Just some thoughts!!!

I don't want to be someone who just lives there life comfortably. God has not called us to live comfortable lives....he has called us to live for him! Living for him can be uncomfortable and hard sometimes. But that is the life I want. I don't want to get so involved in everyday life that I am too busy for what God is calling me to do. Someone once said "God did NOT call us to be busy, He called us to be fruitful." How true is that?!? Just because you are "busy" doesn't mean that you are being fruitful....lets move out of our comfortable lives and be courageous for God. Lets step out right where we are and make a difference in our own communities! I've learned if God doesn't want you doing something or does want you doing something he will make that so clear to you! But you have to do your part and spend time with him and build a close relationship with him! So you can clearly hear his voice and do the things he has for you!

I was listening to a television program recently and it really hit home for me. I am single and I have never had a boyfriend. I am always questioning "God what is wrong with me?', "Father why doesn't any guy want me?". But I realized that until I am whole,confident in who I am and at where God wants me in my single life He can't allow me to be in a relationship! I am not ready for a relationship, I have so much I need to learn, experience and grow with my relationship with God before I can ever have a functional relationship with the guy the Lord has for me. It's time to start considering this season of singleness as a blessing and embrace it! On the program one someone said "Run your race full force towards God, then when you look over see who's running next to you"! The right person God has for you will be running the same path as you. But sometimes it takes you or them a little longer to get on the same path. But God will get both of you on the same path in time, (HIS timing)! SO singleness is blessing from God, so I encourage you to live it to the fullest! I know I am going too, because it's only a season! :-)

So that is just what has been on my heart! God is teaching me new things everyday. What an amazing and loving God we have!

Thank you for taking the time to read this!
~God Bless You All~

Back Home In Northern Michigan

                                                   

I have been home for about a month now. It was a really hard adjustment to make. I know in my heart I am supposed to be a missionary. But where and when is what I am praying about. I loved the being at YWAM Atlanta so much. The people and ministry that they are doing there is so amazing and of God totally. I just was so restless there and very unsure if I was supposed to be there. I wanted to be there one minute and the next I was so unsure. I wasn’t sure if I was where God wanted me to be. So after talking to the leaders I decided it would be best if I went home for now. It was an extremely difficult decision to make and was NOT easy for me to leave.

It's a big adjustment being back home. I want to be back out on the mission field so bad. But I know God has a plan and I just have wait for the green light to go. I am learning to be patient on hearing from God. More then one person has told me that "just because God is not doing in it your timing doesn't mean he is not going to do it". So I am trying my hardest to be patient, listen and rest in him. That is all I can do at this point. He is a good God and will take care of me. I just need to let him and not hold on so tight. 

I now have been blessed a part time job and I really like it a lot. But  I also still want to be doing something with ministry! So while I am home I decided why not get involved with things at my church. I now help out on Wednesdays at my church with a program called GEMS. It's a program for young girls to come and have fun learning about Jesus. I am also working with two other girls to try and get a young adults group up and going at the church. There really isn't anything going on for young adults around here....so we are trying to get that up a going. God is just speaking to me to be servant where I am at. I don't HAVE to be on the mission field to to that, even if I am called to be a missionary doesn't mean it will happen RIGHT now. It's all in God's timing, and his timing is perfect!!!

One thing that I love is the fact that I am still able to grow and have the deep relationship with the Lord at home. I feel like I am growing so much still and that God is opening my eyes up to new things. I am able to love my family with a new and true love from God that I didn't have for them before. God has healed from some much in this past year that I sometimes will do things and be SHOCKED because the girl a year ago would have never had that courage. I mean I am still the same girl at heart, just knowing the authority I have in Christ and standing up and using it is something new for me. God has given me a gift that normal everyday people might think is crazy or "Out there" but I know beyond a doubt that it is from God and is to be used for God's glory! 

I am enjoying being home for now and I am going to just treasure this time I have while I am here. (even if it was a hard adjustment to make at first) But I also look forward to where ever God may lead me in the future! He is such a faithful, loving God and when we just let go and trust him life gets a little easier and a little scarier. Having control of my life is something I am learning is not for me to have but to give it to God and trust him with everything. I am just so thankful to be serving such an amazing God, and that I can have a personal relationship with him!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. God Bless you all. 

