Something To Listen To :)

I've been listening to a 4 part message series called "Prodigals" that Louie Giglio spoke at Passion City Church.  It has been an encouragement, and has given me a lot to think about, so I thought I would share the link with all of you!  :)

Part 1 - Surprise
Part 2 - The Power of Here and Now
Part 3 - Speech Interrupted
Part 4 - A Who God In A Do World

Hope

"Can you hear the sound?
His Spirit calling out

These bones are gonna rise
These bones will live again
These bones are gonna rise, gonna rise
These bones will live again"


I just heard this Phillips, Craig, and Dean song (These Bones) for the first time.  Hope is the only word I can think of to describe the feeling I feel right now.  It reminds me of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37.  Right now there may seem to be a valley of dry bones around me.  The truth is that God is saying "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.  I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’" (Ezekiel 37:4-6)

"These bones are gonna rise.  These bones will live again."  I can hear it...I hear the rattling of an army awakening...

It's Who I Am

Ever since the summer I've had a few thoughts rolling around in my head.  I guess it's time to get them written down...

Months ago I had a dream.  In the dream I was talking to my mom about moving back to Kamloops.  My mom was trying to convince me to stay here, but I told her "Kamloops needs Jesus just as much as the people here do."  In other words, the need to know the truth of God's love is as great there as it is here.

That dream really impacted me.  It reminded me of how much compassion I have for the lost, and how much I want to see them saved.  It doesn't matter if it's here, or there; whether I'm overseas or in Canada.  Everywhere around me there are people who need the Lord.

In the summer God really tugged at my heart as I was finishing up my last couple months at work.  I had a deep desire to finish well.  It wasn't that I didn't have the desire to make an impact before, it's that as my final day of work drew closer I realized just how much work needed to be done.  I realized that there were parts of my time there where I was too wrapped up in things going on in my own life that I didn't take the time I should have to pray for and love my co-workers.  There were moments where it was just a job, but this summer I realized that God has called me to more than that.  He's called me to be a missionary.  To spread His light wherever I go.

I've always had a desire to tell others about Jesus' love.  And for years I've known that's what my 'calling' is.  To be a missionary.  To go overseas on short missions trips, and come home to work so I can go back on another short mission trip.  This summer though I began to realize even deeper that missions is so much more than going overseas.  It's more than spending time with little Guatemalan children telling stories, and doing skits to show them that Dios es amor.  (God is love.)  Missions isn't just about travelling from one place to the next.  Missions is about spreading the mission of Christ...to seek and save the lost.  (Luke 19:10)  Missions is about who the 'missionary' is.  It's who I am.  It's not where I live that makes me a missionary.  It's the light of Jesus shining through me that makes me one.

And as I was reminded in my dream...Canada needs Jesus just as much as Guatemala.  And since I live here, it makes sense for me to be who I am and be faithful to the call Jesus has given me.

As one of my favourite children's videos, The Donut Man, says, "How can we wait until tomorrow, they're lost in sin and sorrow.  We love, and pray, and give so they might live in Jesus."

Procrastination

When I started school this year I made a silent commitment to not procrastinate like I always tend to do.  I'm really good at procrastinating.  Especially when it comes to writing essays and papers.  (Which is why I'm writing this post...to take a break from the hours I've been sitting trying to formulate thoughts for an essay.)  For some reason I love to write my thoughts, like in this blog and in my journal, but I have a hard time writing research papers and essays.

So far, in this first month of school I've been doing pretty well at staying up to speed with my homework.  I haven't had any major panic moments where it's the night before something is due and I haven't started it...I'm hoping I won't encounter that at all!  :)

Since I haven't been in school for two years, I forgot what intense amounts of homework was like...  :(  I feel like I'm up to my head in a pile of never ending homework!  I think it must be time to take a break and do something for an evening that doesn't require homework!  Haha!

Well, that's enough of my homework ranting and procrastinating!  Time to get back to my paper!

A Season Of Change

Fall happens to be a natural season of change.  The leaves begin to change from green to yellow, orange, and red.  The days are shorter and the air is cooler.  Everything in the natural points to the yearly passage from summer to autumn.

This year everything in my life is pointing itself to a similar pattern of change.  My last post summarized the beginning of a change.  I finished my job, and then I left for a week and a half vacation.  It was so good to get away and go 'home', even if for only a few days.

 On my journey I saw a lot of family, went on many hikes, took hundreds of pictures, and saw a few friends.  It was great!  My mom went with me to BC after our family reunion.  It was nice to spend some extra time with her.

