Mar 1, 2012
My days are now full of family activities such as sledding, shoveling the snow from the driveway, and other things like raising my support to join staff at Gospel for Asia. Life is a roller coaster for sure. One moment I’m on the top of the world and the next I’m discouraged; wanting to climb in my bed and pull the covers over my head till the whole world dissolves. Today was actually a really good day till the afternoon but between lack of sleep and a few other stress factors I again got to the point where I wanted to hide from everyone. I cried a while and then looked through some pictures trying to find something that could help me not feel so gloomy. A picture of my family years ago… maybe just a goofy picture of my brothers and me. This is the one I found.
This is me the day I got the call saying I was accepted for the School of Discipleship. I was so excited that I ran outside in my socks to tell my brother who was taking pictures in the front yard. I’m not really fond of how I look in the photo but tonight it meant everything to me. It was remembering that God has specifically called me to do this job. He chose me to be in School of Discipleship and He chose me to keep serving by joining staff. I was more confident of God’s calling at this moment than I had ever been in my life and I felt a very similar (and maybe even greater) joy when I was sure God wanted me to join staff. So looking at the picture I had to ask myself what is different about life that makes me feel down in the dumps as opposed to skipping around in the dirt. Well it’s not God that’s changed and I’m sure that His call hasn’t changed either. The only thing that keeps changing are my emotions. But no matter what I do, or how I feel He is – and will always be – the same. That’s something I can bank on. He won’t let me down and He won’t let you down either.
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Feb 24, 2012
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Psalm 8:4 KJV
I find myself asking this question today. What is my life, and who am I that God cares for me? I have done nothing good in my entire life apart from Jesus Christ. I find my thoughts consistent with Paul’s in Philippians 3:7-14: Everything that I used to hold onto and count as precious to me has practically turned into garbage compared to the glorious riches in Jesus Christ. For my first few days as a new student, I was completely shaken because my whole life since graduating college has been completely emerged in sin. I felt like an imposter being here. How and why would Jesus, the God of the Universe call me to give my life to Him? And why here at Gospel for Asia?
My whole life has earned me nothing but the wrath of God. Every “good” word and deed I’ve ever spoken and done have done nothing but store God’s wrath against me on the Day of Judgement. But after all of that, Jesus came and changed everything.
When did I start loving people? How are my passions the COMPLETE opposite of what they once were? I’m going to heaven? This is so hard to accept. But I believe Jesus. I believe God’s Word. While I was yet God’s enemy, He sent His son to take the punishment that I deserved for every crime that I’ve ever committed against God. The punishment for every single lie I’ve ever told, every object I’ve stolen, every woman I’ve lusted after, every ounce of anger that used to bubble in my being, every idol that I worshipped, every idle word and every curse against man and God that I’ve sputtered out of my mouth has all been taken from me and placed on Jesus’ shoulders. The love of God led me to faith and repentance, and I am now forgiven. I am forgiven because Jesus took my place.
Now, the only rational response is to abandon everything for this amazing King. The only decision that makes any sense at all in the light of this hilariously good news is to forget all of my dreams of “success” and to give up every fleeting pleasure on this earth in exchange for the only thing that will not burn away when all is said and done: The Kingdom of God. I can’t take ANYTHING with me when I die, so why not store up that which is waiting for me on the other side? God has made me a new man. He saw something in me and decided to call me His own.
Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!
May the whole world hear this beautiful news and know this same God that has rocked my world. Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel.
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Jan 31, 2012
It was the day before my bestest friend was coming back from Canada and I was super excited. Like most nights that week, I was headed over to hang with some friends of mine and I invited one of my roommates along as well. We were to bring drinks over, so a quick stop at TomThumb was necessary. As we perused the isles for some liquid to quench our thirst I had no idea that my car would be attacked. Attacked?? Well, here’s what happened. A family from Gospel For Asia had some ingredients for all night prayer that we had that Friday night and didn’t use. They weren’t sure what to do with the mushy corn, so they were going to take it home I believe. Little did they know my car would be conveniently unattended at TomThumb, so they disposed of the corn there.