Back at the Base

                                      (The blue house where all the girls live )

July 25 my roommates and I moved back down to the YWAM base! We only had a few days before we had a team coming so we didn’t have time to really settle in or unpack right away. We need to get things ready for them team that was coming!

The team came July 27^th they were from Lancaster Pennsylvania! It was a youth group and they were so great! They were so ready to work and serve the Lord. I helped a lot in the kitchen during this time. I did a lot of platters for lunches, snacks and helped prepare dinner. I also got to join the team when they went to different areas to serve. Like one day we went to an all organic farm and helped out there. We pulled lots of weeds, planted seeds, pulled tomatoes and just got to share God’s love with the workers there. The main guy is not a believer but he was such a friendly and heartwarming guy. He made us all feel really appreciated! He did understand why we would want to come and serve there, but he was very grateful to have us there. So having the team here was wonderful. They were an amazing group of people who really loves Jesus, and they seemed to really seemed to enjoy the teachings as well. I shared a little one of the days it was just about 5-10 minutes of my testimony. I was so nervous but I did it because God told me too, NOT because I wanted to. I was glad I shared what I did in the end.

I am now serving in the childcare area at the 10:50 service every 1^st, 3^rd and sometimes when there is a 5^th Sunday of every month at Grace Snellville. I am working with the 2-3 year olds and I am really enjoying it a lot. I work with a lovely woman named Jojo. She is just a sweetheart and really loves what she does. The children there are so precious! The church has different stations that the kids move around to so that they are not stuck in one room the whole time. This is a wonderful idea because the kids seem to listen a lot better when they are kept busy and not stuck in just one area.

I am also working on getting involved with working with the youth group they have at Grace Snellville. They need volunteers on Wednesdays and I think it would be a great way to serve! Also I think it's a great way to get more involved with the church. I am also looking into the young adults group they have on Sunday evenings at 5:15. I think it would be a great way to get to know people my age around this area! I am really looking forward to that a lot. So I will let you know how both of those go once I start!

God has really been teaching me to rely on him more and more every day.  I know I am supposed to be here at YWAM Atlanta. I have spent so much time praying about it! I just wanted to be 100 percent sure that God wants me here and that I am in his will. God is also showing me how faithful he is to be the comfort I need when I am missing home and family. I feel so grateful to be able to serve God like I get too.

I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who supports me. I am SO very blessed by you guys, I could NOT do without you all and of course without God! So thank you all for everything you are doing for me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

~God Bless~

June Adventures

I stared doing a lot of Children’s ministry this month through the Grace Midtown Church that I’ve been going too. I love it so much the kids I work with are such amazing little people.

On Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s I do a Prevention Program/Kid’s Club for at risk-children in major red light districts around Atlanta! On Tuesday’s we go to an extended stay hotel! This one is the one I’ve found to be the tougher of the two. The children are harder control because the boys tend to like to start fights! But you can tell that they long for Jesus. They are kind hearted children, you can see they love attention. It’s been a blessing to be able to get to know all the children and to share God’s love with them. On Wednesdays we got to a trailer park. These children are very respectful, light hearted and they pay attention to what we say very well. The families may be poor but the since of family environment there is amazing.

For both of the destinations we have the same routine! When we first arrive we unload all the things that we bring, books, chalk, snack, juice, sports balls, music speaks, mats to sit on, ect. Then we just play with the kids for like a half hour 45 minutes. Then we all get together for a group game, like duck duck splash. It’s like duck duck goose but the instead of tapping someone on the head the kid gets to dip his or her hand in a small cup of water and drips a little water on the other children in the circle! Unless they are the one they have chosen to chase them then they pour the small up of water on their back. Which with the heat down here they dry off really fast. After the game we setting in on the mats that we bring for some fun worship time. The kids love to sing and dance while they are praising Jesus. After worship we have a lesson time. Right now the kids are learning how to grow in the lord. We planted little seeds in soil and each week we show the kids how well the plants are growing. They love seeing the progress the plants make from week to week. After the lesson we have craft and snack time. I’m in charge of making sure there is enough sack for everyone and getting it ready, set up and passed out. I also have to make sure everything from the craft time gets put back in the bag and in the van before we leave.  So that is a rundown on a typical day with the kids club.

