Aussie Bound.

It is official!  The flights are booked and I am going to Australia in February....by myself....for 5 months.  I am terrified!  But I have to believe God has His hand on this trip and on me.  I don't think I have ever worked this hard for anything in my life, therefore, there must be something special and powerful in store.  I am very excited to grow and learn from this experience.  I hope God allows me to see the reasons He has taken me down this road.  Whether He reveals it to me or not, I trust everything is for His glory and fame.  That's what I was created for and that is the purpose I want to fulfill in my lifetime.  I need loads of prayer.  I still do not have a place to live while in Aussieland.  That is a scary thing right now, but I BELIEVE in God's promises.  He will provide MORE than enough.

God, thank you for this opportunity.  Thank you for your Son.  I need you every day.  I need you on this journey.  I cannot do anything apart from you.  Please allow me to serve you in ways I didn't expect I would get to.  It's my honor to serve you.  Please provide housing soon.  And efficient funds for that housing.  I know you have better time and reasoning than I do, so I trust you with my situation.  I can only do this with you.  I love you more and more every day.  In Jesus name, Amen.

This World Has Nothing.

After Jesus, I most admire Job in the Bible.  People always refer to the patience of Job, but really...I would say the FAITH, ENDURANCE and PERSEVERANCE of Job.  I feel like a whiner when I remember the story of Job and all that he endured during his life.  He was stripped of everything, yet he was a faithful servant.  He never forgot that his life wasn't about him.  Had he made that mistake, he probably would have gone insane long before his death.  Today I am reminded that if God were to take everything away from me...I would be okay. Because this world has nothing for me.  My life isn't about me.  I HAVE to remember that and keep that perspective.  Life gets tough and hard things happen, but if you have the right perspective and the correct understanding of God's purpose in your life...life's trials aren't so tough anymore.  Because God is greater than all of that.

I am thankful, grateful, and on my knees before you Lord.  You are the Lord of my life.  I am not. I need you and want you.  Please consume me in every place.  I am so imperfect and never know what to do.  Please be my thoughts, decisions, and heart.  I love you.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

And So It Begins.

And so begins my journey...



I am waiting to get my acceptance letter from Sydney.  Anxiously waiting.  Meanwhile, I'm praying praying and praying some more.  This is God's business because I don't know what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, or how to do it.  I'm so excited for my Lord to receive so much glory from all of this.  That's all I want out of it really.  My work, heartache, and frustration does not matter the least bit if God's purpose is being set in motion through it.

When Prayers Become A Reality.

Wow.  I was really asking for it from my last post.  I was basically asking God to help me become a servant that would go through anything just to have the opportunity to bring glory to His name.  Let this be a lesson that if you ask for it, you had better be ready to receive it!

There are difficult seasons in our lives, but we MUST remain under and endure the pain and suffering.  It is for a greater purpose that we may never understand as long as we live on this planet.  But we can rest in the fact that our suffering is never in vain.

In this season of trial, I want to confess that I am in love with my God.  I delight in my sufferings because my relationship with God grows closer and stronger.  I am made new through it all.  He is making me new.

Dear God, I love you.  Please, do not delay.  I need you.  I need you every hour.  I count everything a loss, but to know You is my gain.  You are my comforter, healer, and savior.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

I don't want to be a 'have mercy' servant.

I just want to get to that place where I love God and follow God and worship God BECAUSE I'm in love with Him.  I want to be able to truly believe that I would WANT to be God's servant even if this entire world was doomed for destruction with the believers included in that destruction.  Would I serve Him if there was nothing in it for me?  God asked me this today.  And it broke me when I had to answer.  Completely broke my heart.  I hate myself for that.  But I don't know how to think differently.  God is the only one who can change my heart.  And I pray He does. I don't want to be a 'have mercy' servant.  I want to be a 'send me to Hell if it brings you glory' servant.  I want to love God like He loves me.  But I know I can't.  God is everything good inside of me.  I pray He helps me love Him better. And more. And stronger.

Hillsong United Concert.

Well for those of you who don't know, I am the biggest fan.  I got front row tickets to Hillsong United for my 20th birthday.  It was incredible!  Backstage passes next time...

End of the Uganda trip.

This is Faith.  Another one of my followers.  She has a younger sister and an older sister and brother.  She could not speak english but her smile spoke enough to me.  I met her one evening at the crusade.  She was crying so I went over to check on her.  After that, she never left my side.  I noticed she had a really bad cough, but it wasn't until the last night that I realized she had tuberculosis.  I'm not sure what Faith's future holds, but I pray we can meet again someday soon.