I was able to get rested up on my trip, which I am thankful for because when I got home things went from busy to crazy busy.  As soon as I got home I was thrown into school mode.  With school starting a few days after I got home, I was busy trying to get ready and organized for my first year back at school after two years.  It took a lot of adjusting to get my mind back into school mode!

Not only was I trying to deal with school starting, I had to deal with the reality that in just a couple short weeks (from when I left for my trip to when I got home) my closest friends moved away.  One to another province, and two to another country.  Coming home felt like it did 2 years ago when I first moved here...nothing is as I have known it.

In many ways, this fall has started out feeling like I have moved somewhere completely different.  The physical surroundings around me are the same, but the people and places are not.  It's a weird feeling to have everything I have known be flipped upside down!

So, here I find myself at the middle of September 2012.  Everything has changed.  As the leaves are falling outside and harvest season starts I can't help but hope and pray even as the things that I've known have fallen away I will experience a harvest of life, love, joy, grace, and blessing in my life and in the lives of those I love.

Blessed

As I sit down to write this post at the end of a crazy week I can't help but feel blessed.

This week has been full of laughter, memories, and many tears.  At times I felt like this week would never end, but it turns out it went by too fast.

I finished my last day of work today.  As I drove away tears filled my eyes...tears because of the reality of how blessed I have been.  Change is never easy for me.  Often I long for something new and different, but when that time actually comes I have a hard time accepting the change.  Such is the case with the end of this chapter of my life.

I am excited to be going to school to have education for a career which I hope will allow me to do some travelling and missions work in the future.  Yet as excited as I am to go on in my life, it's hard leaving behind the life I've know for the past year.  My time at my job was great!  I am so blessed to have had the opportunity I had to work there!  I can't even begin to describe the blessings...

As I drove home after work today I couldn't help but reflect on the reality that God really truly used me.  I am overwhelmed that despite the personal hardships of the year the light of Christ shone brightly through me.  I saw that as I was taken out for lunch yesterday with two of my office coworkers and the owners wife.  I saw that as I got a card signed from many of my coworkers.  I saw that as I received a card from my coworker friend that is replacing me.  And I also saw it as I had flowers 'anonymously' sent to me today.  I saw how just being who I am and being willing for God to use me has created an atmosphere around me which blesses those I know.  It's like how I wrote exactly a month ago about how God has chosen to use little me to do what only my great big God can do!  It's amazing!

I am blessed to know that even as I am done my time in my workplace that there are people there who will always have a place in my heart.  As the years go by I will always remember them.  I will always remember this past year and reflect on the blessing it has been!

Though it's hard to say goodbye (especially since the last month and a half has been a blast as I was training and getting to know my replacement...who quickly became a friend.) I have peace in knowing that God is faithful and He has heard the cry of my heart.

It's time for a new chapter to begin.

The Word of Our Testimony...

"We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony."  As our testimony is spoken, faith rises.  The testimony gives way to hope and faith that God is true to His promises!  It is a reminder that He is truth!  It opens the door to salvation!  The blind will see!  The lame will walk!  The deaf will hear!  And the lost will be found!  They WILL be found!

This is what I quickly scribbled down at work today.  I had two songs, plus a conversation running through my mind as I jotted those words down.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about testimonies and how God uses them to open doors in people's lives. Today I had an opportunity to share a testimony of mine about how Jesus healed me from some food allergies!  I was so excited!  The door opened and I took the opportunity to let Jesus' truth shine through!

After I shared my testimony with my friend I couldn't help but have so much joy in knowing that Jesus had total victory in that conversation!  The enemy that seeks to steal, kill, and destroy was crushed!  It reminds me of Revelation 12:11.  The Message version says "They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness."  They defeated him, satan, through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness.  They DEFEATED him!!  

There is power in sharing our testimonies.  It doesn't matter how big or small your testimony may seem, it's your testimony of how Jesus has worked in you and through you!  For me it happens to be a testimony of healing that I shared, and I know God isn't done with the conversation I had earlier today!  It was only the beginning of something huge...because I serve a HUGE God!  

God is doing exciting things!  I look forward to the day, that IS coming, where I will see the blind see!  I will see the lame walk!  The deaf will hear!  And the lost WILL be found!!  They WILL be found!! 

Every prayer prayed, every tear cried, every testimony shared is just a step in this journey.  Those we are praying for WILL see the Lord.  He IS faithful!  So be faithful to step out and let His light shine through you!