On Thursdays we still have our day of prayer walking and intersession! It’s been really awesome to see and hear all God has for this city. We have also met someone people on our prayer walks and had the opportunities to share the love of Christ with them. It’s been really amazing to see God work through this group here.

Sunday’s to do Kidz Town for both morning services. I love it so much, the kids love to play and use their imagination. They are so creative and they make the time fly by, I thought maybe doing both services would be too much for me. But it’s not I love it, they maybe early in the morning but it’s worth getting up for…haha. Then I attend the church service they have at night. It’s more of a younger crowd and a way different atmosphere then the morning services. I enjoy it a lot.

I’ve been meeting a lot of people through volunteering and it’s been wonderful to get to build relationships with people. It’s taking time but I am beginning feel at home with the church and with the people I am volunteering with. My walk with God is strengthening more and more each day. I can feel his hand in everything that I am doing and I just want him to keep guiding my steps. I know he will keep providing for me and guiding me down the path that I need to go. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me on this journey either through prayer or financially. I am so blessed to have all of you in my life. Thank again so much!

~God Bless~

Some of the devastation that the torando did in Alabama! We went and helped on Monday May 16, 2011!!!!! We left at 4 in the morning from the YWAM base, worked all day in Alabama and didn't get back until 11pm! It was a long day but so worth all the hard work!

Back in Georgia

Sunday May 8th,

My dad and I drove all day Saturday to get to Georgia. The drive down here was long but good. I got to spend time with my dad so that was a lot of fun. We got to the YWAM base at 1:30 Sunday morning. For the first couple of days I got to just rest and get used to being back here.

Tuesday May 10th,

I got to be a part of my first staff base day.  Base day is when people on staff who are living downtown in Atlanta come to the base out in Loganville!  We worship together and someone shares about God.  It really brings us together as a not only a base but as a family. After that we have lunch together and just catch up with one another and see how everyone is doing. It's a great time that they set aside to just come together and just give our time to God.

Thursday May 12th, 
 

It was a really good day. Some of us from the base went and did a prayer walk in Atlanta. We met a place down town and had worship and had brief introduction. We prayed and made sure our hearts where right and nothing was going to hold us back from what all God had for us that day.  We all spilt up into groups. There were four different groups of about 5 people. My groups task was to go into the hotels that were right down town and just pray for the children and women brought into that place to be used. We prayed that the hearts of those men would be changed and that they would no longer have that desire to harm those women and children. It was really awesome to see how God moved there. They gave us mini Bibles and we were told to rip out scripture and plant it in the soil of the plants in or around the hotels. So we did, God would give us different songs and scriptures for each place that we went in to or walked around.

Monday the 16th of May,

Seven of us who are on Staff with YWAM went to Alabama to help with the disaster relief! We worked with an organization called Samaritan's Purse! It was so surreal to see all the damage that the tornado had done. The first place we went to we cleaned two yards. We cleaned up all the tree branches that fell. We had two guys on our team that actually used a chainsaw to cut off the limbs of trees that had fell over! We moved the brush into the ditch so the city people could come and clean up! The next few places that we went we couldn't do much because it was to dangerous for our team.

So we just invited the families outside and we would gather around to pray with them. After those houses we went to an area that REALLY got hit. The houses in that neighborhood were almost all completely demolished. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. Cars turned over and smashed, houses completely gone, that ones that were still standing were in horrible shape. We didn't work in that area at all because they were still doing major clean up and sorting through things. It took bigger machines to clean that area up. After seeing that neighborhood we went back to the church that we first met up with and ate lunch.

After lunch we went to another house and cleaned up their yard. At this place our team split up and some of us stay at there and the other half went to start cleaning up another place. I stayed at the first house, here we did a lot of racking up sticks and leaves it took awhile but we got the yard all cleaned up. Then when we got done we went and met up with the others at the home they were working at. There we just had to clean up the roofing tiles that blew off the house, because the other half of the team cleaned up most everything else. It was a super long day, but God really moved through us and gave us the energy to get the work done.

One thing that Samaritan's Purse does is every place they help clean up they have all the team members sign a bible and put their favorite verse in it and then we give it to the family that we helped.  Each family really enjoyed getting the bible, and they all SO thankful that we were there to help them.

