I cannot believe that it’s actually been 4 months now… since we left for the Bahamas… wow. I’ve been wanting to keep up with all the thought processes and changes in my thinking since I’ve gotten home; especially since God has been speaking such an incredible number of things to me, with incredible depth… but that’s the problem. It’s been so much in so little amount of time that it’s been impossible to keep up with all of it. I mean I have to process it all for myself first, let alone discuss my thoughts on a blog… but here I am, and now I’m going to try and start sharing some of my thought processes; just to fill you in on the happenings of my heart and life. I mean it’s not all of it, that’s for sure… even just the number and the depth of the S.O.A.P.s that I’ve been doing have been truly intense… but also incredible. If only I could cover all the broken mindsets and the perspective changes, everything that God’s taught me and is continuing to teach me. What’s cool is that what I said in my December 9 post was entirely true… which I just read over... The changes God made in me on the trip were so much more than just a high. Being away from everything familiar to me, everything I knew, every way of thinking, every perspective (even of myself), in that environment and for that amount of time… well it did some life altering changes in me. It’s made a lot of the things that I’ve learned and known for years, a part of who I am, through my experiences. All of a sudden I find myself living and breathing God, constantly, all the time. I find the ideals have established themselves as a part of my very being.
I’ve been trying to keep up all of this the best I can even just for myself in my journals… even through that… I could write books worth and still not cover everything that I’ve learned and gone through. It’s extensive; the true challenge being however… relaying these thoughts now, to the world.
An interesting effect of the trip on me and my thinking was how easily I was made to forget things due to the issues I was facing (this is while I was still on the trip). I started to forget a lot of things God’s done and established in me, I even forgot the excitement of God restoring my confidence just before the trip. It’s funny how easy it is to forget those things when you get caught up in a situation and you lose your focus, allowing your own emotions, goals, and desires to twist your point of view. Perspective, I’ve realized, is everything. You focus on the wrong thing, that’s then, all you can see, causing you to forget everything else, even if it’s more important to remember.
It wasn’t the forgetting that was great, but the now remembering. Now having gone through hell and fire, gone through battle and conflict, confusion and chaos in my own life and heart… having my perspective once again cleared and eyes drawn once more to where they should be, on the cross, on Christ and the promise of His eternal love… realizing once again just the irrelevance of my problems in comparison with who He is and the things He’s done for me. The best part about going through something like that… is just like when Satan stole my confidence from me and God restored it… God is not a God who just restores things, but also makes them entirely new! So, coming out of the things my heart was dealing with from the circumstances that I was facing, I was not just being brought out of it and back into who I was before… but being brought out into an entirely new skin, into an even stronger identity than before. An identity who has now learned things, having allowed myself to have a teachable spirit which then allowed God mold and teach me the things He wanted to. It also gave me new testimony of who God is despite my failings and my situation. Especially after having faced a situation where I was given the opportunity to put God in place of my hurt and weariness, allowing Him to be my strength in my weakness no matter how hard that might’ve been to do. Which, let me just say, is extremely hard to do; particularly when your focus is off and your concerns are blinded by your own will; along with your own perspective and your own idea of how to solve the problem.
An additional effect of my experiences, just as I mentioned in my December 9 post… having come home after going through some of the things I went through had a very sobering effect on me. I wasn’t just a fanatical crazy with all these new ideals burning in me just because of some amazing trip; I wasn’t coming off of a high. On the contrary… when I came home it was as if I had just run a marathon. I was exhausted, at first I wanted to escape from everything… I wanted to bury myself in everything but myself so that I wouldn’t have to think about any of it. I sought solace in anything and everything, I wanted to even get away literally, move somewhere... leave, distance myself from the problem. Not all of it was entirely intended for escape, my general nature is to dive into ministry and use every experience God’s given me for His glory in other people’s lives. The thing that I forgot was that God’s name needs to be made known fully in my own life before He can be made known in the lives of others through me. Soon though, I realized that there were things going on inside of me and things that I needed to learn that required time, reflection and a lot of allowing God to shape me. It brought me to a point where I realized that I wanted nothing to do with ministry; not for myself, but after a conversation with an old teacher I was caught and reminded that I wasn’t in any position to be doing stuff for other people if I wasn’t ok anyway.
