Just a few people that I love and pray for...
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Power of Prayer
I have really been learning about the power of prayer. It seems like it should be so basic and something everyone just knows but I don't think I've ever truly believed or realized the power of prayer. God has been teaching me this starting this summer and continually every day. One verse we referred to often this summer was in Ephesians and talks about how God can do immeasurable more than we ask or imagine and the verse that talks about how nothing is impossible with God. Do we really believe that and do we pray like we believe it? Those are things that I knew but never prayed like I did. But now I do. There are so many people in my life that I pray for. Even if they think they need it or not or even if they know I do or not...it doesn't matter, because God hears me and he's always working. There are still certain friends and people that my heart breaks for and that I've been praying for for years, but a new urgency has come because I now truly throughout my core believe that prayer is powerful and that God can do immeasurable more than we ask or imagine and that I need to pray continually. So even if I think its impossible...it's not for God.
Just a few people that I love and pray for...
Just a few people that I love and pray for...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
He knows the plans...
It's so easy to become impatient. Not only in my own life but hearing others talk about theirs and wanting an answer to come to them also. Sometimes I don't understand why things happen the way they do, but I am learning to trust in God's timing and plans. He knows the plans he has for me and my life and I need to find rest in that fact.
I know God knows where my life is going and that is so freeing to me. The God of the universe has a plan for ME, wow. When I read things in the Bible about how we're precious in His sight and how he loves us and will never leave us, sometimes I can't believe that the creator of the world and Savior of the Universe finds me precious. It blows my mind sometimes and I'm amazed at God's grace.
I'm so glad I serve a patient and understanding God. I've struggled with being in school after this summer and wanting to just drop out and move to Africa to serve in the mission field. Not a day goes by that I don't remember and see the smiles of those little kids or the tears of the overwhelmed mothers or hear the overpowering sound of their songs in church. But I know I'm here at school for a reason and there is a season in your life for everything. Going to Zambia changed me and just reaffirmed my call and passion to serve those that are in need and need to know they have a Savior that loves them and calls them His children.
So sometimes I get impatient and do want to just drop out and move to Zambia, but I'm here. As my mom tells me, I need to grow where I have been planted. :) And that's what I wake up every morning reminding myself to do. I am in Nashville not Zambia, but there are still countless ways I can be serve, whether its at Baby Girl's Club, Room In the Inn, hanging out with girls on my floor, or loving those around me, God can and will use me where I'm at and that's something I can't lose sight of.
Praise God that he is patient with me and listens to my crazy ideas and dreams I have for my life. Praise God that he reminds me daily of ways I can love on others around me. Praise God for giving me life and giving me the opportunities that I have to serve. Praise God that he knows the plans he has for me and there's no need for me to be anxious.
I know God knows where my life is going and that is so freeing to me. The God of the universe has a plan for ME, wow. When I read things in the Bible about how we're precious in His sight and how he loves us and will never leave us, sometimes I can't believe that the creator of the world and Savior of the Universe finds me precious. It blows my mind sometimes and I'm amazed at God's grace.
I'm so glad I serve a patient and understanding God. I've struggled with being in school after this summer and wanting to just drop out and move to Africa to serve in the mission field. Not a day goes by that I don't remember and see the smiles of those little kids or the tears of the overwhelmed mothers or hear the overpowering sound of their songs in church. But I know I'm here at school for a reason and there is a season in your life for everything. Going to Zambia changed me and just reaffirmed my call and passion to serve those that are in need and need to know they have a Savior that loves them and calls them His children.
So sometimes I get impatient and do want to just drop out and move to Zambia, but I'm here. As my mom tells me, I need to grow where I have been planted. :) And that's what I wake up every morning reminding myself to do. I am in Nashville not Zambia, but there are still countless ways I can be serve, whether its at Baby Girl's Club, Room In the Inn, hanging out with girls on my floor, or loving those around me, God can and will use me where I'm at and that's something I can't lose sight of.
Praise God that he is patient with me and listens to my crazy ideas and dreams I have for my life. Praise God that he reminds me daily of ways I can love on others around me. Praise God for giving me life and giving me the opportunities that I have to serve. Praise God that he knows the plans he has for me and there's no need for me to be anxious.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A heavy heart.
I just got back from Baby Girl's Club (BGC) and my heart is heavy and broken. I'm beginning to regret praying a prayer that I've said since before I left for Zambia. I've prayed that God would break my heart with the things that break His and that I would have the eyes of Jesus to see others they way he sees us. I'm regretting it...