Thursday May 19th,

This was my first day downtown Atlanta. I am not able to move out there until May 31st. But the girl I am going to be rooming with her name is Cris. Cris and I drove down together on Thursday morning. It was my first time driving in to Atlanta; I am NOT used to city driving at all. I have only drove in small towns! But I did ok for the most part, it was a bit of a challenge but God had his hand in it that is for sure.

When we got down town we met the others who were meeting with us at Shaun and Naomi's place. From there we walked to the park. I watched Naomi's little boy Ethan while they rest of the group met and prayed for the community. Watching Ethan was a lot of fun, we played with chalk, played on the swing set, played on the little play set and looked for bugs. I was glad to help out with Ethan so that the others could focus on praying for the community that we are living in. Afterwards we went out to lunch and Cris showed me around Atlanta.

Friday the May 20th,

Cris and I stayed the night Thursday so we were here for the next day! Friday I got up and got ready for a morning of watching to full of energy boys. I watched them so that the others could get some much needed work done. After the Ethan went down for a nap and they other little boy named Flip went home I met with Naomi to start on making a weekly schedule for me. We didn't quite get everything done and figured out because she has to meet with Deb and a couple people still have to get back to her on a few things. After that meeting we had a mini lunch, then into prayer time we went. We just prayed for the community and the opportunities God is giving us here in this area. It was a good prayer time!

Tuesday May 31^st,

I moved downtown today. This is where I officially start my ministry. Mondays I will be watching Ethan for Naomi so see can go to her meetings. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I getting involved with a program called infusion which is a children’s ministry. On Thursdays everyone who lives downtown comes together and we all go and prayer walk around places in the downtown area. Fridays I watched Ethan again for Naomi so she can do her ministry. On Saturdays I am going to working with the DREAM center which they have children’s ministry in the mornings there. Then on Sundays I am doing childcare for both morning services. Then Sunday night attending church myself. So there is a little bit of my schedule and what I am about to be doing.

So those have been a few of my eventful days here. I will keep posting more as my time here develops. Thanks for taking the time to read this. And a special thanks to those who are supporting me!  

Love you and God Bless!

Some Of My Thoughts On Relationships

As a girl who has NEVER had a boyfriend I know how hard it is to wait for the guy God has for you. I know how it feels to see other happy couples holding hands and just being so in love you can see it every time they look at each other. Every time I see that I am like “Father God I want that so bad.”

But through the years of not having a boyfriend I find God shows me new things about what I want in a guy. They are not so dramatic that no guy could ever match up. But they are special things God has placed inside my heart just for me. I strongly believe that even though it’s hard to wait especially when it seems like everyone else is dating or now as I am getting older my friends are getting married, but I really do believe God has saved me from some crazy heartache that could have happened. I thank him for that because I don’t want to bring past broken relationships into my marriage one day.

God has put some standards on my heart that a lot of guys don’t go for. But girls don’t lower them for any guy EVER! I know how easy it could be, I have considered lowering a few myself. But God always brings me back to a place where I realize that if a guy really loves me he will respect my standards. I will name a few just so you know what I am talking about. And don’t get me wrong I am not saying that my standards are right for everyone. God has just places these on my heart for ME….

·         I will not marry or even date an unbeliever. Because my man needs to be able to spiritually lead me! (You might be thinking “Well what’s wrong with just dating an unbeliever you don’t have to marry him”.  The way I see it is dating an unbeliever for me just won’t work because the guy I date I want him to be someone I could possibly marry. I don’t just want to date around for the fun of it. Some people do and that is their choice. :-) Everyone has a different lifestyle and standards.

·         I will stay sexually pure until my wedding night. God made sex for marriage and so I am waiting.  When you have sex with someone you become one flesh, so that means two people become one! If you have sex with someone outside of marriage than there is no “real” commitment there and then you open yourself up to so many things like STD’s or pregnancy and you don’t even know if that person is going to stick around. I for one don’t want that for my life.

So those are a few of the major set in stone standards that God has place on my heart! Those ones I will not budge on! God will bring the right guy around and he will love me enough to respect where I stand! God knows my heart; He will always be my first true love and my prince charming!

