God is a God who Provides

If ever there was a time in my life that just flew by, these past few weeks would be it! So many things have happened so quickly I haven’t even had time to sit down and write about them. First I went on a trek to drop off my visa application at the Spanish Consulate in Chicago. This process went so well, there was no denying it was completely God orchestrated the entire time. Every step along the way, God placed someone there to help give us directions, or instructions, and even a very nice manager at the hotel we stayed at upgraded our room for free.  I left knowing that God had planned every one of my steps along the way.

Then in between that adventure and my next I found out some very very exciting news, I am 100% fully funded to go to Granada, Praise the Lord!! I was just so floored at God’s extravagant blessings, and His faithful provision! 

So I went on to my next adventure so excited and beyond thankful. This next adventure was to go to training, which was wonderful and very encouraging.  I met so many people that had such a contagious passion to serve God and spread His Word all over the world.  I am so thankful I was able to meet the people I met and learn from some truly great women and men of God.

After getting home from training, I received even more good news; I was approved for my visa!  So I am preparing to go back to Chicago at the end of this week to pick it up.  Please pray for safe travel and everything to run smoothly.

Everything has just fallen right into place, in ways that only can be God working it all out, in His way and in His timing. So as of right now the timing is working out so that the goal leaving date is going to be the beginning of next week! Please pray that everything continues to work out the way God wants it, that I will continue to trust in Him for all my needs, and lean on His peace that passes all understanding.

“God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19

“Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” Psalm 139:4-6

Sharing God's Love for Spain

Wow, catching my breath after these past few weeks is going to be a feat only God can do. Everything has been flowing and working out so perfectly, that there is no denying that it is God. Although there have been hard times during this faith walk, I can confidently say looking back just on these past weeks that He is faithful! My mind has been a whirl of activity, but yet somehow God has given a peace that only He can truly provide.

I had been preparing for “Sharing God’s Love for Spain,” benefit spaghetti dinner for weeks and with the help of so many wonderful people it was a complete success. God blessed in so many ways, not only in people giving financially, but also in people helping, people coming willing to learn more about this ministry, and those that were there for encouragement.  I was certainly encouraged and also just completely astounded at the outpouring of love and support. I will take that encouragement with me this week as I go to Chicago to apply for my visa at the Spanish Consulate. It will be a two day trip and a lot of driving, this Wednesday, and Thursday, but an adventure I am sure. I please ask that you join with me in praying that this trip will go well, and that I will be approved for my visa in a short amount of time. I have no doubts that God will work this out in His way in His time, just as He has everything else. “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all He does. “ Psalm 145:17

“For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.  Praise the LORD!” Psalm 117:2

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”–Philippians 4:6-7

Cinderella's House

           I have received some more information about one of the ministries I will have the opportunity to help with while I am in Spain, called Cinderella’s House, and so I wanted to share this information with you. This new ministry reaches out to the women who are enslaved in the sex trade, and are looking for a safe place to heal, be restored and grow in Christ. Right now this ministry is so new that there is not yet an actual house, so the missionaries actually go out to minister to these women.  I will have the privilege to work with these missionaries who are passionately committed to serving God by reaching out to these hurting, broken women and showing them the love and healing restoration God offers.  

          It seems like every time I learn something more about God’s plan for this year I can see more and more why He has given me the passions that He has given. I am humbled to see how God is working everything out; using me in ways I never thought I could be used.  It just reminds me of how Big and Powerful God truly is, and yet how loving and intimate His relationship is with all of us, by taking the very things that we love and even things that we fear and using them all for His glory. Every time I go to think how unworthy I am to have the King of the universe use me, I am reminded that it is in my weakness that God’s power truly shows through. When we have nothing to bring but all of ourselves, God can truly take all that we are and aren’t and show the world and often times even us more of who He is… “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong!”

We're In

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8. These are the words of truth Moses spoke to Joshua before he became the new leader of the Israelites. These are also the words that God continues to speak lovingly to my heart as I am on this new journey. Along this path there have been and still are many unknowns in my life, which can be hard and tempting to worry about, but I am finding that in the times where there are lots of unknowns in my life, I am reminded all the more of the known truths of God. I can look back on this journey so far and see how God has been with me every step and extravagantly blessed me, not just with circumstances, but with the people in my life.

                Along this path, God has brought people just at the right time into my life that are walking beside me, partnering with me in this ministry, and encouraging me in so many ways.  The words, “We’re In,” are still echoing in my mind since a wonderfully encouraging sister-in-Christ, and I presented a challenge for my home church family to take this journey with me, through prayer and financially. Since that time many absolutely incredible people have said, “We’re In,” even if they don’t have a lot to give financially, their support, encouragement, and willingness to help have been priceless.  I know that I cannot do all of this on my own, but thankfully God promises I never have to!

Psalm 73:23, "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand."
Matthew 28:20b, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 

Wait for the Lord

        So, the support letters are sent, the challenge for families in my home church to say with words and actions, “We’re In,” has been made. I have had to fight the battle of myself and wrestle the thoughts of worry, doubt, and control out of my head. I have come to find that asking for people to partner with me, is not easy, not because I do not believe that this is what God is calling me to do by any means, but because asking for partners is kind of like putting all your passions, dreams, and even a big part of your own heart out there for others see, it can be a very venerable time. Waiting to see if someone is going to catch the passion and fire, God has given me for this ministry is a hard thing. Hearing negatives and skepticisms are not easy, when you place the heart God has given you out for all to see. However, this is where our hearts are called to be, to be open and honest with what God has placed inside them, to show the world, God's passions and love through our own hearts, and not to close that off and hide it away. 

