Sunday, April 21, 2013

Consider it joy.

For those of you have may think I have my life all together...don't be fooled. This week kind of sucked. I felt tired, weary, frustrated, and annoyed. I'm sick of the weather, work, and school. This week I struggled to find the joy in each situation and see God in the ordinary, but as the week went on I felt God chipping away at my heart through blessings he gave me each day. It was busy, but I don't really like that word. We're always busy and life is full of distractions. We live in a high speed world that never seems to slow down, and if we do...we drown. But in all this busyness, the creator of the universe, who never changes is telling us to be still. To be still and know that HE is God. (Ps 46:10)  And in the business of this week, God gave me exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. 

Blessings from this week:

  • Funds started coming in for the team (who, may I mention? is completely fabulous. Seriously though, our team rocks). Praise the Lord! God is good and he provides.
  • On Friday, plane tickets were bought! To say I was extremely pumped is an understatement. Tickets, layovers, and dates make this trip so tangible!
  • These lyrics seemed to be on repeat in my mind this week: "I may be weak, but your spirits strong in me. My flesh may fail, but my God you never will."
  • Saturday, I had a wonderful coffee date with two amazing friends! Then proceeded to have another wonderful coffee date with my youth group girls. (there's no such thing as too much coffee in a day :))
  • Having 3 year olds in tot-time remind me that even though there's only one God he's always with us because "He's speedy and strong and smart!"
  • And finally...the SOS Commissioning Service. Woah. I felt so blessed by my family and friends who came to support me and pray for me! I was overwhelmed with love and thanksgiving. 
{so thankful to be spending my summer with this girl}

In scripture, we're reminded over and over to consider our trials pure joy for the sake of the gospel. So I'm considering this week pure joy, despite its trials because God is at work!

Romans 5:3-5 "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

Thursday, April 11, 2013

a few reasons...

There are so many reasons I fell in love with India the first time around. Here are a few...
 {check out this beauty}

 2 hours with these kids and some of the hardest goodbye's I have ever said

[ the excitement on their faces for a couples of pieces of candy]

 the joy on this beautiful girls face..seriously. she was an abandoned orphan who had next to nothing other than the love of Jesus Christ and I have never seen so much joy in my life.

 "I will dance, I will sing to be mad for MY KING nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul."


THIS GIRL, a beautiful daughter of the KING who I will never forget

Sunday, April 7, 2013

I know who goes before me.

A lot of people ask me if I'm nervous or scared about this summer...and yes, there are many small things I worry about, but overall, not really. Sure, I go through moments of sheer panic, but I think Chris Tomlin's song "Our God" sums it up well:


Water, You turned into wine
Opened the eyes of the blind

There's no one like You
None like You

Into the darkness, You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There's no one like You
None like You

Our God is greater
Our God is stronger
God, You are higher than any other
Our God is healer
Awesome in power
Our God, our God
And if our God is for us
Then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us
Then what could stand against
Then what could stand against

I serve the God who turned water into wine. I serve the God who walked on water, opened the eyes of the blind, raised Lazarus from the dead, parted the Red Sea, and fed the 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and some fish. I serve the God who spoke the earth into motion. And I serve the God who died and was raised again. Those are just a few examples of how great our God is, but did you let them soak in? Do you understand the magnitude of His awesomeness?! I serve this God, and God has called me to serve this summer, so no, I'm not scared. I also serve the God who had Jonah swallowed by a stinkin' fish when he tried to run away from his calling. I was once told, "Obedience is always safer." And in Jeremiah 29:11 God tells me he has plans for me! He doesn't promise those plans will always be easy, fun, or necessarily safe...but He has plans. And his plans trump mine, every single time. 

Another Chris Tomlin song that sums up many of my feelings: 

I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind

The God of angel armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies is always by my side

Our AWESOME God is on my side. He goes before me and stands behind me. In Joshua 1:9 God says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” So this summer, I'm going to do my best to be strong and courageous when the devil tries to get me down, which is a lot easier to write about than actually do and I know that my human flesh will fail, but I have the God of angel armies on my side. 

Friday, April 5, 2013

Where's Bangalore?

I have received many questions about where exactly I'll be going. So here's your India education for the day!


In May 2011 I went to Hyderabad and this summer I will be spending my seven weeks in Bangalore. Bangalore is about 350 miles south of Hyderabad or a 8 hour drive. I am very excited to see the differences between the two cities.
- Hyderabad has a population of about 6.8 million, which I thought was pretty crazy. Well, it turns out Bangalore has a population of over 8.4 million. So yes, I will working in a very large city. This was not my original wish, however, God knew my heart before I did.
- India, as a whole, is 80% Hindu and Christianity is usually considered less than 3%.
- Bangalore is known for being the most livable city in India, it is also know as the Garden City.
- I'll be in Bangalore during rainy season and the average temperature is 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit with 75% humidity!
-  India has 16 major languages and around 844 dialects. The main language for the Bangalore area is called Kanada. So pray for supernatural language learning skills, or for the Lord to intercede to be able to communicate with the women through actions!

I officially have a teammate from Northwestern who I have grown very close to through this whole process so praise the Lord for answered prayers! I think it will be good for me to have someone to talk to and debrief with after we've returned and no one else may understand. Support letters are going out soon, so this process seems more and more real each day, and each day I become more excited to see what God has in store for this summer. My prayer is that these last 4 weeks of school (whaaat?! that's not very long!) the Lord will sustain me each day, even during the craziness, and I will serve Him while I'm here as well, living day by day as I prepare for this summer. God can use us wherever we are, right? 

66 days- the countdown is on!