From my perspective however, my roommate and I came out to find two packets of frozen corn from Target wedged between the antenna and the front door of my car. What?! Target brand corn, at TomThumb… on my car? Where in the world did this come from? And my windsheild wipers were up too… so strange! Who could have done this? and EW! The corn isn’t frozen! it’s all mushy and gross!! Anyway, I continued on my way and told the my friends what had happened. I ended up throwing the corn out, but was confused for a few days after that. Later however, the Gospel For Asia family confessed on my Facebook that it was them who placed the corn. Which was a great relief to my cornfused mind. 🙂
So, that was my mushy happenstance! Hope you enjoyed it!
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Nov 30, 2011
When I was a young girl I planned my life and was certain that by the time I was 25 years old I’d be married with four kids and succeeding in a career. Now that I have reached 25, I can testify to the truth of the statement, “God can do far more than what we can ever imagine.” I am so happy that God doesn’t take direction from me! His plan is a perfect, holy, blameless plan with a purpose greater than we know.
I am not married yet, but I have found a LOVE more beautiful and perfect than I have ever or will ever deserve! As I grow in my faith, my outlook on life and my purpose in it is unbending. A once panoramic perspective of me, myself and I has become a vast vertical vision of Jesus, His suffering children and the passion to uplift them.
I once thought it was impossible to know a mother’s love unless you actually were a mom. God proved to me otherwise when He blessed me with the opportunity to love and be loved by hundreds of underprivileged children in Asia. I have begun to understand a mother’s connection with her children. It is something of divine essence that is just so difficult to describe in words, songs, or poetry. I experienced the unfeigned sacrifice, or at least the inclination of it, to add to them even just a single trace of joy, safety, peace, and everything else righteous that a child deserves.
My idea of success now transcends all of life’s preconceptions, notions, and ideologies. I am nothing but a season, a chance that soon will pass. I’ve learned that success is not determined by how much I can accumulate, how great a name I can make for myself, or how high I can climb the ladder. Success is determined by the choices I make every day that will influence whether I am storing up the fleeting things of this world, or living in the light of eternity.
Growing up, I used to wish for lovely shiny things for my birthday. Now my only “wish” this year is to see progress toward the fulfillment of the vision God has placed on my heart: for underprivileged, orphan, and abandoned children in Asia to be raised up in God’s love and become the future leaders for His kingdom work. Please help make my “birthday wish” come true by spending a few minutes in prayer for the underprivileged children in Asia today!
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Nov 29, 2011
When you pray for the Lord to answer your requests… Do you realize He will answer them at what ever cost He chooses to? Are you willing to go through the answer to that prayer, no matter what it is? We have a choice to respond in a Godly submission, or respond to our flesh.
God has a sense of humor to answer prayer (Of course you probably knew that)
As you can see in the picture there is one of my friends. I just got this picture not that long ago. I thought “What in world? Why does he have “MY” cup and why is it in he HIS department room?” I really thought he took it just for a joke to see if I would go pick it up. With thinking that I went to his department and there I see “MY” cup and in the inside… it has remnants of coffee inside. “He drank from “MY” cup with out asking me! How could he, and how rude!” Is what I thought. I was a little bit offended and upset. Isaac then starts to tell me how he had no idea that cup was mine but he always saw me drink out of it and thought I’d appreciate the picture of him and that cup. RIGHT!
I then remembered a prayer I said to our dad last night. I asked the Lord to help me to be like Fred (one of the Gospel For Asia Staff) and not to become offended in situations but to respond to offense by choosing to let go and yield to God. I then started to laugh and praised God for this. Though it may seem very silly… God used this funny situation to open up my eyes. Sure, there will be more to come but I love how our Father has a sense of humor and how he loves us SOOOO much that he answers are prayers because we cry out to Him to have him respond to us.
Be encouraged to see that when we pray He HEARS and ANSWERS. Let us all not make the wrong choice to respond in a selfish way to our prayers being answered even if they are not the way we would want them to have them answered.
Have a beautiful blessed day brothers and sisters!
Do not loose heart and KEEP on praying!
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).
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My days are now full of family activities such as sledding, shoveling the snow from the driveway, and other things like raising my support to join staff at Gospel for Asia. Life is a roller coaster for sure. One moment I’m on the top of the world and the next I’m discouraged; wanting to climb in my bed and pull the covers over my head till the whole world dissolves. Today was actually a really good day till the afternoon but between lack of sleep and a few other stress factors I again got to the point where I wanted to hide from everyone. I cried a while and then looked through some pictures trying to find something that could help me not feel so gloomy. A picture of my family years ago… maybe just a goofy picture of my brothers and me. This is the one I found.
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