So the second big thing in my life that God has changed in the last several months is my relationship with Aaron Zapata. As I look back at the past year I am amazed at how God has orchestrated both of our lives to bring us together for His glory. He brought Aaron to a small Christian college in Lincoln from New Mexico and even further Got brought Aaron, Abby and Tim to Grace Church through the angel food ministry at our church.
Soon after I first met them, I was asking Aaron to join the team going to Ecuador. After God convincing Aaron that he was supposed to go on this trip, God slowly brought Aaron's and my heart closer and closer together. We tried resisting it so that our "feelings" would not get in the way of God's purpose for the trip and we did a pretty good job until the day after we got back to the United States. :-) It was less than a week after we got back that I knew I was going to marry him. Even though we gaurded our hearts from having feelings for each other God used the trip to Ecuador to unite us together as really close friends. It was a wonderful base for our relationship.
On August 26th, we officially started courting. We set things in place to make sure we didn't move too fast and yet in some ways it still happened. Not because we were trying to make it go fast, but because we were following God's lead. From day one we wanted our relationship to be 100% God-focused. We looked to Him before we took any step. Every night we prayed together refocusing our hearts on Him and making sure He was the center of our relationship. We didn't start holding hands until we had been dating for a month because we wanted to be sure we didn't move to fast physically and we wanted our friendship to grow before any physical relationship began. Even though this was SO hard, it was also really good because it helped us learn so much more about each other on a personal level.
Also, a couple days after we started dating I told Aaron that I didn't want him to tell me that he loved me until the day that he proposed. I have to say the last month or so, in a way, I have been regretting that rule. lol! God has grown my heart to love him in a way that I never thought was possible. It was soo hard to not tell him how much I loved him! Especially when we would say goodbye or good night. It's so easy to accidentally just slip in, "I love you". But we couldn't. At the same time, this was a very good rule. It was a good way to gaurd both of our hearts. I don't think it's good to tell someone you love them unless you know you are going to marry that person. It made for a really great proposal too! :-)
So now for the good stuff. How it happened... Well first I have to start by saying that Aaron is really bad about wanting to give people gifts early, he gets so excited he just wants to give it to you right away. So we were driving to Tim and Abby's house and he was like can I PLEEEEAASE give you your Christmas present early and after many times of saying no and him giving me those puppy dog eyes, I finally said okay... lol! Little did I know what the gift really was. So we get to Tim and Abby's and after about 15 minutes of being there Abby, Tim and Gracelyn decide they are going to go to bed. It's only 8:30!!!!!!! So I'm thinking ok, well they are new parents that's understandable. So I sit down on the couch and ask Aaron, so what should we do? Thinking he's going to say well we could watch a movie or something along those lines. No, he goes "you're going to open your Christmas present". So he goes to Gracie's room to get it and then comes back out empty handed saying, "I can't find it oh wait here it is". So he brings it over and I open it. Inside are three picture frames. The first one he is signing "I", second one he is signing "love", and third "you". I look at him FREAKING OUT a little bit lol! And he says "I've been waiting for three months to tell you how much I love you, will you marry me" (He may have said something else, but I honestly was freaking out and don't remember it all, luckily it's on video lol!) Anyways.. so of course I said "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course I will marry you". Then Abby, Tim and Gracelyn came back out and I've been super excited ever since!! :-)
So now I sit here with beautiful ring on my finger, engaged to a wonderful and godly man. I can't even believe it! He is more than I could have ever asked for, and trust me I asked God for a lot :-) He is a great spiritual leader and keeps my focus right where it should be, on our awesome and great Lord! If you had asked me on Valentines day of this year if I was ever going to get married, I would have said no probably not (If you look at my blog from Feb 14th, you can see how much God has done in a short time). I would have never guessed that He had such a big plan for me. When Aaron and I talked about getting married we both said that when we look at our lives individually and compare it to our lives together, we can see that we can bring more glory to God together than on our own. And that is ultimately what we desire.
