For graduation, our class was told to prepare something, whether it be a skit, a presentation, video, slide show, etc. Here is what my class and I put together. I hope you enjoy!
It sure does feel strange to be graduated from the School of Discipleship and right between coming back on staff with GFA, and not gone yet. I’m glad for the chance to stay here longer to help out in the office during the craziness of the new data change, and to help train the new student that will take my place in the Volunteer department. But it doesn’t leave much time for processing all that has happened this year and the last few hectic weeks of class. So I was re-reading my latest Owley Report (Newsletter) and here are the things I wrote about.
Even though those last weeks were packed full of lessons from God, fun activities, and lots of cleaning, it was awesome to spend it with my class. Our class really did become like a little family unit within the GFA family, and I will continue to pray for my amazing friends/brothers/sisters.
Have you ever wanted to be an animal at some point in your life?
Well, one Sunday the pastor at the church I was attending taught out of Proverbs 30, about four little animals that have great wisdom. There is the ant that plans for the future by storing up food in the summer, the rock badger that knows its limitations and puts its trust on something bigger than itself, the locust that lives in humility, not comparing itself to others but being content in each circumstance, and finally, the lizard that has a quiet boldness about it.
In the past I had always dreamed of being a bird. Free to fly wherever, whenever. Not to mention, I would have my own share of wonderful and delicious bugs! Slimy, yet satisfying. However, now I find myself wanting to be more like the lizard…
This past year in the School of Discipleship, The Lord gave me the verse Romans 8:28 to dwell on as my promise from Him. Which is really interesting to me because He had given me this verse before in my life, and that was in the midst of a major trial. But the words of the promise still rang true through this year. In each and every circumstance, the big and the small, God brought this to mind and I held fast to it.
After doing a bit of research, looking up some words in the Greek to find the real meaning of the verse, I came up with this:
We believe in our hearts that ALL THINGS, not just those that we choose, God will cause to be beneficial, spiritually profitable, and useful to those who love Him and are selected by Him to be used for Him.
Despite all that I’ve been through, I know from past experiences that God will hold me in His arms, and everything will be alright. As Proverbs 30:5 says “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him”. It took a while for me, but I have finally put my trust in God about 98% this year. I say 98% because I’m still a work in progress. However, without fail, when I think of Romans 8:28, it calms me down and I’m able to sit back, relax, and watch God work. After all, He knew this all was going to happen before the foundations of the earth were made! Who am I to question that?
Here are some practical things I’ve learned that have helped me this year, hopefully they can help you too.
As I mentioned before, I want to be like the lizard. To have a quiet boldness to step out in faith to trust God’s got my back and has it under control. Are you ready? I know I’m excited to see where this takes me. 🙂
Hello all! This blog post is dedicated to the Bonsai house (Bethany, Chantelle, Katie, and me!)
It is Sunday July 25, 2010 and we are seated at Panera’s about to start our 3 PM devos. Our theme for our last house devotion this year is: Things God’s brought us through this year. We took turns expressing the various stories of God’s faithfulness, but I won’t list it in the order that we did it because it would take a while, and it’d be super long. So I’ll just list what each person said in list form. 🙂
Katie:
Gave me a house that I can laugh with, a nice Christmas even though I was away from family. Grace to learn and transition to my new role at work. God gave me a lot of grace this year to handle the pressure of not being around my family; my nephew, Wesley, was born this year!!
Gave a lot of grace with Susanna and Pam gone in February. Shook me from my apathy and showed me where I needed change. He was really clear with me when I needed it. He gave me a lot of opportunities to trust Him, and has been patient with me. We have a quote book!!
God gave me the grace to follow someone’s lead even when it didn’t make sense. He gave me wisdom and discernment through this year. Gave me people I can talk to, and helped me be more open. We have some house videos! He gave Alley, Bethany, and Chantelle grace to follow my lead, and gave me family to take care of me when sick. He helped me keep Bethany and Alley from killing each other.