There were things that God needed to do in me before He could use me. One thing I had to come to terms with was that that was ok. Usually, I absolutely hate being the one that needs help, I hate facing myself and the fact that I too go through things and forget things just as much as other people do. I too, have to be told the very things I often tell other people in their time of need; and that’s ok. God’s name has to be made known in our own lives through our struggles and humility just as much as in the lives of other people through us. Our focus is not being used by Him for ourselves but being used by Him for His purposes, full surrender means letting Him work in us as well as through us. Being human, each of us are going to fail; there were endless conversations I had with pastor Jimmy in the Bahamas about that very fact: that as humans, everything we do will have some kind of selfish motive behind it, always; and oh how I can’t wait till I get to heaven and I can finally worship God in the fullness of who I was made to be, in the fullness of the freedom I was intended to have while worshipping him; free of selfishness, free of any self-seeking motivation.
Involving other people and asking them for help and having to have the very people I’ve poured into in the past have to pour into me may have been uncomfortable and humbling; still, I learn quickly and it was awesome also, to let God show me how he puts us in each others lives at just the right times for just the right reasons… this is what it means to be a family of God; and it’s in us admitting our weaknesses that God can come in and make us stronger.
The things that God was doing and changing in me on the trip had continued into my daily life once I got home… and there were many times where I just got to a point of overload. I didn’t want to face it anymore; but something really cool about going through all of this is that a few years ago God put it on my heart to pray that He would shake the foundations of my faith. My goal (as He put it in my heart), was that the only thing left standing would be what should be standing (which is Christ), just as His word says. I knew that it was a dangerous prayer to pray, but I never realized just HOW dangerous. I am apparently facing the aftermath of that prayer even now, Praise God! After I prayed that prayer, the hell that I faced was incredible. All of a sudden, everything around me was falling apart, my friends, my family, school, even my position as a middle school leader. I started to go through some of the most painful experiences of my life. Another sort of conjoining prayer to that was that God would shape my identity to His 100%... another dangerous prayer to pray, especially going hand in hand with the former. Yet, again, by the end, the only thing left standing is Christ. How true has that become in my life. No matter what I go through, no matter how painful, and no matter how confusing; God is always, always, always the only thing that I have to hold onto. He’s taken individual parts of my life and one at a time torn down every part of me that builds my identity on things that I shouldn’t; He then proceeds to establish Himself as my identity in its place. This process takes a lot of painful work, but once completed, just as His word says, it’s that we might not be lacking in anything. We also need to remember that God is not a God who leaves us on our own through these times, but He gives us the strength we need for every day that we take on. All of this, difficult as most of it has been, has been an answer to prayer. It’s God’s refining fire in my life and I know that the outcome will outweigh the difficulty of the process.
I’m so excited to be a part of something that is just so much bigger than myself, so much bigger than my own problems. I’m so glad to be serving a God who knows what He’s doing, always. He knows the desires of my heart and He knows the plans He has for my life. My only concern is: will I choose to trust the creator of the universe who only has the best in store for me; or will I worry and fuss because from my point of view, nothing is working the way it should? I can only see a part of the masterpiece, He’s the artist with the end in mind… the funny blend of colors in the corner of the canvas might concern me, but all He can see is the depth and beauty of the rose that those red’s and greens will bring. I am privileged and chosen… He’s made me a very specific way same as any of you, to use me for His specific purposes. My only goal is to line up with Him… loving and serving Him with everything that I have, being used entirely and to the fullest extent for the very reason I was initially made.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
A God-Ordained, Inspiring, Sunday Afternoon
What a wonderful God we serve. This weekend, there were some major things God has been speaking directly to my heart and some major things He was trying to break through inside of me. With God’s work in our hearts always comes the attack of the enemy on what God’s trying to do; his lies, his reminders of hurt, his emphasis on your own rights and what you want and maybe even deserve. Let me just say it was full force… all of Saturday night and Sunday morning was just so overwhelming for me I didn’t really know what to do. It came to second service and I knew I had to go; I had to spend time with God on my own and take authority over things in my heart. I decided to go down to the beach. When I got there I had to go to the bathroom, I decided to go in the ferry terminal… when inside, God told me to take the ferry. I ran up the street to grab some Starbucks, left my cell phone behind and then bought myself a ferry ticket… taking full advantage of these last few months I can buy a youth fare which is almost a full $1.50 cheaper!