I'm the leader of the eight and nine year olds at BGC and today we were doing prayer requests. These aren't the requests I'm used to. A little girl asked for prayer for her dad who is in jail, another whose uncle is "on the run", and another whose sister's baby might be taken away. They started talking about the custody of the baby when another little girl said oh that's what I was...a "custody baby". Little girls shouldn't have prayer requests like this, but they do and it's their life.
My heart breaks when an eleven year old girl tells us she's afraid and hates going home. Her dad just got put in jail and her mom married a drug dealer and they do drugs in the house. What kind of life is that?
How much easier would it be to block all these things out and not care? But I have prayed that prayer and it's coming true. My heart is breaking and breaking and breaking. I can't imagine what God goes through seeing his children going through what they go through. These little girls don't deserve the life they have.
I want to do something for them, but all I can do is love them. I have the chance for three hours a week to show them Jesus and give them the love they deserve, even if it's disciplining them (I had to break up a fight today!) or hugging them they deserve every ounce of what I have to offer. It isn't much but I pray that God can use me and the other BGC volunteers in their life to show them that people do care and are here for them. So if you think about it...send up a prayer for a baby girl and that God would break your heart with what breaks his. It hurts, but is worth it because it allows you to love that much more!
I'm the leader of the eight and nine year olds at BGC and today we were doing prayer requests. These aren't the requests I'm used to. A little girl asked for prayer for her dad who is in jail, another whose uncle is "on the run", and another whose sister's baby might be taken away. They started talking about the custody of the baby when another little girl said oh that's what I was...a "custody baby". Little girls shouldn't have prayer requests like this, but they do and it's their life.
My heart breaks when an eleven year old girl tells us she's afraid and hates going home. Her dad just got put in jail and her mom married a drug dealer and they do drugs in the house. What kind of life is that?
How much easier would it be to block all these things out and not care? But I have prayed that prayer and it's coming true. My heart is breaking and breaking and breaking. I can't imagine what God goes through seeing his children going through what they go through. These little girls don't deserve the life they have.
I want to do something for them, but all I can do is love them. I have the chance for three hours a week to show them Jesus and give them the love they deserve, even if it's disciplining them (I had to break up a fight today!) or hugging them they deserve every ounce of what I have to offer. It isn't much but I pray that God can use me and the other BGC volunteers in their life to show them that people do care and are here for them. So if you think about it...send up a prayer for a baby girl and that God would break your heart with what breaks his. It hurts, but is worth it because it allows you to love that much more!
The Haves and the Have Nots
"Of the 6.4 billion people on the planet, about 1.2 billion are so poor they live on less than a dollar a day."
"In the world today there are about 160 billionaires and about 2 million millionaires, but there are approximately 100 million homeless people."
"Americans spend about $5 billion per year on diets to lower their caloric intake, while 400 million people around the world are undernourished to the point of physical deterioration."
These statements make me want to throw up and cry. They make me want to scream and question. They make me want to do something. These statements come from a book from my Social Problems class. Poverty...a social problem.
Why do so many people have, while so many people have nothing? What are we doing about it? How can we make those that are the "have nots" become those that have something. Something more than the one dollar a day they live off of.
When I read these statements faces come to mind. These aren't just statistics...they are people, families, single mothers, homeless men and little girls. As a wise person in my life says I'm facing statistics that have faces. Not only through the children in the streets and villages this summer, but driving on the road outside my own school and seeing the housing projects, working with Room In the Inn and hearing homeless men's stories, and going to Baby Girl's Club and experiencing the lives of these precious little girls.
Why do some people have and some have not? I really don't know the right answer to that, but I do know that because I "have", a responsibility comes with that. "To whom much is given much is required". Some people say we are blessed...yes maybe we are but what about those in poverty, are they not blessed? Maybe instead of just blessed we're privileged. We're privileged to have what we have and we need to be good stewards of that. Not only good stewards of our money because we really may not have an excess of that, but with our time. I've committed my life to being a good steward of my time, my money and my life. I can't stay in my comfortable so called blessed life while there are people in this world with nothing...I have to make a difference and I pray that God uses me in any way possible to accomplish that. :)
"In the world today there are about 160 billionaires and about 2 million millionaires, but there are approximately 100 million homeless people."
"Americans spend about $5 billion per year on diets to lower their caloric intake, while 400 million people around the world are undernourished to the point of physical deterioration."
These statements make me want to throw up and cry. They make me want to scream and question. They make me want to do something. These statements come from a book from my Social Problems class. Poverty...a social problem.