Finally we're on a plane to the states! We thought London would never let us leave.  Back on the plane for 8 hours baby!  I love my travel mates.

Sipi Falls, Uganda



Roommates at Sipi Falls.




Little boy in the pool at the waterfall.







This lady is filling her Jerry can in the pool.



Activities in Uganda.



Brian killed 2 chickens.





 


Mercy taught us how to do laundry in Uganda.






The market in Busia.

 

700 students about to learn about Jesus Christ.



Uganda.

On Father's day we went to Lake Victoria.  It was a beautiful beach area.  Ugandan beaches may be as great as the North Carolina beaches!

These are some of the children from the crusade.  We developed relationships with many adults and children at the crusades because it was a nightly activity all week.  We got to spend a lot of time with the people.  We taught the children how to play duck duck goose.  They pronounced it "dog dog goosh".  Frisbee, soccer, jump rope, and limbo.  They taught us to dance African style and sing in Lugandan/Swahili (the local languages).

This is James.  He is 10 years old.  He's mean mugging in this picture but I promise he has the sweetest little smile.  Different children latched on to different people in our group.  James was one of my followers.  He followed Brian and I.  He would run back and forth between us during the crusades, always asking permission to go see Brian for a few minutes.  Every single night he would ask me if he could come home with me to America.  James didn't speak much English but I could make out "My mother is dying and my uncle beats me."  I'm not positive if all he said was true, but his tears seemed very real at the end of every evening when we left to go back to our hotel.  We want to work on figuring out where his home is to take his family food.  I love this little kid!  I can't wait to go back to visit him.  And yes, he did give his life to Christ last week.

Africa.

We got to visit a school that our friend Willy started.  We went around and spoke to each class.  I'd like to speak on behalf of the children and say Esther and I were the favorite visitors because we gave out jolly ranchers to our classes.  Haha!  The children ranged from ages 6-13 I believe.  They were learning subjects such as Mathematics, English, Swahili, and Spelling.

We walked around a very impoverished village in Busia.  It was intense shaking the hands and looking into the eyes of the people living in these conditions.

We stopped at a water hole where some of the local children had walked a few miles to fill their Jerry cans with water.  The water was muddy and probably had parasites.  This water is used for washing clothes, bathing, cooking, and drinking.  During the dry season this particular water hole dries up and leaves very difficult circumstances for the locals.

In Uganda it was very common to see babies taking care of babies.  I often watched 7 or 8 year old girls carry their baby brother or sister.

London.

The team at the Charlotte airport.

Finally after spending a night in Chicago and spending a night in London, we get to tour!

The London Eye and Big Ben

Progress.

It is June 10th.  We leave June 12th.  I'm a little in disbelief.  I left Camp Lurecrest yesterday in tears, but I'm happy to begin this African journey.  I'm really praying for enlightenment, perspective change, and new burning desires that bring clarity to my God given purpose.  I start my Malarone pills today.  My roommate Esther and I have been packing all day long.

I wanted to post the blog for i55 International.  Our team will be keeping that blog updated throughout the whole trip.  From now until the end of July.  I have created a prayer schedule for our team and it is posted on the blog.  Please follow the i55 blog during the trip because I'm not sure I will have access to internet, but the i55 blog will be updated constantly.  Thanks!  http://i55international.org/blog/

Preparations for Uganda.

I reckon I should start talking about the Uganda trip...

Well it's about 6 weeks out from our departure.  It's been an extremely busy last few weeks for the team.  A lot of preparation has gone down and plenty of details have been worked out.  Esther and I went to get our shots and prescriptions last Thursday.  Fun times.  I felt very healthy after that, although the following Sunday (4 days ago) I got very sick and had to go to the hospital for testing.  It ended up not being anything too serious and I am able to complete my semester as scheduled.  It's been a rough week, but I'm pumped and ready to take off for the summer!  I'm struggling to keep my mind focused through exams but it won't be long now before I'm on a plane to AFRICA!  I'm turning in my application and papers for my visa today and then I've got a little more Africa shopping to do.  I need to start a check list!

I'll keep you posted...

Revelation

I finished the New Testament last night.  I have literally been reading the New Testament for an entire year now.  I have come to the conclusion...God is brilliant.  He is brilliant for many reasons, but concerning the Bible from a reader/knowledge seeker's stand point, he perfectly and powerfully put these books together.

