If It's the Beaches

I saw it coming, I told myself it would happen, and alas, it has. I have reached a point where nostalgia is not good enough, and I crave the real thing. I've seen pictures, and read newsletters of the new happenings in Bosnia and I think I almost shed a tear. I very much miss that place and those people and I miss learning about it from those people. I'm sad that this year was not the year to go, but I am leaving it in God's hands and allowing my faith to be open for the ministry that could be had here in the States.

It already feels like I could be used here in very timely ways. Though there is always a feeling of the long-term goal lingering, especially if you have already had a taste of it. I miss that place something awful but I know and feel in my heart that this is the place that God wants me to be for now, and what a better place to be than the beaches of North Carolina!

Next year however, Lord willing, I will be there, learning, planning, ministering. This year I am still doing things on the cross-cultural side, even letting people of the cross-cultural persuasion live with us! I am very excited to have a slew of new friends that I can call family.

I think it's gonna be good. Don't you think?

All to God.

One or two years ago

One year ago

One year ago today, this day May 30th, I got on a plane with one of my favorite people, Steph Saufley, in the JFK airport to fly into Moscow which led to Vienna, Austria where we waited on another of my favorite people, Beth Summay, to pick us up. We waited for maybe 2 hours after we landed because of some traffic complications in Vienna but what a welcome sight it was to see Beth walking towards us. All the while of course I could have looked online with the complimentary internet service that the Vienna airport provides to see that they were running a little late. Silly me.

Then we drove many-a-mile through Hungary where Steph, Beth, and myself were very much without a personal bubble in the backseat of the Summay's Astra. We made a little map stop on the way through Hungary, but it all went well because another woman I wouldn't mind hugging again, Liz Crittendon along with Cindy Cobb (who I also wouldn't mind hugging again) got us to BiH by sunrise and all was well. 

Two years ago

Two years ago today, this day May 30th, I was still in Kentucky in training for my first experience of BiH. It was the first week I met and got to know Beth face to face, as well as my fellow teammates and the other interns who were going various places in the world. Even Steph was there to coach the Spain team, who knew a year later she would be going to Bosnia with me and I would be, in a small way, coaching her for a week. Being in Kentucky on this day I can't exactly remember what we did, so much happened that week, but I know that it felt like we had all been friends for a very long time, and by today, two years ago, we had only known each other for five days. 

Both years I also walked into my terminal at the beginning of each adventure with a heavy heart because I was walking away from some of my most favorite people, my family, my mom, dad, Annie, Brian, Katie, and Dave. But there is a certain peace that God gives you in situations such as these. The heart that was heavy turns into total faith because that's all you really have when you leave most everything you know behind. It's a faith that you can't ignore, one that you can't help but be thankful for in times when you suddenly feel sharp instances of fear only to be calmed and reassured by the only One who can soothe the soul.

Soon enough I'll be setting off on a new adventure, one that will go on longer than just a summer, one that will no doubt be hard yet thrilling all at the same time. 

You all have been an integral part in these last two years in regards to ministry and future ministry. I am truly thankful for your ongoing prayers and your ongoing gifts of financial sacrifice and I am excited to share in this next endeavor with you. I hope you will get on the plane with me next year.

All to God

All the new things

Hello all! Well It has been an interesting few weeks to start off the summer and the year before I head off to Bosnia. There is newness all around even in simple life itself and I excited to tell you about it as well as live it with you.

Many new things are afoot; I have recently started a new job to help with the rent of my new house and to fund the eating habits of a new cook who is starting to reap the benefits of being around her mother for 22 years while she makes supper for all of us. Also, finding a new church to attend and flourish in is also a new thing in my path. New friends, a new community, new people to minister too if the gospel so presents itself as it often does.

There is a lot that is going to happen this year and I have a funny feeling that I will learn a lot since I have already started learning a lot. Much of this year will be used in preparation for next June when I will hopefully be heading over to Bosnia for a full robust 12 months.

And there's a lot that goes into this year for the next year.

However, I do plan to enjoy this summer and the time I've been given here in the States for using the 24 hour beach access I have and hanging out with family and friends. All the while I will be working to earn the trust of financial supporters and prayer supporters which I am excited to really start...well....starting.

Please be in prayer for this next year as I am raising support, teaching myself a little more Bosnian, and just living life in new ways. Thank you all for your prayers and financial sacrifices, you are all too kind to me.

All to God

Expanding the Overload

Ok, so here is the long version of Blessed Overload that I promised you.

Days like yesterday always happen to quickly. Too many congratulations, hugs from dear ones, pictures, and questions about the future. All these things are things met with the joy of a new graduate who loved the congratulations, hugs, pictures, and questions. All the friends and family who gathered in the same building yesterday giving a hoot and a holler as I walked across the stage really encouraged me to know that so many people have supported and still do support me throughout the years.

These are only a few of the very important people who have supported me and who I believe always will (my Dad isn't in the picture but he's one of them too!) Even through academic struggle or personal struggle, each of us had the love it took to deal with each other and be proud of each other nonetheless (and this goes for my friends too.) It is a love that through each network of persons who have loved through the trials and victories reflect the kind of love that God has for me. This has encouraged me more than anything throughout my college years.

It will take a few.......months to let all of this sink in, it is still very new and different since I have spent the last  16 years in school. God has blessed me with the amenities to live life outside of school as he has provided me with a job and a place to live. I am excited for the future but for now I am swimming in God's blessings and showering him with praise in return.

As it was said in the commencement ceremony, we have a more important task before us, and I am excited to carry out the task! I am excited also for those who are working for the same cause, those who made this milestone with me!

Thanks for your encouragement and prayers because as I have said many times before and it never is any less true, are blessings beyond measure. So thank YOU.

All to God

Blessed Overload

I'll write again soon with more details but for now...here is an overview of the overload in my brain:

I have a bachelor's degree
No more school
I have a bachelor's degree
I have a job
I have a house at the beach
I'm moving into this house
I have a bachelor's degree
August does not demand a school year
Graduation was a whirlwind
I Graduated..on time
MACU is another home
I have a bachelor's degree
God is good

A lot is sinking in right now and it is awesome! I am very blessed by my God who is able!
I will write again soon!

All to God

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