On the ferry I basked in the incredible display that Mt. Rainier provided crossing the water. Not only Rainier, but the Olympics, I’ve never seen them so defined and clear, and beautiful. It made me want to drive over to them again; I absolutely cannot wait until my next trip over there… hopefully not get in an accident this time. Still, again, beautiful.
The glory of the mountain was wrapped in a Bahamian display of reddish-pinks and blues, fading from one to another – the clouds were like smooth pebbles littering the pale sky. Soft white cotton, puffy and plump, climbed slyly up the mountain side; acting as if it had no chance of being caught in its attempt to reach the top. The mountain itself was clearly defined against a planetary peach, solid and surreal. A line of deep blue cloud masked the glow of the sun who christened the mountain cap… giving it a glow from behind the veil.
Once arriving in Kingston… I just walked up the street shops, stopped inside this crafty store called Clever. Inside, I talked to the store owner for a good half an hour at least. We discussed art, and inspiration, my career as a drifter at the moment, and even my trip to the Bahamas. I was able to share testimony of just some of the major changes God did down there, especially in the kids and just how amazing it was to me. It was an awesome opportunity to just get back to the roots of who God made me and make a connection with someone, being able to testify of my precious Jesus at the same time. After a good time with her, I continued up the hill. I saw a sign for an art gallery and made my way in excitedly. Some of the art in there was incredibly inspiring. My favorite piece showed a beach that looked so much like La Push with ships coming in at great speed on the rolling waves. It was loosely done with what looked like a mix of monoprints, mod podge, ink, and water color. The colors were of a very neutral but still vibrant mix. Majority of the negative space being white, it kept the piece simple but still having so much detail at the same time. Most of my time in the gallery, I spent looking at this piece, taking in as much of it as I could for as long as I could. Here too, I spent a good amount of time talking to the person running the place. We also talked about inspiration and just life as an artist, especially in our present world and economy. We talked about our society and what it’s like to experience different parts of the world and compare them to where we live… we talked about doing art for more than just money, most artists aren’t artists to be rich… we talked about the different artists that sold their work in the gallery and different aspects of their work that spoke to us; it was another very inspiring conversation.
Walking out of that gallery, I just felt so full. It was so great even to just be reminded of something so small that God’s given me, my talents. It was interesting because when I first got off the ferry, I just asked God to come and walk with me, to be right next to me and to speak to my heart. He was right next to me that whole time, just filling me and reminding me and showing me things about myself, encouraging me and pulling me in closer to Him.
Now, an hour or two has passed so I decided it was time to head back to the world. The ferry had not arrived yet, so I sat underneath one of the heater strips, gazing once more at the mountains, now the cascades, so beautifully laid out on the horizon. I couldn’t help but spend some time worshipping and then sat down and started to read Psalms out of the Message. People slowly began to filter into the holding station. First one lady with two roller packs, stiffly organized herself, taking off her gloves and sitting down, sighing as if it’s the first time she’s sat down in days. Another lady makes her way in; her steps were hasty and short. Her long smooth hair swung as she turned to face the doors while positioning herself under another heat strip. Her wrinkled face didn’t match the youth in her eyes. “We’ve had extremely warm weather this winter!” she exclaims with such enthusiasm I thought it was the greatest thing that has ever happened to her. The first woman, who I thought was entirely devoid of conversation from the expression on her face, was suddenly animated as she also exclaimed her excitement and agreement. They chattered about this like two old friends for a good amount of time as more people began to filter into the open windowed box that sat so quietly in the air as it waited for the ferry to come relieve it of these warm-bodied creatures who buried themselves in puffy materials and took so much pleasure in babbling noises that seemed to be their form of communication.