So what's next, well first of all I have to tell you that we have not had our first kiss and we will not share that until the day that we get married. Even though this is another hard thing that we have put in place it is soo worth it. God has used this in big ways to help mature and grow our relationship. So on our wedding day, those of you who can make it will get to witness our first kiss! We are getting married on July 2, 2011 at Grace Church. I truly cannot wait to marry my best friend!!!
Thank you Lord, for bringing Aaron into my life and growing our hearts closer together as you draw us closer to you! Thank you for giving me a man that points me to you in everything that we do and for teaching me so much through him. Your plans are amazing, Lord! Why do we ever doubt them?
Thank you all for the encouragement and we are so very blessed that you are all apart of our lives!
Love you all!
Julie
P.S. - Sorry if there are spelling mistakes, I'm just a little excited to be grammatically correct :-)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
How quickly things can change
I have so many things I want to write in this blog that I don't know where to start. That's why it has taken me so long to get another blog posted. :-) Specifically there are three big things that have happened in the past few months that I want to write about, but for each topic I have a whole lot I want to say about it. So I have decided to write three different blogs so you won't have to read a whole bunch in just one blog. This blog is going to be all about Ecuador and how God used the planning process and the trip to teach me SO many things!
When I look back to the trip to Ecuador and the planning process that God took me through my first thought is just amazement at how God was in control if it all from the beginning. He called me to take a group and He helped me get through each hurdle. There was no way I could have done it on my own. He was there leading and guiding me every step of the way and I give Him the credit and glory for all of it. He put together an amazing group to go on this trip and He worked in each and every one of our lives in huge ways. It's interesting because I had always thought that short-term missions meant more to the people we were serving, but through this process I learned that God uses it even more to teach those of us who are going to serve.
The biggest lesson that God taught me was faith without doubting. He started preparing that in my heart when I read through the gospels this past spring. Over and over again I read Jesus saying to those He was teaching to have faith without doubting. I knew we were to have faith, but I had never read or thought about the fact that it said "without doubting". I used to find myself praying and thinking while I was asking God to help me with something, "but He probably won't do it" or "God if it's Your will please do this". I would pray that because I didn't want to be disappointed if He chose to not help me do whatever I was asking for. I learned how wrong that was this past spring. I should be pray expecting God to help me not doubting Him and yet accepting whatever God chooses to do. God has used this lesson to help me through my challenges with my health. I will talk more about that in a later blog though. :-)
I also learned what it looks like to give all the control to God. When I was planning the trip it was really hard for me to figure out the balance of planning things/organizing everything and giving God all the control of the trip. It wasn't until we were in Ecuador that I was able to give God complete control. And the reason for that is because I had very little control over what was happening while we were there. There were many reasons I couldn't be in control. The biggest was the language barrier. I more or less knew what we needed to do to get from point A to point B, but there were many bumps in the road that were unplanned and communicating with someone who spoke only Spanish through those times of that were unplanned was difficult. When we arrived in Riobamba the bus driver didn't know where our apartment was and I had no clue where it was exactly. I had an address, but no way of knowing where that would be. And trying to communicate through that was very difficult. Don't worry we made it. lol! But throughout the whole trip I had peace (other than for about 15 minutes one day and those who went to Ecuador know exactly what day I mean). I knew that God was going to take care of it even if I had no clue what was going on. And God broke down the language barriers. No I did not speak perfect Spanish and I'm sure we didn't always understand what they were saying, but we got the point across. The frustrating part for me was that as soon as we flew into Miami I felt myself taking control again because I didn't have to rely on God as much. I could know speak the same language as everyone and I knew what I needed to do and did it with no help from God. I wish I could say to you that because of Ecuador I have figured out how to give God complete control of my life, but I can't. I can say that I know what it looks like and I strive every day to live like that.
I do have to say that being a "leader" of a missions trip is very different than being one of the team members. There is definitely a lot of pressure and responsibility and it took me at least half of the week to actually enjoy the trip because I was so busy making sure things were going smoothly. There was a point where I realized if things weren't perfect and if they didn't go smoothly, God usually uses those moments to teach us something. It was hard because I am a people pleaser and I wanted everyone to like me and to be able to look back at the trip and say that God taught them so many things. But I realized that wasn't my job. It wasn't my place to teach them something, it wasn't my place to work in their hearts, It's God's! And I definitely shouldn't be worried about what they think of me. I should be more concerned with what God thinks of me and if He is pleased with me.
