The Lord is My Strength

Well, there were about 15 people at the dinner last night.  Honestly, I was disappointed that more people could not come, but I know that GOD IS GOOD.  The Eller family was so gracious to not only open up their home but also provide dinner and dessert.  I cannot thank them enough for their hospitality and for hosting last night.  The guests that He did send to the dinner were very supportive and positive. Thank you to the Eller's, the King family, the Whited Family, Lauren, Audrey, Katie, Lyanette, Pam and Kaylin for your support. 

Overall, the purpose of last night was to share with people what I believe God is doing in my life and His plans for me in the Dominican Republic over the next year and long term. Additionally, I wanted to get people to partner with me in prayer and financially.  At the end of the night, people pledged to donate, others agreed to remain prayerful for me, and I received 2 donations. And so, even though numbers were small, I feel loved, supported and blessed.  I am a true believer that while God's plan doesn't always look like ours, He has a tremendous plan far beyond what I can imagine.

I am hopeful that at my next two dinners, God will send more people to listen and to partner with me to help the kids in the Dominican!

Yesterday, my verse of the day was from Habakkuk 3:19.  It was the perfect message for me because I was a bit nervous about the dinner and articulating my feelings well.  And, God sent me this verse.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

He enables me to go on the heights.

Thank God for reminders like these. Any strength that we have comes from above.  We are only made strong by Him in our weakness.  When we realize that we cannot do anything on our own, and totally give up control to Him, He shows His power.  

Thanks be to God.

The Perfect Gift of Love

Well, it's Christmas!  The best day of the year... not because of presents, or the wonderful Hallmark Christmas movies, or the cold weather if you are anywhere outside of the south, but because on this day, God came to Earth in the form of baby Jesus so that we would be released 33 years later from sin.  The miracle of Jesus' life here on Earth is one that I cannot fully comprehend. Yet, I do know that my God loves me.  He showed it by sending His son to save me from all of the bad stuff that I do, think and say.  And that love is so undeserved.  It's the perfect example of how we should love one another -- even when the other person doesn't deserve it one bit... because ultimately, that is what God has done for us.  He sacrificed for us so that we could choose to accept that enormous gift and live here on Earth with hope and one day live with Him in Heaven!

My pastor passed this on to me from one of his sermons a few weeks ago.  I do not know where it came from, but I think it goes well with how we should love one another on this day and every day. 

People who love each other need to have something they can do for each other, and it will need to be something necessary, not something frivolous. You can't carry out a relationship on the basis of Christmas and anniversary and birthday presents. It won't work.

You do needful, useful things for each other, and that seems to me to be the way that a union is made...You're being made a partner by your partner's needs and the things that you're required to do to help...Love is not just a feeling; it's a practice, something you practice whether you feel like it or not. If you have a relationship with anybody - a friend, a family member, a spouse - you have to understand the terms of that relationship to do things for those people, and you do them whether you feel like it or not. If you don't it's useless...

This is what you learn as soon as you become a farmer, for instance. Once you get into a relationship with even so much as a vegetable garden, you realize that you have to do the work whether you want to or not. You may have got into it because of love, but there are going to be days when you are sick and you're going to have to do your work anyway. With animals, the work is even more inescapable. There's no way out if you have a milk cow, no reprieve...She makes the milk and you've got to go get it.

God's love for us was shown perfectly in what He did for us and continues to do for us each day -- even though we don't deserve it.  My prayer is that on this day, we would all remember what it truly means to love.

May we remember the true meaning of Christmas and that we have a God who loves us more than we can even imagine.

Dominican Dinners and Lots of Prayer

In less than a week, I will have my first fundraising dinner to try to raise awareness of what I will be doing in the Dominican Republic and to find people who want to partner with me in God's call to work with children, orphans and the poor.  Right now, I just need prayer that God will bring people to the dinner.  I have invited Wesleyan graduates and their families from the classes of 2009 and 2010 who either were on mission trips, in Bible studies or just were close to me through the years and kids from later classes who traveled to the Dominican Republic with me in 2009 and 2010.