I sat silent, observing the mix of faces as they interacted, reading Psalms as nobody paid any extra mind to me. I noticed one lady, alone leaning against a post in the corner. Her all-black outfit simply lengthened her already too-thin body. Her short, cropped, dark hair framed her small, white, wrinkled face perfectly. It held it like two hands holding the face of a child. Her lips were crimson, a shade of lipstick I didn’t think anybody wore anymore… she watched everyone from where she stood… but not really watching.
“My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice! You set me up with a house and a yard. And then you made me your heir!” –Psalms 16:5-6
My eyes passed over the scripture as an older woman sat herself down just one seat away from me. Her body was round which I’ve always thought was a strange thing to mix with height. It makes people giants, which she was too me… and I found it a comfort; I find an odd feeling of safety when I’m around tall people. She curiously peered over at my book… but not the same way a certain couple who stood only a few feet from me did. She looked over as if she might’ve recognized the text and wanted an affirmation that she also, had read what I was reading.
“God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.” Psalms 18:24
I highlighted and then closed my Bible. Sitting back with a breath of fulfillment and satisfaction, she says with her exhale… “Oh, the Message! I love the Message!” Knowing, contrary to her sly glances, that this was the moment she was waiting for… I emphasized my agreement, not to disappoint her moment of triumph. We talked about the incredible literature in the message and how its contemporary language helps apply the scripture to our lives more so than NIV or KJV would.
As we dived deeper into conversation, she found out that I went to Westgate. She got excited and shared with me that she and her husband were going to try out Westgate the following week. I found out later that she had even been to Evergreen just that morning. She asked me what I was doing, where I was from, what I was up to. She and her husband were, same as me, just spending an afternoon with God in Kingston after church. Her husband, who was walking around, weighing his surroundings it seemed like, walked over to us, joining our conversation. Together we went into discussing the word and the Lord… church and my life… even as we made our way onto the ferry. Once inside, the stuffy hot air blowing into our faces as it also engulfed our bodies, swallowing us whole as a welcome; her husband made his way out onto the deck. Neither of us girls would dare, knowing the dangerously cold air would penetrate straight through to our bones.
Our conversation continued. We discussed more of our lives now, testifying of the things that God’s done and brought us through. Talking about how trials are never what they seem and they always bring us out to the exact place that God wants us to be. She shared how the past 6 months were simply trial and at first it was impossible and painful but now her and her husband know that God brought them through it for a reason and the outcome is so much better than anything she would have asked for. Being His children, we are to be trained and disciplined, which might sometimes feel like punishment… but its not, He does it because He loves us.
“My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble your in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the same time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.” Hebrews 12:5-11 (the Message).
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:2-4 (the Message).
Wanda (I learned was the woman’s name), loved hearing me share both of these scriptures. Returning to her previous excited statement about the perspective widening affects of the Message, repeats “don’t try to get out of anything prematurely,” stating how she would have never thought about it that way before… and how much impact that carried with her. Her husband shared how he always encourages people to, when in the midst of a valley, to just keep walking. I found it interesting and thrilling that he used those terms seeing as how that’s exactly what Pastor Alec preached about the previous Sunday. I shared with him just the concept of the steady pace when you keep walking… how you don’t speed up when it’s easy, nor do you slow down when it gets hard. No, you keep lifting one foot in front of the other and you keep a steady pace, not stopping when you face an obstacle, but continuing on until you find a way around it. He loved hearing that, mentioning how he never thought about it that way before and it just added to his perspective.
We thrived in conversation like this as the rocky trip came to an end, Wanda, in her wavering tone declared her surprise that it was over so fast, “We were just chattering away and now look, it’s the shortest ferry ride I’ve ever been on!” exchanging mutual, gladness at our having met, we said our goodbyes and how we hoped to see each other at church the next week… then proceeding down the ferry walkway. Reaching the frigid outdoors once again, I was halted at the crosswalk by honestly one of the longest trains I’ve ever had to wait for in my life. But it was the train, and the length of the train that was entirely perfect. It wasn’t until the very last few cars that Tom and Wanda finally made their way out of the terminal and to my side, at which point Wanda, as we start to walk, invites me out to coffee with the two of them. Walking up to café Vita, she graciously buys me my drink as we sit down and continue to another hour at least of just who God is and the things that He’s done and our different churches, exchanging testimonies of how far God has brought us and the changes He’s made.