One last thing that has been on my heart is I feel like some girls are so stuck on wanting a earthly prince charming to come recue them from evil and sweep them off their feet. But while they are waiting and so focused on that they fergot that the ultimate prince charming has already came and recued them for all evil. He saved you from all the darkness in the world and his name is Jesus. He died for you, he loved you that much. Ladies if that doesn’t sweep you off your feet to think that he loves you that much than I don’t know if any earthly guy will ever be able too. Jesus Loves you more than ANY earthly man will ever!! :-)

Love you all and God Bless!!!!

~Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart~ Psalm 37:4 (One of my favorite verses)

Good Friday!

I was watching my nephew on Good Friday! I thought it would be fun to ask in questions about Jesus that we were talking about ealier that day!

Monkeys In Thailand

Monkeys that we saw...One ran after me to attack. Lol....but thankfully it gave up!!

Being Back Home

                                                              
I've been home a little over a month now. It's been good to be home!

Home life isn't the same as when I first left and I am not the same either. I know who I am in the Lord Jesus Christ now. Although I my get down and upset with things here at home that I can't make better I am having to really lean on God for it all. I don't have my YWAM friends around me 24/7 to help me through things anymore. But that is making me HAVE to trust and lean on God even more. And when I find myself going to my friends before even going to God I have to take a step back and reevaluate what I am doing!

God is helping me see that even during this time at home I can still grow in him and have the same relationship with him. That doesn't have to change just because I am home! He is still the same God he was in Georgia and Thailand...haha. He never changes and is always there!

While being home I am just packing and sending out support letters for when I go back to Georgia. I am also working to help save up. I am really thankful that my family is allowing me to help out while I'm here. Although I am really excited for what God has in store out there for me, I can't over look what he is doing while I am back here in Michigan as well. Our God is a good God and gets us through EVERY struggle if we just give everything over to him!!!
~God Bless~

My DTS Outreach Phase

For outreach we had two choices we had to pray and see whether God wanted us to go to Thailand or Chile. I prayed and felt God wanted me to go to Thailand, I myself wanted to go to Chile. But I listened to God and went to Thailand.

We left for Thailand on the morning of the 31st of December. The plane ride was so long. This was the first time I had been overseas. I was really scared of going to Thailand I didn't know what to expect. But God really had his hand in it.

When we arrived in Bangkok, Thailand it was the night time. So we got there at a good time! We headed to the place where we were going to be staying for a week night before we headed to our first location. When we arrived we were all so tired and ready to go to bed. When the girls and I walked into our room we noticed there were beautiful flowers on our bed. I went and picked mine up....just to find out there were little ANTS all over them and all over our pillows. Haha....we all were freaking out trying to kill all the ants we saw. We were all like oh my goodness this is only the beginning.

Then next day our official day in Thailand we went site seeing. We went to many temples but because of the New Year just happening the temples were full of people giving offerings, prayers and just worshipping the Idols in the temples. It broke my heart to see this kind of thing. Seeing all those people, GOD'S people giving their lives over to something that are not even real. Something that will never satisfy their longing hearts, something that will NEVER love them back. But I have hope that every in every person we met God allowed us to plant a seed of his love in them.

We went to three different locations while in Thailand. We spent about 2 1/2 weeks at each location. The places we went were Maha Sarakham, Kanchanaburi and Nikon Si Thammarat!

All three places were wonderful. In Maha Sarakham we went to Colleges and tough English. The awesome thing was as long as we taugh English we could do whatever we wanted. So we did Skits about God, shared Testimonies and just showed God's love to every college student we met. It was really cool how God opened up that door for us. Also during our time there we passed out tracks to a camp that they were having the weekend before we left. The Camp was a lot of fun. We got to bond with the students and just share God's love to them. The Thai people really love white people. They think the color of our skin is Beautiful. They want to be white. Which is different than us because in America we want to be tan...lol. On the base we were staying at during the week we also got to know a Korean team that was staying there as well. They were so nice and easy to get along with. It was such a blessing to get to know them.