Bethany:
Healed me (health). He gave me sisters (House mates). My family has changed in the Lord. We got to go camping! He helped me to not be depressed and taught me to take control of my thoughts. Gave us grace in public speaking, raised all our support, and helped us in time management. He gave us interns!
Let us go to Asia, I got to go to FL with Chantelle. He helped me be more open, and we were able to bond as a house quickly.
Chantelle:
Healed me (health). Made me happy by giving me free decorations for Christmas. He taught me to trust Him and be gracious when I’d been hurt. I have freedom in knowing that Jesus is the only thing beautiful about us. Brandon accepted the Lord!
I survived without my family, and God took care of them in relationships, church, and in growing them. He also gave me a whole family outside of home that I can go to whenever I need to. He showed me how prideful I was in the beginning of the year and began to break me. In my hour of need He gave me Psalm 31. Helped me to be depressed…
Taught me that romance is not the center of my life. He made me love heaven more than earth. Gave us grace in public speaking, raised all our support, and helped us in time management. He gave me a fiancé even though Katie said I couldn’t have one (hehe). Allowed my family to come to graduation and let us go to Asia.
He gave me new supporters throughout the year. Gave me grace when Stephanie left, and leaders I can talk to. Gave me a great church to go to (AKA: the Village with Matt Chandler)
Alley:
He taught me how to trust people, and healed my heart. Taught me to trust Him through every situation (AKA: Ducky), and took over for me with my family… they’re alright! 😀
Gave me a whole family outside of home that I can go to whenever I need. I’m not as concerned with my self-image. He intensified my discernment and made me more intense and passionate. I came to the point where I’m not afraid of my future. Gave us grace in public speaking, raised all our support, and helped us in time management. He made me more transparent, and gave me more of an appreciation for the body of Christ.
He gave me IT guys that could save my computer multiple times. We went to Asia. I got to be my aunt’s maid of honor, I joined staff. We got new supporters throughout the year. He gave me someone to go to when Stephanie left, and future apartment mates that I can be open with, gave me a tan!! The Village Church that I could go to and be challenged.
House:
Snow Days! Sick buddies.
I hope you enjoyed reading a bit of the Lord’s faithfulness with us through this year. 🙂 Remember, He is ALWAYS faithful.
– Signed,
The Bonsai house
Today I woke up feeling very discouraged. It seemed as though everything that could go wrong, was going wrong. Not to mention that I hadn’t gotten a ton of restful sleep that night. I got to the office, knowing that this feeling of mine was just an attack of the enemy trying to derail me from all that God is doing in my life and through my life. When I got to my desk, the first thing I did after logging into my outlook, is send an email to my house mates and mentor asking that they pray for me.
Not long after that I got emails back from everyone, and they each were encouraging. Praise God for people that I can go to when I’m hurting, and they can pray for me and help me turn away from my self-centeredness and turn my focus back to God where it belongs. This is how the body of believers is supposed to act. Continually lifting each other up in prayer and not discouraging one another through silly bickering that doesn’t effect eternity at all, but distracts us from fulfilling all that God is calling us to do.
One of the emails I got, encouraged me to make a list of all the things God has been faithful in specifically, and of all the praises I can think of. So that is what I’m going to do next. If you want, you can read them below, but if not, that’s perfectly fine. I’m going to make the list below so that I can always go back to it if I need to and I can also be encouraging to others who might be feeling the same as me today.
– God has given me another day in Him to reach the world for eternity
– God has healed me from all of the wounds of my past
– God is faithfully providing the support that I need so I can come back on staff
– My mom gave me a car for when I’m back on staff
– My brother is growing and maturing in the Lord
– God is watching out for all of my loved ones, a task that I could never do as well as Him.
– God is giving me the opportunity to reach the lost in the way I’ve always dreamed of
– He has faithfully healed me from all of my illnesses.
– He is the ONLY one that knows my thoughts better than myself. Thank goodness.
-He loves ME unconditionally!
There are many more where that came from, but even just focusing on the ones above, I’m feeling so much better. Praise God!
Recent Comments