We start off reading the 4 gospels, which are life changers.  My friend, Seef, tells me that John chapter 17 changed her life.  Whether having heard it preached in some form or having read it themselves, one way or another the gospel has changed the life of each Jesus follower.  The gospels are followed by the awesome book of Acts where Luke writes about the Holy Spirit and spreading the gospel of Jesus.  Then there is a large collection of letters. Many are written by the apostle Paul while he is in jail.  Paul writes to the church, giving orders and instruction on how to live for God's glory.  Other letters were written by various followers of Jesus giving instruction to christians in general.  THEN after all that build up and preparing of the heart, we get to a grand finale.  Revelation!

We have all heard about and read parts of Revelation.  This book is known to be scary and is usually avoided.  My reading log allowed 7 days to read through the book of Revelation.  Having Bible time in the morning before class and at night before bed, I read it in two days!  I literally could not put the book down.  I have been reading and studying the Bible for a while now and I honestly do not remember a time when I have read so intently and aggressively.  My eyes were glued to this book.  Why?  I can't fathom it.  It blew my mind over and over again.  When I finished, I felt as though the wind had been knocked out of me.  The power in these words make me feel like I am an ant living on a playground.  I am powerless.  Then I realize I, along with many other ants, have been chosen to live in a protected ant farm.  Only, I am watching from the window as all the ants who are still outside are cluelessly awaiting torture.  One day a kid is going to bring his magnifying glass and burn them all up.

Alright, I understand we aren't all ants running around scared for our lives.  But, the message of Revelation is real. Our world is causing us to lose focus on the REAL reality.  This is serious. I do not know how to comprehend this knowledge.  The world must hear this!  I am troubled by this.  I cannot keep from shedding tears at the thought of these truths.  I cannot stop dreaming about this terror.  We have an emergency!  God's word isn't teasing us!  This is not a joke!

No more shrugging it off.  We must go into all nations preaching the good news as if the events described in Revelation were occurring TOMORROW!  If God is gracious enough to reveal Himself, I am going to act on it!

'be prepared in season and out of season..'

"Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. " -2 Tim 4:2

'be prepared in and out of season'.
Athletes practice year-round. I want to be a year round follower of Jesus. Act on scripture 365 days every year.  God is good.

Also, while reading scripture and Radical by David Platt today, I came to a very important crucial realization. The fact that I have a relationship with God..an intimate relationship and I intimately know Jesus solely because God called out to me. God in all His glory woke me up. Me, a dying dead to life sinner. He decided to extend His grace and mercy to me so that I could know Him. It was not anything I did or someone else said or did to me. It was God Himself. Thank you Lord. In Christ. Amen.

Celebrating Mommy.

I was able to get the opportuinity to honor my mommy last weekend. She turned the big one Saturday and I was able to get a few of our family and friends to throw a surprise party for her. She is the type of person that never thinks or does anything for herself. No one does anything for my mom. She's always doing things for other people. Always puts others first. It's never about her. Ever! I was not going to let this special day be about anything other than her. All her. She is an amazing lady and does more than a human should be able to do. She is a very special and dear person in my life. I am thankful we got the chance to honor her last weekend. It was a fun surprise. I love you MA!

Wes

Today is my baby brother's birthday. What a special special day it is! All I ever wanted as a small child was to have a little brother and this day 13 years ago...I got what I asked for! So exciting! I remember that day. Glorious day. I pray Wesley grows up to be a great man of God. Now, that is what I want more than anything. When you ask for something, and you get it, it's your responsibility to care for that 'thing'. I feel like I have a duty as a big sister to model the role of Christ for my bro. I so hope I do a better job in Wesley's eyes than how I am actually doing. The Lord knows I'm not perfect. I pray for his life to always be for God's glory and that he realizes Your love God and Your heart. VERY excited to see what You use him for in this generation Lord. Thank you for little Wes, I love that kid! In Jesus, Amen.

Ephesians 1:7-10

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment--to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." --Ephesians 1:7-10

I read this last week and it blew my mind. It's scripture like this that has me loving God's word so much. I rejoice in the fact that I get to be a part of this. God's huge master plan for the world and His glory...I get to be a part of it. My God is so good!

It's like having a job that gives benefits like paid vacation trips and a company gas card. God pours His grace, power, and knowledge on us because we work for Him! Thank you Lord. Awesome.