Why do so many people have, while so many people have nothing? What are we doing about it? How can we make those that are the "have nots" become those that have something. Something more than the one dollar a day they live off of.
When I read these statements faces come to mind. These aren't just statistics...they are people, families, single mothers, homeless men and little girls. As a wise person in my life says I'm facing statistics that have faces. Not only through the children in the streets and villages this summer, but driving on the road outside my own school and seeing the housing projects, working with Room In the Inn and hearing homeless men's stories, and going to Baby Girl's Club and experiencing the lives of these precious little girls.
Why do some people have and some have not? I really don't know the right answer to that, but I do know that because I "have", a responsibility comes with that. "To whom much is given much is required". Some people say we are blessed...yes maybe we are but what about those in poverty, are they not blessed? Maybe instead of just blessed we're privileged. We're privileged to have what we have and we need to be good stewards of that. Not only good stewards of our money because we really may not have an excess of that, but with our time. I've committed my life to being a good steward of my time, my money and my life. I can't stay in my comfortable so called blessed life while there are people in this world with nothing...I have to make a difference and I pray that God uses me in any way possible to accomplish that. :)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Journey of Life
Wow, a lot has happened in this last month or so. It's hard to believe that a month and a half ago I was in Zambia and experiencing the best summer of my life. It wasn't easy coming back home and back to school. I can for sure feel Satan working away at me and trying to find every way possible to make me forget what I learned and experienced this summer. I'm not gonna lie he has been doing a pretty good job. These last few weeks I think I have been letting him win and have been drowned in the temptation to think about all that was and all that happened and forget all that is and can be.
I am in this place for a purpose. I went to Zambia for a purpose and now I'm here for a purpose. Although I did have an amazing summer and as life changing as it was, I can't get stuck in that. As cliche as this may sound, life is a journey and it keeps going. I don't want to be left behind thinking of where maybe "I wish I was" but make the most of where I am.
I have so many great opportunities here at school to serve and to grow. Even though I'm not in a foreign country and pushed out of my comfort zone every single day, growth and service can still happen. I pray that God will continue to ignite that passion in my heart and not let me forget my purpose here on this earth.
I want to spend every single day loving to my best ability and serving. The girls on my floor are one way I'm so excited to serve! They are all so incredible and I already love them and can't wait to see what the year has to bring! Just being there for them makes my day worth it. And Baby Girl's Club is a passion that comes alive every time I see those little girls faces and I just want to love on them more and more every time I see them.
Life wasn't meant to be easy. Your situations and experiences change around you continually, but God doesn't. He is the same God as he was yesterday, today and will be tomorrow. That's why it's so comforting to know that my identity is in Him and not any other person, place or "experience" and that we have a consistent God.
So...yeah I may not be in Zambia anymore and yes it was an amazing and life changing experience but it happened and has shaped me but I need to keep on this journey of life. I need to be willing to be used by God wherever I may be and look for new opportunities to serve and be used.
I am in this place for a purpose. I went to Zambia for a purpose and now I'm here for a purpose. Although I did have an amazing summer and as life changing as it was, I can't get stuck in that. As cliche as this may sound, life is a journey and it keeps going. I don't want to be left behind thinking of where maybe "I wish I was" but make the most of where I am.
I have so many great opportunities here at school to serve and to grow. Even though I'm not in a foreign country and pushed out of my comfort zone every single day, growth and service can still happen. I pray that God will continue to ignite that passion in my heart and not let me forget my purpose here on this earth.
I want to spend every single day loving to my best ability and serving. The girls on my floor are one way I'm so excited to serve! They are all so incredible and I already love them and can't wait to see what the year has to bring! Just being there for them makes my day worth it. And Baby Girl's Club is a passion that comes alive every time I see those little girls faces and I just want to love on them more and more every time I see them.
Life wasn't meant to be easy. Your situations and experiences change around you continually, but God doesn't. He is the same God as he was yesterday, today and will be tomorrow. That's why it's so comforting to know that my identity is in Him and not any other person, place or "experience" and that we have a consistent God.
So...yeah I may not be in Zambia anymore and yes it was an amazing and life changing experience but it happened and has shaped me but I need to keep on this journey of life. I need to be willing to be used by God wherever I may be and look for new opportunities to serve and be used.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Community
Community may be a small word and maybe even an over used words at time but I've really realized this past summer how important community is. I love community. I love being around people. I love having others around you that love and support you and you can go to at any time and you know they'll love you no matter what is going on. I also love engaging in a new community like I did this summer and going to Zambia with three random strangers that I met one day and lived with for the next 8 weeks. We became just like a family and were more honest and open with each other than I have been with anyone. We were authentic and real with each other and vulnerable and through all that we became so close and God used each of us in each other's lives.
