Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Sunrise

I just wanted to use this blog as a shout out for our Easter Sunrise service that we had early this morning. It was amazing and God was sooo present. After we prayed, worshiped, and shared the gospel, we began to worship again. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again to look at the ocean there was a man with his dog standing right next to us. I thought HOW COOL IS THIS?!?!?! One of Ashley's friends talked to the man and invited him to the service. I can't wait to hear that story!

Not only that, there was a couple that saw us and climbed up to sit on the lifeguard tower overlooking us. The wife had her hand extended toward us during the whole time of worship. They were talking together and singing with us. Then it was Dannah's turn to get baptized. The couple on the lifeguard were amazed that we were going to baptize Dannah. By then we had a couple other people watching from the parking lot.

And then I thought, if God can show up and affect several people at 6:30 in the morning on the sand in Newport Beach, he can do so much more than that. in a small setting. in a huge setting. I think today was a time to help me remember that. Sometime it is hard to see the little things of the Kingdom and how we have a part in the plan.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Trust in the Lord

This weekend I was spiritually attacked. In conversation, someone asked me what I would do if when in Haiti, everything went wrong...I get sick and I'm not safe. And when I come back I don't get a job and I can't find a car, ect. At the time I was shocked and didn't know what to say and started talking nonsense. I had always considered that I will get sick and things aren't going to all be fine and dandy when I am in Haiti and when I come back home so when I was forced to really think about it, it bothered me and Satan took hold of it.

I kept thinking that it's not that hard...I trust that God will take care of me. He has prepared the way for me on this trip and if it is in His will, he will take care of me. It's to the point that I don't even want to think about what may happen because it doesn't really matter. Matt 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I need to live in the present and not worry about the future. I trust God to take care of me.

For a few seconds, I doubted that I trusted too much because I hasn't really given any of those thoughts a lot of time. That was quickly snuffed out by my confidence in trusting the Lord. I believe that if it is God's will for me to go to Haiti, he will protect me, take care of me, and provide for me when I am there and when I return. This was solidified this week when I read Luke 11: 9-10, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

I pray that God will show me what I seek in this adventure, keep me safe, free from sickness, provide for me when I am in need, and open doors when I return home.

I know that Mark 12:30 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." I want to change that a little bit...all week something else keeps popping up in my head. In my mind I keep saying, Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Worldly Things

On Sunday at church, I asked for prayer. This very nice young woman came over to me and prayed over me. I've been deciding whether to live in Haiti during the school year and initially a lot of worldly things seemed to be holding me back. After she was done praying for me, she told me that she felt that worldly things were holding me back...exactly what I had been thinking since I found out 3 days earlier.

I feel like worldly things are getting in the way of everything and everyone and what I would be doing by giving it all up. Yes, I could be making a lot of money and be able to finally buy a nice new car but will that solve the struggles that I still have now? Will my life be ultimately changed in the eyes of God if I stay here? Maybe. But I think that he has greater plans for me. I want to know what it is like to give everything up and follow Jesus in what He is asking me to do.

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
Matthew 16:24