Jun 22, 2013
I am learning a ton of new things here at School of Discipleship…. but don’t worry…. I still do manage to have fun đ Like today, for example… we got to start our house meeting before supper, then have a wonderful supper of barbequed burgers, macaroni salad, chips, and picklesâŠ.
Then, best of all đ ice cream, chocolate sauce and bananas for dessert đ It was scrumptious!! While enjoying our dessert, we finished our house meeting. Tonight was an evening where a few of us girls were having tons of fun just being silly đ After fooling around for a bit, we got down to doing our assignments…
Right now, we are going through the book Before You Hit the Wall, along with the booklet Learning to Pray, the combination of these two are called Spiritual Disciplines. Prayer is a huge part of the ministry of Gospel for Asia, and it is an area that I consistently need to work on at this point in my life. Going through this book has been quite helpful, it has given me quite a bit of head knowledge, but the issue is that now I need to get down to it and make the choice to apply what I am learning, otherwise this year will benefit me very little!
Sometimes the choices that we have in life can be aggravating, and we complain that we have too many, but then when we were not given as many choices…. we complained that we didnât have enough choices! I am so glad that God is in heaven, and that He knows what we are in need of and what will be a hindrance to us! May God be praised!
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Jun 21, 2013
There are SO many different types, or facets, of fear…there’s the fear that comes to me when I see a spider crawling towards me, the fear that grips me when I know I’ve done something wrong and must suffer the consequencs, the fear when I know I need to do something but I’m scared of what will happen after…the fear of losing someone I love, or of leaving someone or something that I love, the fear of change and fear of the unknown.
This year I’ve been faced with my fears in those areas and more – and let me tell you, my knee-jerk reaction is to curl up in a corner and plug my ears and shut my eyes and wait till things are “better” again…even if means avoiding and prolonging the inevitable. But the Lord has shown me that not only is that EXTREMELY unhealthy for my sanity and sense of reality, it’s dangerous to my spiritual growth and my relationship with Him.
You see, when I choose to allow the strong emotion of fear to creep up my backbone, it means I’m not trusting God. I’m not trusting the Creator who made me with brown eyes and brown hair and size 7.5 feet. Who knows every hair on my head. Who has kept track of every tear I’ve ever cried. Who has written the story of my life and knows how it (and I) will end.
Okay, yeah yeah, we’ve all heard this…do not fear, trust in God. But it isn’t easy, is it? When you’re in the moment, it’s insanely easy to accept that fear without thinking twice about it. It’s naturaly to us. Because we are naturally fearful and untrusting creatures. And that’s where Christ comes in!! Because of His death on the cross for our sins, He delivered us from sin and that includes the sin giving into fleshly fears and not trusting God. As believers with the Spirit of God living within us, we HAVE the power to not fear. We have the power to choose to trust God.
I’m reminded of Ruth. I just love her story! She chose to enter a life full of unknowns and potential uh-oh’s, and she did it boldly. Yeah, maybe she was nervous, but I don’t think she was fearful, at least not from what the Bible says. She put her trust in the Lord, and He pulled through for her. Because He’s God…He isn’t like a mischievous sibling who says he’s going to catch you when you jump off the steps and then backs up and lets you fall at the last second. Yet we act like He’s that way all the time.
So, next time you’re in a situation where fear is threatening to cloud your mind and overcome you with stress and doubts and what-if’s, hold onto the promises of the Lord – hold on to TRUTH when the enemy wants you to believe lies. Truths like He will never leave you or forsake you (Deut. 31:8) (Heb 13:5), and Psalm 139, where David talks about how intimately the Lord knows us and protects us. Psalm 23 – our good Shepherd is with us even in the valley of the shadow of death. It takes a conscious effort on our part, for sure! But it is possible to live a life free from fear. Except, of course, when it comes to spiders…in my case at least. đ
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Jun 18, 2013
You know it’s spring when………
The grass starts turning green, temperatures rise, birds fly back from the south and flowers start blooming everywhere!!
These are all wonderful signs of spring and the Lord has given me a new appreciation for them, but they have nothing to do with the sign that I’m talking about. Everyone’s “favorite” sign of spring is when mom says “Guess what? It’s time for Spring Cleaning!! ” Groan!!!!!
If this has always been your perspective of Spring Cleaning then you should try it at the Gospel For Asia Canadian office! The whole family, aka “staff“, takes the afternoon off once a year to clean the entire office. You know what they say, ” Many hands makes light work.” This is such a true statement! We all cleaned our own personal spaces first and then it was off to help others clean the common areas in the office. We had a blast!! I even got to stand on the kitchen counter to clean in and on top of the counters!! It’s not every day that you get permission to do that, now is it?? I didn’t think so!