It was such an encouraging time for me, such a time of just Jesus filling my heart to the brim with His goodness, speaking life into me through these people and establishing His work through my own words of testimony. I couldn’t have been more blessed in my afternoon. Thank You Lord that You are a God who loves me passionately, that You are a God who fills me and provides exactly what I need exactly when I need it. You are not a God who leaves me out on my own, but a God who sends legions of angels to fight on my behalf. Then, when I face the enemy to such an extent that I feel as if I might lose everything, you set up a table for me before my enemies, laughing… because You are a God who’s already won. The things that I face are but wisps of smoke to you, quickly dissipating without any real weight of importance; because in comparison with You, none of it matters. You are so much bigger, so much better, so much deeper. God I love You with all my heart. I thank You for the things that You’re doing in me and speaking to me… I am so excited to see what You have in store next. Thank You that You are God, and I am not.
On the ferry I basked in the incredible display that Mt. Rainier provided crossing the water. Not only Rainier, but the Olympics, I’ve never seen them so defined and clear, and beautiful. It made me want to drive over to them again; I absolutely cannot wait until my next trip over there… hopefully not get in an accident this time. Still, again, beautiful.
The glory of the mountain was wrapped in a Bahamian display of reddish-pinks and blues, fading from one to another – the clouds were like smooth pebbles littering the pale sky. Soft white cotton, puffy and plump, climbed slyly up the mountain side; acting as if it had no chance of being caught in its attempt to reach the top. The mountain itself was clearly defined against a planetary peach, solid and surreal. A line of deep blue cloud masked the glow of the sun who christened the mountain cap… giving it a glow from behind the veil.
Once arriving in Kingston… I just walked up the street shops, stopped inside this crafty store called Clever. Inside, I talked to the store owner for a good half an hour at least. We discussed art, and inspiration, my career as a drifter at the moment, and even my trip to the Bahamas. I was able to share testimony of just some of the major changes God did down there, especially in the kids and just how amazing it was to me. It was an awesome opportunity to just get back to the roots of who God made me and make a connection with someone, being able to testify of my precious Jesus at the same time. After a good time with her, I continued up the hill. I saw a sign for an art gallery and made my way in excitedly. Some of the art in there was incredibly inspiring. My favorite piece showed a beach that looked so much like La Push with ships coming in at great speed on the rolling waves. It was loosely done with what looked like a mix of monoprints, mod podge, ink, and water color. The colors were of a very neutral but still vibrant mix. Majority of the negative space being white, it kept the piece simple but still having so much detail at the same time. Most of my time in the gallery, I spent looking at this piece, taking in as much of it as I could for as long as I could. Here too, I spent a good amount of time talking to the person running the place. We also talked about inspiration and just life as an artist, especially in our present world and economy. We talked about our society and what it’s like to experience different parts of the world and compare them to where we live… we talked about doing art for more than just money, most artists aren’t artists to be rich… we talked about the different artists that sold their work in the gallery and different aspects of their work that spoke to us; it was another very inspiring conversation.
Walking out of that gallery, I just felt so full. It was so great even to just be reminded of something so small that God’s given me, my talents. It was interesting because when I first got off the ferry, I just asked God to come and walk with me, to be right next to me and to speak to my heart. He was right next to me that whole time, just filling me and reminding me and showing me things about myself, encouraging me and pulling me in closer to Him.
Now, an hour or two has passed so I decided it was time to head back to the world. The ferry had not arrived yet, so I sat underneath one of the heater strips, gazing once more at the mountains, now the cascades, so beautifully laid out on the horizon. I couldn’t help but spend some time worshipping and then sat down and started to read Psalms out of the Message. People slowly began to filter into the holding station. First one lady with two roller packs, stiffly organized herself, taking off her gloves and sitting down, sighing as if it’s the first time she’s sat down in days. Another lady makes her way in; her steps were hasty and short. Her long smooth hair swung as she turned to face the doors while positioning herself under another heat strip. Her wrinkled face didn’t match the youth in her eyes. “We’ve had extremely warm weather this winter!” she exclaims with such enthusiasm I thought it was the greatest thing that has ever happened to her. The first woman, who I thought was entirely devoid of conversation from the expression on her face, was suddenly animated as she also exclaimed her excitement and agreement. They chattered about this like two old friends for a good amount of time as more people began to filter into the open windowed box that sat so quietly in the air as it waited for the ferry to come relieve it of these warm-bodied creatures who buried themselves in puffy materials and took so much pleasure in babbling noises that seemed to be their form of communication.
