Strength: you can never have too much

         I realized yesterday how close I am to going to India. 90 days from today! I’ve already gotten some great support from amazing family and friends and I’m expecting for even more. My excitement is growing daily and knowing that our church currently has a team serving in Honduras only makes me want to fast forward to June! I’ve been praying for the Honduras team all week because I know how exciting but physically draining a mission trip can be. But in my prayers for them I’m reminded that it’s never too early to start preparing my own heart for India. I’m going to be going to one of the more poverty stricken areas in the world and it’s definitely going to open my eyes to how good we have it in the United States. It’s going to be a huge adjustment going over there, not only is it a 12 hour time difference but it’s a culture that I know nothing about. It’s going to be an amazing trip but also one that I need to be physically, emotionally and spiritually prepared for. Having such a heart for not only kids but orphans will make it very hard to come back and just go about my life as it is now. I’m going to be forever tied to these kids yet the chances of me ever seeing them again are very slim, so I have to just make the most of the time that I do have with them. I’ve just been praying a simple prayer for strength, for our Honduras team and for myself and the team I’ll be going with.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind

Isaiah 40:31

       In other news I met an amazing woman yesterday who is a missionary in Zimbabwe. She totally took my bad mood and threw it out the window telling me about everything going on over there and how there is such a craving for the Lord right now. It was just amazing to hear about God works outside of my tiny bubble (that’s slowly expanding!). Anyways she is coming back to the shop today with some more detailed information about the organization that she works with over there, and I’m so excited to hear more about it! Continue to be praying for me as I prepare myself for this trip J

         Also, sorry about 3 posts in one day, I just had to do it but don’t go getting used to it! J

5 Types of People

I stumbled across this video yesterday of Bishop T.D. Jakes speaking about the different kinds of people that we surround ourselves with. It opened my eyes a lot to how blessed I am and at the same time how careful I need to be about who I give access to. I hope that you get something out of it to!

Where Is Your Mission Field?

There are a lot of critics when it comes to serving in international missions. People ask me all the time why I’m going to serve in another country when there are so many people in need here in my own backyard, and my answer used to just be that I was called to do that and other people were called to do the same here. But lately I’ve changed my view. Why can’t we do both? I’m not leaving for India tomorrow or going to some village in Africa next week, so in the mean time what can I be doing to help those people here? Well the obvious thing is through my job. Yeah I know I work in a coffee shop, it’s not the most glamorous job (though a friend of mine thinks it could easily be made into a movie) but I still have been given a great opportunity to reach people. Whether it’s by the music that I’m playing, starting up a conversation with some tourists looking for things to do, friendly banter with my regulars or maybe even something as simple as a smile and telling them to have a great day. Because of where I work I’m normally one of the first people that my customers see in the morning so I know that I’ve been given an opportunity to shift their day with a little bit of optimism. When I started this job I knew as little as a person could know about coffee but I did know that I’m a pretty good listener, plus my Pastor offered me the job so I couldn’t really turn him down. Recently a friend told me that my job title goes beyond a barista and is more like a holy bartender. We both laughed about it but she said she was actually being very serious. It’s funny but I do have a lot of regular customers that completely open up to me and occasionally I even get the opportunity to pray for them right here in the shop. I’m so blessed by this job. Just because you’re not working at some extravagant place or helping people in a third world country doesn’t mean that you can’t make a difference wherever you are right now. Make the most of every opportunity that the Lord gives you, because He will bless you with more once you show Him that you can control what He has already blessed you with.

“They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.

Psalm 77:12

Speak it, believe it.

         This morning while I was drying my hair I was thinking about how powerful our words are. Anyone that knows me, knows that I’ve never been a huge fan of my handwriting. I think that that may actually be part of the reason that I hated writing so much growing up. You’ve probably heard me say things like “my handwriting is the worst…I write like a boy….i wish my handwriting was more like my sisters or my mom…sorry if you can’t read it but I just hate my handwriting”. Now I’ve had so many people tell me that my handwriting really isn’t all that bad but the more that I write the better it will get, but being stubborn like I am, I never actually got around to it. I was too busy speaking about how bad it was and I had made myself believe that that was something that I’d always have to live with. Another thing I was thinking while drying my hair was how I always complain about having a bad memory and how I always forget little things. It’s frustrating to others if I forget something and it’s even more frustrating to me because on top of forgetting whatever it was I now know that I’ve frustrated you and you have to remind me again. It’s a never-ending circle of confusion.