Overall, the trip was amazing! God worked in so many ways in the lives of the team members and I hoped that He used it as an encouragement to those at the Ark Children's Home. We had a great team that went and I am still so very proud of each and every one of them. I have to say this group was the most unified group of any trip that I have ever been on. I was very impressed with all of them! They all became a part of my family! I miss them all so much and I miss all the kids and the Allan family a lot as well!
Thank you Lord for the amazing opportunity you gave me to step out in faith and take this team to Ecuador!!
In Christ's Awesome Love,
Julie
I will write more as soon as I can :-)
When I look back to the trip to Ecuador and the planning process that God took me through my first thought is just amazement at how God was in control if it all from the beginning. He called me to take a group and He helped me get through each hurdle. There was no way I could have done it on my own. He was there leading and guiding me every step of the way and I give Him the credit and glory for all of it. He put together an amazing group to go on this trip and He worked in each and every one of our lives in huge ways. It's interesting because I had always thought that short-term missions meant more to the people we were serving, but through this process I learned that God uses it even more to teach those of us who are going to serve.
The biggest lesson that God taught me was faith without doubting. He started preparing that in my heart when I read through the gospels this past spring. Over and over again I read Jesus saying to those He was teaching to have faith without doubting. I knew we were to have faith, but I had never read or thought about the fact that it said "without doubting". I used to find myself praying and thinking while I was asking God to help me with something, "but He probably won't do it" or "God if it's Your will please do this". I would pray that because I didn't want to be disappointed if He chose to not help me do whatever I was asking for. I learned how wrong that was this past spring. I should be pray expecting God to help me not doubting Him and yet accepting whatever God chooses to do. God has used this lesson to help me through my challenges with my health. I will talk more about that in a later blog though. :-)
I also learned what it looks like to give all the control to God. When I was planning the trip it was really hard for me to figure out the balance of planning things/organizing everything and giving God all the control of the trip. It wasn't until we were in Ecuador that I was able to give God complete control. And the reason for that is because I had very little control over what was happening while we were there. There were many reasons I couldn't be in control. The biggest was the language barrier. I more or less knew what we needed to do to get from point A to point B, but there were many bumps in the road that were unplanned and communicating with someone who spoke only Spanish through those times of that were unplanned was difficult. When we arrived in Riobamba the bus driver didn't know where our apartment was and I had no clue where it was exactly. I had an address, but no way of knowing where that would be. And trying to communicate through that was very difficult. Don't worry we made it. lol! But throughout the whole trip I had peace (other than for about 15 minutes one day and those who went to Ecuador know exactly what day I mean). I knew that God was going to take care of it even if I had no clue what was going on. And God broke down the language barriers. No I did not speak perfect Spanish and I'm sure we didn't always understand what they were saying, but we got the point across. The frustrating part for me was that as soon as we flew into Miami I felt myself taking control again because I didn't have to rely on God as much. I could know speak the same language as everyone and I knew what I needed to do and did it with no help from God. I wish I could say to you that because of Ecuador I have figured out how to give God complete control of my life, but I can't. I can say that I know what it looks like and I strive every day to live like that.
I do have to say that being a "leader" of a missions trip is very different than being one of the team members. There is definitely a lot of pressure and responsibility and it took me at least half of the week to actually enjoy the trip because I was so busy making sure things were going smoothly. There was a point where I realized if things weren't perfect and if they didn't go smoothly, God usually uses those moments to teach us something. It was hard because I am a people pleaser and I wanted everyone to like me and to be able to look back at the trip and say that God taught them so many things. But I realized that wasn't my job. It wasn't my place to teach them something, it wasn't my place to work in their hearts, It's God's! And I definitely shouldn't be worried about what they think of me. I should be more concerned with what God thinks of me and if He is pleased with me.