I sat silent, observing the mix of faces as they interacted, reading Psalms as nobody paid any extra mind to me. I noticed one lady, alone leaning against a post in the corner. Her all-black outfit simply lengthened her already too-thin body. Her short, cropped, dark hair framed her small, white, wrinkled face perfectly. It held it like two hands holding the face of a child. Her lips were crimson, a shade of lipstick I didn’t think anybody wore anymore… she watched everyone from where she stood… but not really watching.
“My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice! You set me up with a house and a yard. And then you made me your heir!” –Psalms 16:5-6
My eyes passed over the scripture as an older woman sat herself down just one seat away from me. Her body was round which I’ve always thought was a strange thing to mix with height. It makes people giants, which she was too me… and I found it a comfort; I find an odd feeling of safety when I’m around tall people. She curiously peered over at my book… but not the same way a certain couple who stood only a few feet from me did. She looked over as if she might’ve recognized the text and wanted an affirmation that she also, had read what I was reading.
“God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.” Psalms 18:24
I highlighted and then closed my Bible. Sitting back with a breath of fulfillment and satisfaction, she says with her exhale… “Oh, the Message! I love the Message!” Knowing, contrary to her sly glances, that this was the moment she was waiting for… I emphasized my agreement, not to disappoint her moment of triumph. We talked about the incredible literature in the message and how its contemporary language helps apply the scripture to our lives more so than NIV or KJV would.
As we dived deeper into conversation, she found out that I went to Westgate. She got excited and shared with me that she and her husband were going to try out Westgate the following week. I found out later that she had even been to Evergreen just that morning. She asked me what I was doing, where I was from, what I was up to. She and her husband were, same as me, just spending an afternoon with God in Kingston after church. Her husband, who was walking around, weighing his surroundings it seemed like, walked over to us, joining our conversation. Together we went into discussing the word and the Lord… church and my life… even as we made our way onto the ferry. Once inside, the stuffy hot air blowing into our faces as it also engulfed our bodies, swallowing us whole as a welcome; her husband made his way out onto the deck. Neither of us girls would dare, knowing the dangerously cold air would penetrate straight through to our bones.
Our conversation continued. We discussed more of our lives now, testifying of the things that God’s done and brought us through. Talking about how trials are never what they seem and they always bring us out to the exact place that God wants us to be. She shared how the past 6 months were simply trial and at first it was impossible and painful but now her and her husband know that God brought them through it for a reason and the outcome is so much better than anything she would have asked for. Being His children, we are to be trained and disciplined, which might sometimes feel like punishment… but its not, He does it because He loves us.
“My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble your in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the same time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.” Hebrews 12:5-11 (the Message).
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:2-4 (the Message).
Wanda (I learned was the woman’s name), loved hearing me share both of these scriptures. Returning to her previous excited statement about the perspective widening affects of the Message, repeats “don’t try to get out of anything prematurely,” stating how she would have never thought about it that way before… and how much impact that carried with her. Her husband shared how he always encourages people to, when in the midst of a valley, to just keep walking. I found it interesting and thrilling that he used those terms seeing as how that’s exactly what Pastor Alec preached about the previous Sunday. I shared with him just the concept of the steady pace when you keep walking… how you don’t speed up when it’s easy, nor do you slow down when it gets hard. No, you keep lifting one foot in front of the other and you keep a steady pace, not stopping when you face an obstacle, but continuing on until you find a way around it. He loved hearing that, mentioning how he never thought about it that way before and it just added to his perspective.