God created us to be in community. Not just with each other, but with him too. This summer I have learned how important it is to be in "community" with God. Out of the extended time we spend with our Savior overflows love and lessons in how to be in community with others. We were created to be relational and to be in community.
I love that my major is community development. I have been thinking about that more lately and how just that title really encompasses what I'm about and what I love.
How I love building relationships with people and yeah I may not be the most outgoing person, but I love getting to know people and loving on others. And I want to develop community for those who don't know what they're missing out on, whether its a Zambian child being held for the first time, paying attention to and having a conversation with a homeless man on the street, or showing my Baby Girls that no matter how bad their life at home is they can have a safe place at Baby Girls Club and we will love them.
I think there are different circles of your "community". You will always have your close group, like family and close friends and those are so so important to have for care, accountability and stability. But I also believe God called us to seek out these opportunities to develop community with others and engage in others lives so that they may understand what it should be like to be in community with Christ.
Hopefully all these thoughts make sense, but I just know that community is a great thing to have and something we need. Not only with each other but with most importantly, God. We can't neglect that relationship because it should impact all other relationships. God is good and praise the Lord for all that he is teaching me!
God created us to be in community. Not just with each other, but with him too. This summer I have learned how important it is to be in "community" with God. Out of the extended time we spend with our Savior overflows love and lessons in how to be in community with others. We were created to be relational and to be in community.
I love that my major is community development. I have been thinking about that more lately and how just that title really encompasses what I'm about and what I love.
How I love building relationships with people and yeah I may not be the most outgoing person, but I love getting to know people and loving on others. And I want to develop community for those who don't know what they're missing out on, whether its a Zambian child being held for the first time, paying attention to and having a conversation with a homeless man on the street, or showing my Baby Girls that no matter how bad their life at home is they can have a safe place at Baby Girls Club and we will love them.
I think there are different circles of your "community". You will always have your close group, like family and close friends and those are so so important to have for care, accountability and stability. But I also believe God called us to seek out these opportunities to develop community with others and engage in others lives so that they may understand what it should be like to be in community with Christ.
Hopefully all these thoughts make sense, but I just know that community is a great thing to have and something we need. Not only with each other but with most importantly, God. We can't neglect that relationship because it should impact all other relationships. God is good and praise the Lord for all that he is teaching me!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
I can't believe that I'm home. The summer has flown by and I can't believe my time in Africa is over. It truly has been the best summer of my life and has made me realize how great God is! God taught me so many things and I feel like I could go on for hours and hours about my experience. Zambia has for sure become one topic I could talk about forever. :) It's hard for me to believe that at times I was so unsure about going on this trip and it made me nervous just to think about it, but I went and I'm so thankful. Praise the Lord for allowing me to go on this trip because I know that my life will not be the same after. It's like I have a before and after of my life now and it's great. It has been so weird coming back to America and having the buzz of the TV, hearing cell phones ringing, walking into a grocery store and having all the shelves stocked, hearing people complain about so many little things, and not having every child's attention as you walk on the street.
Sometimes its hard not to become bitter or mad about things here in the US and I wonder why we are so blessed in this country. But I do know that God says to whom much is given, much is expected and I believe that more than ever now. My life cannot be the same after this trip and after all the encounters I had with people in Zambia. I don't want to sound extreme or anything like that, but mostly I just wanted to let you know that the Lord worked this summer and I am so grateful for that. My prayer (which actually came from a very wise person I know) now is that God would cement the things that I have learned and experienced in my heart so much that no amount of America takes away what I have learned. I have become gloriously ruined and have dangerously surrendered my life to Christ even more and I love it. If you can all continue to join with me in prayer not only for me, but the people in Zambia and all of the good work that God is doing there.
Sometimes its hard not to become bitter or mad about things here in the US and I wonder why we are so blessed in this country. But I do know that God says to whom much is given, much is expected and I believe that more than ever now. My life cannot be the same after this trip and after all the encounters I had with people in Zambia. I don't want to sound extreme or anything like that, but mostly I just wanted to let you know that the Lord worked this summer and I am so grateful for that. My prayer (which actually came from a very wise person I know) now is that God would cement the things that I have learned and experienced in my heart so much that no amount of America takes away what I have learned. I have become gloriously ruined and have dangerously surrendered my life to Christ even more and I love it. If you can all continue to join with me in prayer not only for me, but the people in Zambia and all of the good work that God is doing there.
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