In Kanchanaburi we stayed in the beautiful mountains on a goat farm. The girls lived in a tree house type of thing for 2 1/2 weeks. There was not much for privacy for us while trying to change our clothes. But being on the goat farm was pretty rough for me. Not my cup of tea to be cleaning up two years worth of goat poop. But other than that we went to schools and work with the children. We played with them, and taught them English. Again we were able to teach what we want as long as it was English. So we did Bible stories, and skits, and little fun lessons for them to practice and learn English. It was not easy because of the Language barrier but as long as well just loved on them that is all the kids cared about.

In Nikon Si Thammarat is where we saw many healing and many people come to the Lord. This is where we really worked in the slums of Thailand. God really showed himself during the whole time in Thailand and especially when we had 20 people come to the Lord at one of the slums we were at. It was so amazing. God did some major work there. Other than going and loving on people at the slums we went to more schools and taught the children. They seem to have a lot of fun. We also got up at 5 in the morning to leave by 6 to go to the exercise track that the Thai's go to bright and early to work out. But in doing that people would come up to us and talk to us. We were able to lead 3 people to the Lord one day. God can use you anywhere you are at as long as you are willing and opened to it.

That is only pinch of what God did in Thailand. God really moved there. He really has a heart for Thailand. I could really feel it when I was there. God is SO good. And if are willing he will use you no matter what.

I mean Look at little old me. Shy, Scared, and Not Outgoing, yet he chooses to use me. He also is changing me as well. Although I may still be a little of all those things God really showed me I could make a difference with him as my focus and guide. Praise God!!!

~God Bless~

My DTS Lecture Phase

                                                                                              

Wow....where do I even start?

The last five months have been life changing. God has really rocked my world. He has brought me through so much. Things that I thought I would NEVER over come he has healed and helped me through.

When I first arrived at the school I wanted to leave right away. I was so scared, there was NO WAY I was going to survive 5 months way from home. I had NEVER been away from my family that long and there was no way I was "really" called by God to be 16 hours away from them.

During the three months of lectures phase the first couple of days were the hardest. I did NOT want to be there. I didn't feel like I fit in and I just wasn't willing to try to make friends with people. I figured that they didn't like me anyways so way even try. But eventually I began to warm up to a few of the girls and started to let myself open up to them. God really used their openness and sweethearts to just make me feel loved and very welcomed.

But it seemed as soon as I started getting comfortable and making more friends that I started having these CRAZY panic attacks. I've never experienced panic attacks before in my life so I was so scared. Thankfully one of the staff members used to have them all the time so she knew exactly what to do and how to help me. Once again do to the panic attacks I wanted to go home. I didn't think I was strong enough to deal with everything going on. That was exactly what Satan wanted me to do....he wanted me to give up and go home because he knew the healing of my heart that was about to come.

We had three months of lectures and I enjoyed all of them. There is one lecture that stuck out to me the most. It was a week called "Father Heart of God" lead by the speaker Mike Berg. This week helped me really see God love for me! No matter what I do God loves me and I don't have to work for it. Towards the end of the week we took a whole day and just took time to search our hearts and forgave people we need too. We not only forgave them but also prayed blessings over there lives. This really opened up my eyes to see that know matter how much someone hurts you God still loves them. So we should love them as well....and trust me that was a really hard thing for me to grasp! But during this week I was set free from many hurts and pains that I had held in for years. God set me free!!!!

During my time at the school I just fell in love with God even more. I just found myself wanting to spend longer quite times with him and just wanting to sing praises to him. I could feel God's presents more than ever before. He really showed himself to me in many ways. God's love for me is more real to me than it's ever been before. The passion he has placed in my for his people is greater than it's ever been.

My dts has changed my life. The school is SO God focused and hits the area's that everyone needs to grow and learn in. They had worship every Tuesday mornings with the whole base. It was so nice to get to see people that lived off base and get to know them a little. After worship we would also have intersession for different parts of the word. It was amazing how God really showed up in these times...you could really see God's hand at work!

I would not trade my time at my dts for anything. I have met some of the most amazing and passionate people ever. The guys at my school helped me understand that guys who aren't really family can still be loving and you can trust them. The girls just became my like my sisters, we all got along really well. It was such an amazing experince getting to know each and every person in my school. And the leaders and staff were absolutly wonderful. They really cared about each and every person, they were there at any time of the day or night if you needed to talk. They really are called by God to be there and you can really see the love of Christ in them!!

GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!

1 John 3:16

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."