We thrived in conversation like this as the rocky trip came to an end, Wanda, in her wavering tone declared her surprise that it was over so fast, “We were just chattering away and now look, it’s the shortest ferry ride I’ve ever been on!” exchanging mutual, gladness at our having met, we said our goodbyes and how we hoped to see each other at church the next week… then proceeding down the ferry walkway. Reaching the frigid outdoors once again, I was halted at the crosswalk by honestly one of the longest trains I’ve ever had to wait for in my life. But it was the train, and the length of the train that was entirely perfect. It wasn’t until the very last few cars that Tom and Wanda finally made their way out of the terminal and to my side, at which point Wanda, as we start to walk, invites me out to coffee with the two of them. Walking up to café Vita, she graciously buys me my drink as we sit down and continue to another hour at least of just who God is and the things that He’s done and our different churches, exchanging testimonies of how far God has brought us and the changes He’s made.
It was such an encouraging time for me, such a time of just Jesus filling my heart to the brim with His goodness, speaking life into me through these people and establishing His work through my own words of testimony. I couldn’t have been more blessed in my afternoon. Thank You Lord that You are a God who loves me passionately, that You are a God who fills me and provides exactly what I need exactly when I need it. You are not a God who leaves me out on my own, but a God who sends legions of angels to fight on my behalf. Then, when I face the enemy to such an extent that I feel as if I might lose everything, you set up a table for me before my enemies, laughing… because You are a God who’s already won. The things that I face are but wisps of smoke to you, quickly dissipating without any real weight of importance; because in comparison with You, none of it matters. You are so much bigger, so much better, so much deeper. God I love You with all my heart. I thank You for the things that You’re doing in me and speaking to me… I am so excited to see what You have in store next. Thank You that You are God, and I am not.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Post Bahamas 2009: The Aftermath
This post is actually from DECEMBER 9... I just never got a chance to post it... I'm posting it seperately just so that that's made clear.
Coming home from this trip, wow, what a culture shock. Not only culture, but spiritual as well. Then take into consideration, the amount, the extent and the depth of everything that I now have to process... it’s all very intense.
Even little things like driving… I never thought would be so weird, or take so long to get used to again. The hardest part about returning to our culture of driving for me was the hailing. So many times I’ll come to the edge of the road or pass someone walking on the side of the road and want to wave to them. I catch myself realizing that if I were to do that, in our society, it would be a little strange. That then got me to thinking and made me realize; if I were to wave at them, they would think I was crazy or if I would honk at them, they would think I was upset. It put into perspective… just how closed of we are as a society, concerned with only ourselves and our own issues. We revolve around the individual (our own individual, me, myself and I). Upon walking down the street, we barely even look at each other in passing, no smiles, nothing. Now don’t get excited on me, I’m talking in extremes here… there are people who go against the status quo. Still, my point is that the majority of society lives in a box. It’s a very difficult thing for me to return to. There are a lot of other examples but I don’t have the time to go into them right now.
I don’t want it to seem that these things are simply things that I now believe just because I’m coming off of a high. Yes, there is something to be said about coming home from a mission trip and these things are to be expected. So many people say that the only reason we are so adamant about these ideals is because we are coming off of the high from the mission trip... I disagree… I think it’s entirely different. These are things I’ve always known (as in, been taught throughout my years at Westgate). Most of the things I’ve come home with are things I’ve already known… the only difference is that being on the trip has put them into an entirely different perspective of reality; it’s made these ideals a part of who I am. I truly believe, for myself at least (I cannot speak for everyone else), that the changes that happened in me on this trip and even now in the aftermath were and are much deeper and much more life altering changes than just a spiritual high………. See… for me… coming home was the opposite of a high. From the things I’ve experienced on the trip, although much of it was amazing and watching God move in so many awesome ways was incredible… For me, some of the things I went through simply left me broken and exhausted. It had a very sobering effect on the spiritual things that I learned on the trip. Which helped me realize that every revelation, every mindset that was broken, every perspective that was changed all happened at a very different level inside of me than just a spiritual high. It happened at a deeper level… that has altered my state of mind. It’s altered my identity as well; it’s strengthened it, shaped it, molded it and refined it.
