So I wrote on facebook that I had some exciting news and I definitely do.

On Thursday, I got a facebook message from Bree Bauman (some of you may know her from college ministries before she left). She works for a non-profit who will be providing two teachers to an American family who lives in Haiti to home-school their 4 school age children. Yes, Haiti for the next school year...9 months. I would get paid through the non-profit and get to come home every 3 months to renew my work visa.

I love Haiti. I went last May with my school and knew I wanted to come back again. And if you ask my family or very close friends, I have always said I wanted to teach in another county for a year. I just didn't know how I was going to do it or when. In my current search for a job, I put it on the back burner thinking well if I don't get a job next year then I will consider it. I don't need to worry about it right now because I'm going to get a job.

And then God throws it at me. I end up not even having to search for it.

So now I am considering leaving everything behind and moving to Haiti for the school year to teach, feed, and love the people of Haiti. I don't know what God's plan is for me and I want so desperately to be obedient to Him.

A lot of worldly problems and  fears arise every time I think about it. My parents won't even talk with me about it right now.

Psalm 25 from the RH blog really stuck out to me this week. 1 In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.

This came from the Reeve's family blog that I have been reading ever since I found out about them. This is the family I would be home-schooling. This was just in a random blog sometime at the beginning of moving to Haiti that I stumbled across and really spoke to me. It actually made me cry.

You don't have to worry. Full surrender to God means he will make it possible to do exactly what it is you want to do! As you surrender, God changes your heart to where what He made you for is exactly what you want! It does not mean He is going to drag you into the jungle where you dread going. He is going to allow you to experience the life you were made for. The life He created you for from the beginning of time. Don't let it slip away. Don't let fear and misconceptions of God rob you of what you could experience and also steal away the opportunity for you to bring God ultimate glory with your life. The fully surrendered life is best you can have now, and for all of eternity.

But with everything to think about, what does God want me to do? What is His will? How can I further His kingdom right now, here or Haiti?

Slices, I need your prayer. This is a HUGE decision for me and I want to earnestly seek God for his direction, clarity, and wisdom.

Connections

Last Monday at our Circles bible study, we read James 1:19-26. We had a great discussion and it got me really thinking about it.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does."
James 1:22-25

I am going through the Gospels right now. I was reading Matthew 15 that night when something really connected with the message in James we discussed that night.

"'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Matthew 15:8

We can't just listen to the word. We have to DO what it says. That means we can't just honor God with our lips. We have to DO what it says. Our hearts can be so far from God that once we look in the mirror and walk away, we forget who we are in Christ. We become someone that other people want us to be. We need to listen to the word and DO what it says because if we do, we will be blessed in what we do.

Judgement

When reading the book, I wrote some notes about what I thought when reading this little part of the book.

'"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgments you give are the judgments you will get" (Matthew 7:1). From this and all the other texts of the Gospel, it becomes clear that God's judgment is not the result of some divine calculation of which we have no part, but the direct reflection of our lack of trust in God's love."
--Henri Nouwen

What if we didn't judge? Could I do that? It would be so freeing. I am who God made me to be so I should not worry about judging other people and other people judging me. I am perfect in His eyes. Trust in Him that He will provide for me in every aspect. I've been thinking about this a lot because it is hard to let go. It's hard not to judge other people. I think that if I could cease to judge others, it would be so freeing to me because it would be more time to spend with God and less time worrying about what other people think. How did this affect you?

I've become a regular Saturday blogger. I never seem to have the time for it during the busy week!

The ROCKHARBOR blog really got me this week so I wanted to answer the questions posted on it.

What is something that is taking your attention today? What are you seeking? What are you chasing after? Food, I am having breakthroughs but it is still what I am most concerned with.
What does it mean to have your whole being long for God? To be fully satisfied in God? To think of God in everything that I do. I want to be tempted by food, then call on God for help, and then overcome my food craving and succeed. I want to not rely on food and fully rely on God. I want to find that God is all I need.
Write a description of God based on the words you find in this Psalm. God is ALL. He is all powerful, all powerful, all loving, all satisfying, all everything. I can be satisfied in God and nothing else.
Where are you? Do you find yourself with David? Or are you someplace else? I am in between. I now am aware of my food tempting and bring God into it but I have not been able to overcome the craving. I am reading a book that is really helping my thought process on God, cravings, and food. I am excited of my learning process and how far I have come and where I go :-)