And when the Gentiles heard this...

Before I start getting neck deep into the work I have to do today I guess I really have the urge to write you all. I want to share a few stories of how God has blessed me this past week. Many of you have heard but I'm willing to bet that not all of you know these things since some of you are very far away from me and this makes me sad. However it is still a blessing to be able to share my life with you in this way.

First, I recently got a refund check from my scholarship that wasn't used all the way which is a huge blessing because before this I literally had no money. Having no money makes it hard to live which is the general formula  so this money is a huge blessing because not only can I now fund my last few weeks here at school I can save some of it for later use in paying things off.

Second, I have this wonderful opportunity to live on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a year housing international students and having to pay little rent. Therefore I must fund my rent money and living expenses and thus need a job, ya know, like the grown ups have. So a while back I applied my little heart out and lo and behold the other morning I get a callback from one of the places I applied asking to set up an appointment for an interview. To God be the glory great things he hath done. So pray it up for your sista over here and this opportunity to snag a job and minister to international students who may not know Jesus.

Third, I've been reading through the book of Acts (it has taken a while but I'm getting there). It truly it awesome the things you find in Scripture that you have read many times but it never hits you until some random point. I came across this in Acts 13:46-48 when Paul is preaching to the Jews in Antioch in Pisidia:

"And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

    that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed." (ESV)

This struck me because of what happened in the Gentile's hearing. They rejoiced because Paul had given them their first glance into their new found future. They were already God-fear-ers according to the context because Paul and Barnabas are in a synagogue, but their reaction is just as legitimate as someone finding something new and true and believing whole-heartedly in it. 

Two things come to mind here as I read this; 1: are we so conditioned to this life altering news that, unlike the Gentiles of that day, we deem it "normal" and "old news"? and 2: This makes me excited to share this news with someone who has never heard of it. I pray that the Spirit makes this rejoicing a continuous thing in my life and the life of all other followers of Christ. 

Well, there's my tidbit for the day. Thank you for your prayers and your love, and I hope that in some way God has blessed you in apparent ways this week. God is good, all the time.

All to God

Astoundingly Practical

Sometimes it's really awesome to see God put a glowing light bulb over someone else's head. It's cool to feel the Spirit making a clear path for other people, and seeing it so clear. Sometimes I feel like I'm waiting so long for some sort of sign in some aspect of my calling and while I'm waiting I'm busy trying to clear the way for myself. However, in slowing down only for a moment, it was nice to see someone else's calling so clearly defined. I take great joy in seeing other people's callings come to fruition, and sometimes I get a front row seat to their door swinging wide open. It is a really neat thing to experience.

God is abundant. He is working in ways we do not even see yet, ways that we cannot comprehend. He works so that only when we are ready we will see the plan from beginning to end, full circle, and deem it worth it. We take all the bad times that came with it, all the confusion, and disappointments only to be able to look back on them and say that we wouldn't have had it any other way. I think instead of the old saying that "God works in mysterious ways" that we should say "God works in astoundingly practical ways." Because just looking back on my own calling and how it came to be and where it is now I think "God really knows me."

There would have been no way that I would be where I am without God knowing how to work in my life because of who I am. The same might go for other people, and in my experience it has worked that way for plenty of people. He knows how to speak, work, discipline, and use us in unique ways so that we might finally get it according to our own individual ways of understanding something. Now that's what you call a specialist in creation; nearly 7 billion people and more to come and each one unique.

Simply, God knows how to work in our lives, and who to put in our path so that we might get what he is trying to do in us. Many times I don't look around and observe enough to see it happening in other people's lives, but when I do it excites me about the enhancement of the Kingdom, and how God knows how to help them work in their ministry. Our Father is, as they say, top drawer! He knows us well.

All to God

15 minutes in my mind (kind of)

I have 15 minutes until class......what is going through my mind?

Finish exegetical paper, finish study questions tomorrow, do all the things I'm behind on, getting caught up in negativity in my mind, this weekend should serve as a catch up weekend....but will it? My room is a mess, why am I so disorganized? Impatience, Bosnia, Friends I don't see very often, things outside of school that need to be done, get a job, prepare for next year more, Life is crazy.

Yep that's my fifteen minutes of writing the things on the heart and mind of a missionary in training. So many things running through my head, it might spin. God take it all and show me what to do with it. Love you all, thanks for your many prayers. I will hopefully write again soon.

All to God