I’m still going through a lot of it right now. There were a lot of things that I faced on the trip that again, will take me months to process. I’m going to try and keep up with it on the blog here but I doubt that’ll happen. I know I’ll come back and write eventually, you just won’t have the “along the way thoughts”… you’ll have the “upon reflection, looking back” thoughts. Which is good too, sometimes better because by then I’ll have everything processed out and be able to explain things better as opposed to speaking from behind the messy veil that emotions tend to create. In the meantime, I know that in my heart… the trip isn’t over. As hard as some of the things I’m going through are, I’m so excited to see what God wants to teach me, because I know that I serve a God that even in the midst of strife and conflict, He turns everything around for His glory. He takes the worst of situations, and if we listen, and if we allow Him, He teaches us more and more about who He is and the things that He can do despite of us. I’m just glad and blessed that I serve Him, and that I can trust Him and know that no matter how bleak it might look now, or how much hurt there might be or confusion or weariness, the outcome will be beautiful… because that’s the God that I serve. Praise His name!
Feel free to comment your thoughts by the way!
Coming home from this trip, wow, what a culture shock. Not only culture, but spiritual as well. Then take into consideration, the amount, the extent and the depth of everything that I now have to process... it’s all very intense.
Even little things like driving… I never thought would be so weird, or take so long to get used to again. The hardest part about returning to our culture of driving for me was the hailing. So many times I’ll come to the edge of the road or pass someone walking on the side of the road and want to wave to them. I catch myself realizing that if I were to do that, in our society, it would be a little strange. That then got me to thinking and made me realize; if I were to wave at them, they would think I was crazy or if I would honk at them, they would think I was upset. It put into perspective… just how closed of we are as a society, concerned with only ourselves and our own issues. We revolve around the individual (our own individual, me, myself and I). Upon walking down the street, we barely even look at each other in passing, no smiles, nothing. Now don’t get excited on me, I’m talking in extremes here… there are people who go against the status quo. Still, my point is that the majority of society lives in a box. It’s a very difficult thing for me to return to. There are a lot of other examples but I don’t have the time to go into them right now.
I don’t want it to seem that these things are simply things that I now believe just because I’m coming off of a high. Yes, there is something to be said about coming home from a mission trip and these things are to be expected. So many people say that the only reason we are so adamant about these ideals is because we are coming off of the high from the mission trip... I disagree… I think it’s entirely different. These are things I’ve always known (as in, been taught throughout my years at Westgate). Most of the things I’ve come home with are things I’ve already known… the only difference is that being on the trip has put them into an entirely different perspective of reality; it’s made these ideals a part of who I am. I truly believe, for myself at least (I cannot speak for everyone else), that the changes that happened in me on this trip and even now in the aftermath were and are much deeper and much more life altering changes than just a spiritual high………. See… for me… coming home was the opposite of a high. From the things I’ve experienced on the trip, although much of it was amazing and watching God move in so many awesome ways was incredible… For me, some of the things I went through simply left me broken and exhausted. It had a very sobering effect on the spiritual things that I learned on the trip. Which helped me realize that every revelation, every mindset that was broken, every perspective that was changed all happened at a very different level inside of me than just a spiritual high. It happened at a deeper level… that has altered my state of mind. It’s altered my identity as well; it’s strengthened it, shaped it, molded it and refined it.
I’m still going through a lot of it right now. There were a lot of things that I faced on the trip that again, will take me months to process. I’m going to try and keep up with it on the blog here but I doubt that’ll happen. I know I’ll come back and write eventually, you just won’t have the “along the way thoughts”… you’ll have the “upon reflection, looking back” thoughts. Which is good too, sometimes better because by then I’ll have everything processed out and be able to explain things better as opposed to speaking from behind the messy veil that emotions tend to create. In the meantime, I know that in my heart… the trip isn’t over. As hard as some of the things I’m going through are, I’m so excited to see what God wants to teach me, because I know that I serve a God that even in the midst of strife and conflict, He turns everything around for His glory. He takes the worst of situations, and if we listen, and if we allow Him, He teaches us more and more about who He is and the things that He can do despite of us. I’m just glad and blessed that I serve Him, and that I can trust Him and know that no matter how bleak it might look now, or how much hurt there might be or confusion or weariness, the outcome will be beautiful… because that’s the God that I serve. Praise His name!
Feel free to comment your thoughts by the way!
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