Following this dinner, I will have 2 more for friends from church (February) and Wesleyan faculty and teachers (March).  I will also contact other friends and family along the way either in person or through letters.

Please pray that people will be in town and will RSVP for the dinner that Mrs. Brenda Eller and her family are so graciously hosting.  Also, please pray that people's hearts will be open to support me in God's call for my life to help spread His word through the ministry of education.  And last, please pray that I will get the details together to be able to express myself well over the next few months.  I am fully confident that it is God's will that I go to the Dominican Republic.  My prayer is that I will fully trust Him and not doubt.

God has been putting this verse on my heart over the last two weeks:  I pray that I can have faith and fully trust in what I cannot see.  [Faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1]

If you are interested in attending a dinner, please check out this invitation and RSVP or email me.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0849AEA729A46-dinner

Lead, and I Will Follow

I haven't written since this summer.  The truth is, quite a bit has happened since then and finally, the news is public so I can write more candidly about where God is leading me.  In close to 6 months, I will be leaving for the Dominican Republic to work there as a missionary.  Lots has happened to lead me there.  I have never been so sure of God's will for my life than I am now, and yet there are feelings of fear, of being overwhelmed, and moments of awe of what God can and has shown me and just how abundant He is.

To write about His blessings in this process would be a task, as God has blessed me with a wonderful group of people who have prayed for me for a long time. They have prayed about my fears, for clarity, for the details, and much more.  I am so grateful for them.  In addition to prayer, they have supported me by designing cards, giving advice, helping me budget, downloading pictures, creating my blog, stuffing envelopes, and just listening when I am scared or overwhelmed.  God has blessed me more than I can express and through the people He has put into my life and the small moments, I realized His power.  I truly wonder what His complete plan is, and I cannot wait to follow His lead.

I am still reading through the Bible and find myself in the beginning of 1 Samuel.  Samuel has shown his dedication to the Lord as a judge, his sons have become judges, but are not leading lives that follow God, and the Israelites have proclaimed their strong desire for an earthly king.  It strikes me that God, even knowing the freedom that will be lost in them having a king, still allows them to make the choice to get one.  But, God chooses the king for them... Saul.  Saul, while tall in stature, comes from the smallest clan and is completely unsuspecting.  He even wonders why God would choose him to be King.  Well, flipping forward a bit, I realize that Saul doesn't even live the life that God had planned for him.  He throws it away.  In the words of Samuel, Saul acts foolishly and does not keep God's command.  God chose Saul and has ideas of establishing Saul's kingdom over Israel for all time, but Saul, not knowing God's full plan, is fearful and thus disobeys. As a result, God grieves and eventually chooses another leader in Saul's place.

I rejoice in knowing that God has chosen me to help further His kingdom. While I cannot see the end result of God's plan, I really want to follow His lead.  I know that God is calling me.  I want nothing more to step into His will.  While I fear and while it may seem like a crazy idea to step out of such a comfortable life to live in a foreign land with mostly strangers, to live with inconsistent electricity, to be dependent on others to support God's plan for my life, and to be away from my family and close friends, I know that God's will has clearly been revealed to me.  I will follow.  After all, by stepping into God's will, I am proclaiming my faith, that I am sure of what I hope for and certain of what I am yet to see.  And, I know that if I do not follow God's plan, He can and will give it to someone else for His will be done!

In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel rebukes Saul for not following through with God's plan and disobeying with these words:

Does the Lord delight in burnt offering and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice

and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination.

and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord

he has rejected you as king.

I want nothing more than at the end of my life when I meet God face to face for Him to smile and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant.  Well done."  May He continue to lead me down His path, and may he provide me with the strength, courage, and faith to follow wherever that path may lead. -AMEN.