Overall, the trip was amazing! God worked in so many ways in the lives of the team members and I hoped that He used it as an encouragement to those at the Ark Children's Home. We had a great team that went and I am still so very proud of each and every one of them. I have to say this group was the most unified group of any trip that I have ever been on. I was very impressed with all of them! They all became a part of my family! I miss them all so much and I miss all the kids and the Allan family a lot as well!
Thank you Lord for the amazing opportunity you gave me to step out in faith and take this team to Ecuador!!
In Christ's Awesome Love,
Julie
I will write more as soon as I can :-)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Lord, give me a heart that is on fire for You!
I have been reading through the gospels for the past month or two. I am currently reading Luke. The scriptures in these books are amazing! I learn something awesome from the life of Christ every day! I have also been reading the "Crazy Love" book by Francis Chan. About a week ago I read the section on being Lukewarm. I haven't been able to read any farther because God continues to use this chapter to convict me! In this chapter Francis Chan clearly lays out ways that we are lukewarm and uses scripture to back it up. Many of these verses are ones that I have been reading in the gospels. My pride makes me believe that I am doing pretty good and that I am on fire for God, but this chapter convinced me that I most definitely am not. I am living the life of a lukewarm Christian. Many of us know the verse in Revelations 3 verse 16, "So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." I know I have heard this verse many times before and each time I think well I'm not lukewarm, God (in a sense) won't spit me out of His mouth! It pains and disgusts me to realize that I am "useless" to Him because of my lukewarmness. I have been praying that God would reveal to me areas of my life that I need to change to be able to follow him COMPLETELY and to stop living a life that is lukewarm, but instead on fire with a burning passion to know Him, obey Him and share Him! There has been many things that God has been revealing to me. Below I have listed a few of them. I pray that God will ignite your heart with a passion for Him. Can you imagine what our world would be like if Christians had the burning passion for the Lord? It would be incredible what He could do! So please pray and ask God to give you that on-fire and burning passion for Him. And be willing to give up ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to obey!
Acknowledge Him! This is something that I have seen over and over again in the gospel and it convicts me every time!!!
Matthew 10:32 & 33 - "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
Luke 12:4-7 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." 8&9 - "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God."
We must acknowledge Him before men! Don't be afraid to share Him with others. I know that in our country today we get fearful of talking about Him, not because they will kill us, but because there is a chance they will make fun of us and hurt our pride. I am so tired of being afraid of men! I should be fearing God not men! All they can do is make fun of me, who cares! They are just words! Jesus said to the disciples to shake the dust off your sandals when you leave the town of those who do not welcome you. Metaphorically, we should do similar with those who do not welcome the words that we speak to them about Jesus. If they make fun of you for speaking of Jesus and serving Him bear with them in love and don't let the negative words affect you. He loves you and is pleased with you for acknowledging Him before men. That should be all that matters!
Give up everything and give to the poor! Wow this is one that God has definitely given me a passion for! I feel like I see it every other verse, to give everything to the poor and follow Him. We are to serve Him completely, no matter the cost, even if it means giving up everything!
Luke 18:22 - When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
1 Timothy 6:17-18 - "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."
In the Crazy Love Book, it was saying that we live very secure lives. We put our trust in our savings accounts and our 401K's instead of God. We should give all that we have to the poor and trust God to provide for us. If we were to do this I don't know how it would be possible to be lukewarm! We would have complete trust and faith in God instead of material possessions!
Luke 9:57-62 - As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Luke 14 25-27 - Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."
Luke 18:29-30 - I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
Wow! This was huge for me! I realized that the big thing that worries me about being a missionary is the fact that I have to leave my family. This is really scary for me! But God calls me to leave them and follow Him! I love my family so much, but I love God more! I want to be completely obedient even if that means leaving.
