and as of right now as I am sitting here typing this blog, I have only had one caffeinated beverage (and yes it was a diet mountain dew) today. This journey of giving up the diet mountain dew will continue to be hard but I know that God will give me the strength to do what He has called me to do! (and he will do it for you to if you just ask for it!!)
   Next update: HAITI...Can't believe it's so soon!!! I leave in 23 days (in just over 3 weeks)!! I am so excited about what God is going to do there!! Here's how you can pray for this journey to Haiti:
        1) pray for protection of the team members (physical & spiritual)
        2) pray that we would all be able to raise the amount of financial
             support necessary...
        3) that God would be begin to soften & prepare the lives to be
            changed by the Gospel




              

Update on Summer goals/plans

     I love how the LORD likes to use analogies in my life. For example, as I was running today I was focused on making it to running for thirty minutes without stopping. I ran on a treadmill and throughout the run I kept looking at the screen to see if I had reached my endpoint. As I was reflecting on my run today Philippians 3:14, which says "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in God in Christ Jesus," came to mind. The analogy, which is a very commonly known one, that the Lord reminded me of was that this life is like running a race and that we press on toward a prize (in running the finish line and in the Christian life it's Heaven.) Yes, I am beyond excited that I have reached the first part of my goal in the half-marathon training in being able to run thirty minutes without stopping. I am also thankful how the Lord is teaching/reminding me of scripture as I work toward the goal.
     As for "water goal", the drinking more water and reducing the amount of Diet Dew I drink is going. I've slowly increased the amount of water that I drink but the amount of Diet Dew is not decreasing.
    I have picked back up on my reading through the Bible in a year this week. The Lord has used this as well to teach/speak to me. I am reading a chronological plan and right now I'm towards the end of the book of Job. Each of Job's friends try to offer explanation to Job for the suffering that he is going through. One thing I've noticed is that his friends are not edifying, or building up, Job in his faith. As I reflected about how this applied in my life two things came to mine 1) I pray that I am edifying to my friends in their faith and that the Lord would show me how to be better at this and 2) I am thankful for the friends God has placed in my life who speak truth to me but at the same time edify me in my faith.


  As for a Haiti update: I am working on & hope to have my support letters out this weekend. I can't believe that journey is only six weeks away!!! Please begin to pray with me for Gospel opportunities & for changed lives.

"I can do nothing without Christ"

           My main purpose when I decided on my goals for the summer were to glorify the Lord with what I was doing. Little did I know that He was going to be teaching me lessons through them. I have started running (my goal is to get to 30 min of running without stopping this week so that I can start a half-marathon running plan next week) and it has been hard. It has been hard on the endurance part. I get five minutes in & I feel like I just want to give up. My goal of cutting back on the Diet Mountain Dew and drinking more water has been hard. The Lord has shown me why it has been hard. That is because I try to do all these things in my own strength. One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:13 which says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." If you think of that verse in opposite terms "I can do nothing without Christ," it makes one think of what Philippians 4:13 is talking about...Everything I set out to do can only be done with the strength that Christ gives me to it with, NOT WITH MY OWN STRENGTH! Something that I am going start praying is "God give me the strength to accomplish these tasks & remind me when I am trying to do it on my own strength." 


Though it's been hard, I am thankful that the LORD is teaching me the lesson of "I can do nothing without Christ!"