         I told you all of that not so that you would think that I’m some crazy person that has these deep thoughts while drying my hair at 5:30 every morning, but instead to encourage you to guard your words very carefully. They lead to your actions and then you’re believing stupid little lies that the devil is using to get to you. Yes, he can use something as small as my handwriting to mess with me, he’s cunning and he’ll do whatever it takes to mess you up. So simply change the way that you think and talk and just watch your actions start to change too.

         I DON’T have bad handwriting. I really do believe that too. I’ve noticed a really obvious improvement in it over the last few weeks and I can actually say that I like it now. It’s not the perfect kind that I’ve always dreamed of having, but it’s mine and it fits me perfectly. And my memory is actually a lot better then I used to think. My friend was telling me just a couple weeks ago how it always means so much to her that I remember the little things, and to be honest there were so many other things going on right then that I missed the complement completely until this morning. I’ve been too hard on myself and from here on out I’m taking my own advice and guarding my thoughts and words.

This song has been my anthem lately and I’m completely addicted to it. If you haven’t heard it yet just give it a shot and if you have then hopefully you love it as much as I do.

More Reasons to be Thankful

         In the midst of this busy week I’m having trouble finding the words to describe how I’m feeling about this life-changing trip that I’m going on this summer. It’s going to be such an eye opening experience, one that will make me even more thankful for everything that I have and all of the opportunities that I’ve been given. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m VERY grateful already but I think that once I see these children I’ll never be the same again.

Thank you, Jesus

Home. For most people that word conjures up warm and fuzzy feelings, maybe even a sense of relief. Whether home is back in your hometown with your parents, an apartment with a beyond awesome roommate (I’m biased to this one) or maybe you’re a moneybags with your own house- regardless of where that place is the bottom line is that it’s somewhere that’s comfortable to you where you don’t feel the pressure of the outside world. You can be your true self and you’re surrounded by people that know you and don’t need explanations of why you do the things you do.

Today I’m thankful to have friends that really know and understand me and how I work. I’m thankful to know that my friends won’t let my desire to pursue my dreams get in the way of our friendship. A true friend is a rare find because they are willing to let you go, sacrificing a daily relationship with you, in order to let you chase your dreams and pursue God’s will on your life. John Maxwell said something that really spoke to me: “As you seek to enlist people into the fulfillment of your vision, don’t be discouraged when people you respect can’t see what you do. And don’t be despaired if people you respect won’t take the trip with you, even if you’re inviting them to do it for their own benefit. But instead simply celebrate when people choose to join you, and keep loving those that don’t”. It’s easy to get discouraged so today I’m simply just thankful for what and who I have around me.

Fears and Insecurities

Fear. It’s something that I’ve been dealing with a lot lately. I think that I’ve always been scared of one thing or another. Snakes are definitely my biggest physical fear, but even then I’m so intrigued by them that I can’t help but watch shows on Animal Planet about them. Crazy I know. But spiritually my fear has always been of failure. Recently though my fears have evolved from that into a fear of success.

Last night at church our pastor gave an awesome word that was so timely, considering it was leap day. As a church we were making all of these declarations about what we would be “leaping” into this year, they were all so incredible and I’m still bouncing around over 12 hours later. But one of them really stood out more to me then the rest:

I will join myself with other believers who are leaping forward.

Since moving to Boone I’ve definitely done better about this, but I think it used to be because of fear of being left behind. Thankfully I’ve grown so much since then. I’ve learned that success isn’t always contagious, but the desire for success is. Being around someone who is living out their dreams and passions has one of two effects on other people. It will either motivate them to pursue their dreams too, or it cause them to claim life is not fair since they don’t have the boldness to venture out and pursue their own dreams. As important as those relationships are we have to be really careful not to give them too much control in our lives. If you are too worried about what other people will think of your dreams, they are in complete control of them and essentially you. I know that I’ve definitely been guilty of doing this. I’ve mentioned before about how I’ve known for a while now that my passion is to work with kids, but because I let other peoples opinions weigh on me so much I wasn’t really hearing from the Lord on what to do. And that’s how I worked up this plan to open my own child development center. “It’s a good way to use that degree to make some money”, is what they said. Which is true and not entirely horrible. But the Lord didn’t call me to use my gifts to just make money. He called me to follow His purpose. Those people that were speaking into my life meant well and I know they have my best interest at heart, but because of their lifestyle and lack of a serious relationship with the Lord they no longer have the position of power to speak those things over me. That being said we, as believers, need to be careful about who were receiving from.

“Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith”

Hebrews 13:7 NLT