      Although this process can be hard, I know my hopes, passions, dreams, and heart for this ministry is God given. So everything else that needs to go along with these, the courage, strength, patience, financial and prayer support, and documents/visa, will be God given as well. I am standing on the the promises He has given me, in full faith that He will provide. This is His plan for my life, and I am just get to follow it and walk hand in hand with Him wherever He leads.

Psalm 27:13-14, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Psalm 37:7a, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret.”

Isaiah 41:13, “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

Leaning not on my understanding, but His!

             I received some really good news a couple of nights ago, my visa actually won't take the four to six months like originally thought, instead it should take only about four to six weeks!! I am so excited to see what God is doing, He is opening doors and making things happen that no one else could possibly have done. I keep coming back to a lyrics of a song, sung during praise and worship at the Christian Church of Jasper by their band Narrow Path, "Our God will make a way, a way out of no way, He can do anything but fail!"
             Right now I am so thankful to be able to say that I am witnessing God doing just that, making a way out of no way. These next steps of finding people to partner with me financially and through prayer, getting my visa, and basically getting all the details worked out, can seem overwhelming if I let it. However, I will not look around me at how big the obstacles are, instead I will look at how huge my God is, and know that His plans truly can never fail!
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

The I need to post more often because this is entirely too long Post

                I obviously am not very good yet at this whole blogging regularly thing yet, but like me it is a work in progress.    

    So lots of things have happened since I blogged last, one of these things being that I found out that I may or may not be able to go to Spain in January because of the complications of getting my visa. This news at first discouraged me a great deal; I went off and pouted like I often do before God knocks some sense into me. So it wasn’t too long that God reminded me that I am not going on this trip by my own idea, strength, wisdom, or power, it is all His, He is the one who has orchestrated it all. So what right do I have to be upset that things aren’t working out the way that I planned them, instead I need to trust Him, and let Him lead me on this journey. I realized that if God doesn’t want me to go in January then I don’t want to go in January, it is all just a matter of me letting go and walking with Christ in the way He already has planned.  

                Some of this realization occurred at the National Missionary Convention this weekend. While there I was encouraged, challenged, and strengthen in so many amazing ways. From listening to a workshop to just a having a lunch with some precious friends I learned and grew so much.  I wrote some of these things I learned down so I wouldn’t forget like I am so good at doing, and thought I would share a few…

1. If God opens a door, don’t doubt, walk through it.

2.  Know my hang-ups, my coping mechanisms, allow God to show me, myself and my baggage so that when I go to serve Him, I’m not carrying around needless weight and stress.

3.  In order to do effective ministry in another culture I first must strip ministry of culture and use that raw form so I am not preaching and teaching my culture, but only Christ.

4.  That God has made me the way I am for a reason, I need to celebrate it, not hide it or suppress it

5. Allow myself recognize the stresses that I am feeling and why I am feeling them, realize I am not in control, rejoice over that fact, and rest that ball of emotion and stress in Jesus letting Him fill me with His peace.

6. Standing in line for an hour waiting for your food can be amazing, if you are with old friends.

7. That this will be hard, but not as hard if I just realize that God is in control and that He uses me best when I just walk along with Him.

8. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I need to invest in people, see their importance in the Kingdom of God, and give them room to grow and mature in Christ.

9.   My life will be studied more closely than my words.

10.  That I need to allow others to pour into me, but in turn I need to pour myself out for others in order to build them up in Christ.

11. That I cannot bring God to anywhere, He is already there working, I just can go and help shine His light and speak His words to that place.

12 Finally, that getting up at 4am and driving all morning for over 5 hours through three cities, is never a good idea before a huge conference, unless I am going for the whole, me turning into a grumpy bear thing. 

     Well these are just a few lessons I learned, I am sure as I become less sleep deprived from this wonderfully crazy weekend that I will begin to unpack more. For now though I will continue to marvel at just how good God is, and how completely grateful I am for the work that He is doing in me. 

 (Zephaniah 3:17!)

This is my life the rollercoaster...

Today I found out the official news, that I was accepted to be an apprentice in Granada, Spain.
Wow! When I heard the news, there were no words, just crazy hand gyrations and me doing something that was kind of like a dance and but more like a dying animal. Once the excitement was contained I was able to sit down and read more about all that needed to be done before I left in just two and a half short months. The excitement quickly was overshadowed by fear and doubt, words filled my head like, you can't possibly raise that much money in a month, health insurance? yeah right, and that whole getting your visa thing just forget about it. These words quickly spread from my head to my heart like a cancer infecting and destroying my hope quicker than I could react. I got frustrated, so I tried to do what I always try to do when I am frustrated...control any bit that I can. So I tried to take everything back into my hands, figuring out what it really would take to get to me there, and how I could possibly do it, and I came to the conclusion that it all was just impossible.
This conclusion actually wasn't a lie, it was true that I could not raise this money, get insurance, get a visa, and figure all of this out on my own, it was simply impossible. However, thankfully God spoke so softly to my heart like He does, revealing that although these things may be impossible for me, they are easy for Him. I was reminded that I am on this adventure with Him and for Him and that He will provide for ALL my needs in this, even the need I have for Him to be patient with me. Peace then flowed over me like a gentle washing rain, and although I don't know all the details of how all this is going to work out, I know that my Father does, and that is so reassuring. I am so thankful that I have a God that can do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20)