Now, even though the cleaning was a lot of fun, all good things still come to an end. So, instead of ending our day together with cleaning, we had a barbecue outside and more  Gospel For Asia families showed up for a great time of fellowship. The excitement didn’t stop there though, first we got blown inside and rained out by a surprise shower. After rushing inside it was time for some dessert and arm wrestling!! ( I may or may not have participated in those) Okay I did win a few arm wrestling matches, but who’s counting?
Then, we watched Toy Story 2, enjoyed a few laughs and some hyper children, and went home to a comfortable air conditioned house. Praise the Lord for spring and a wonderful loving family at Gospel For Asia’s School of Discipleship!
I wonder what the sign for summer is, don’t you?
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Jun 18, 2013
The stories of Jane Austen are enough to drive any single woman into a romantic stupor. Â This girl is no different. After a night of Pride and Prejudice, I sat on my couch trying to stay sane or rather hold onto the reality that should always be firm around me. Yet thinking of Mr. Darcyâs ardent love and admiration for Elizabeth causes me to sigh and dream. (I know masses of other young ladies have had the exact same reaction, whether it is Pride and Prejudice or some other tale of love.)
Donât get me wrong I like being single. There is so much about my life right now that is exciting and I can truly say without a doubt that God is always doing something. So I say this, not to air my desperation to find a husband; because quite frankly this girl is NOT going to do any sort of finding. He (whoever he is) is going to have to be completely reliant on God and then boldly pursue me.
No, I say this with a two-fold purpose.
One-I-like many – have in the back of my mind this thought âToday is a good day to fall in loveâ or âI wonder when God is going to bring, him into my life.â Many of us are attracted to Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley, etc⊠because they are men who know what they want and are willing to pursue it.  I am personally drawn to the story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy for the fact that he watched Elizabeth and admired her without her really even knowing. Then after some struggles and changes in both of their hearts he, without any expectations, loved her in thought and deed, even when he assumed the feelings were once sided.
I know it is in the heart of most every woman to be adored and loved by a man. Often times especially in âsuper spiritualâ circles this fact causes embarrassment, so a lot of young ladies like to pretend their singleness makes them closer to God. However I seriously doubt God wants us to be embarrassed for something he created us with. Ha! Iâm definitely not!
I AM A SUPER DUPER ROMANTIC!
Two-With point number one still in mind I will add this: While a desire to be married to a most dashing and Godly man ; ) is not a bad thing, thinking your life doesnât start until him, or being discontent  until Mr. Wonderful arrives is not right or healthy. I have seen many a lady so desperate to get married that they settle for something other than Godâs Will and regret it. I donât mean in any way to belittle those times when it is really hard to wait, trust me I have been there, rather I encourage you to simply trust God!
Just think we were bought with the blood of Christ. Once we accept that gift, our âHappily Ever Afterâ is here and now. No, our lives wonât be picture perfect, but Jesusâ love for us is perfect and complete, and whether single or married our purpose is to honor and glorify Him. Just remember ladies that we were pursued by our Creator!
How do you think God feels when we spend our time imagining what could be, when He has prepared for us something so beautiful and so amazing we miss it? The fact is we cannot expect the love and admiration of dashing, but imperfect man (we are imperfect too) to âcompleteâ us (sorry but that is so cheesy). Instead we must live every day on that narrow road with our hearts and minds completely focused on Christ. That is living a life in love!
So my dear sisters, remember it is not wrong to desire a relationship with  Mr.                  (Fill in the blank) but in the meantime remember – we are the Bride of Christ! Our lives arenât waiting to start, they already have! So live them and live them for HIS glory!
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Jun 18, 2013
Think about it, how often can people say that they live with six other girls who aren’t related to them? Not many!
Some might think it would be crazy (and sometimes it is), but most of the time it is a blast! It is such a blessing, even more so because each of the girls love the Lord and desire to have a deeper relationship with Him. Each one of them challenge me in different areas of my life that need to grow or be refined. They keep me accountable to the lessons that I are learning and are beginning to apply in my life.
When any one of us girls are struggling, the rest all gather around and lift up the burdened one with prayer and encouragement. I have seen it happen many times during the almost five months that we have been here. Such a beautiful thing to see! This is another reason why living in a community of godly gals is awesome!
We cook, clean, sing, learn, work, and almost do everything together! Our discussion times about what we are learning in class is one of my favorite things ever! Every one of the girls see the lessons that we are learning through different eyes. When we discuss what we see and have learned, we all see what each person learned in the certain lesson! It’s great! I get so much more out of our class times that I would have if I was just by myself.
These are only to name a few of reasons why I enjoy being in a community of gals! The Lord has blessed me more that I deserve!
Thank you to my six roommates for making my life six time more exciting!
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