Be Humble and Obey! How do we know what we should do? Get to know Him! We should have a desire to get to know Him and to read His word. It shouldn't be something we do out of guilt or because we "have to do". We desire to spend time reading His word and praying! And then listen! God is always speaking all we need to do is stop with our crazy busy lives and listen to Him! Then after we hear Him, we need to actually follow through and obey. I can't count the times that I have heard God talk to me and I have come up with millions of excuses as to why I shouldn't do it! I am tired of disobeying and missing out on amazing opportunities! I have had two recent opportunities that I have actually been obedient in and God has turned that obedience into amazing blessings! I give God all the glory for them and thank Him for giving me those opportunities!!!
Don't love the world! It grieves me to realize how much in love with the world we are. I think the following verses sum it up.
James 4:4, 7-10 - "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
In the crazy love book there was one sentence that really struck me. It says, "the truth is their(meaning lukewarm people) lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God".
I want to leave you with one last verse. I was reading Psalm 91 last night and verse 14 - 16 stuck out to me, "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." So love Him, obey Him, give Him everything, and acknowledge Him!
In Christ's Awesome Love,
Julie
Acknowledge Him! This is something that I have seen over and over again in the gospel and it convicts me every time!!!
Matthew 10:32 & 33 - "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."
Luke 12:4-7 - "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." 8&9 - "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God."
We must acknowledge Him before men! Don't be afraid to share Him with others. I know that in our country today we get fearful of talking about Him, not because they will kill us, but because there is a chance they will make fun of us and hurt our pride. I am so tired of being afraid of men! I should be fearing God not men! All they can do is make fun of me, who cares! They are just words! Jesus said to the disciples to shake the dust off your sandals when you leave the town of those who do not welcome you. Metaphorically, we should do similar with those who do not welcome the words that we speak to them about Jesus. If they make fun of you for speaking of Jesus and serving Him bear with them in love and don't let the negative words affect you. He loves you and is pleased with you for acknowledging Him before men. That should be all that matters!
Give up everything and give to the poor! Wow this is one that God has definitely given me a passion for! I feel like I see it every other verse, to give everything to the poor and follow Him. We are to serve Him completely, no matter the cost, even if it means giving up everything!
Luke 18:22 - When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
1 Timothy 6:17-18 - "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."
In the Crazy Love Book, it was saying that we live very secure lives. We put our trust in our savings accounts and our 401K's instead of God. We should give all that we have to the poor and trust God to provide for us. If we were to do this I don't know how it would be possible to be lukewarm! We would have complete trust and faith in God instead of material possessions!
Luke 9:57-62 - As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Luke 14 25-27 - Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."
Luke 18:29-30 - I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
Wow! This was huge for me! I realized that the big thing that worries me about being a missionary is the fact that I have to leave my family. This is really scary for me! But God calls me to leave them and follow Him! I love my family so much, but I love God more! I want to be completely obedient even if that means leaving.
Be Humble and Obey! How do we know what we should do? Get to know Him! We should have a desire to get to know Him and to read His word. It shouldn't be something we do out of guilt or because we "have to do". We desire to spend time reading His word and praying! And then listen! God is always speaking all we need to do is stop with our crazy busy lives and listen to Him! Then after we hear Him, we need to actually follow through and obey. I can't count the times that I have heard God talk to me and I have come up with millions of excuses as to why I shouldn't do it! I am tired of disobeying and missing out on amazing opportunities! I have had two recent opportunities that I have actually been obedient in and God has turned that obedience into amazing blessings! I give God all the glory for them and thank Him for giving me those opportunities!!!
Don't love the world! It grieves me to realize how much in love with the world we are. I think the following verses sum it up.
James 4:4, 7-10 - "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
In the crazy love book there was one sentence that really struck me. It says, "the truth is their(meaning lukewarm people) lives wouldn't look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God".
I want to leave you with one last verse. I was reading Psalm 91 last night and verse 14 - 16 stuck out to me, "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." So love Him, obey Him, give Him everything, and acknowledge Him!
In Christ's Awesome Love,
Julie
Monday, April 5, 2010
Ecuador here we come!
Back a couple of months ago I stumbled across a website for an orphanage in Riobamba, Ecuador. I instantly felt the spirit moving and knew God was calling me to go there at some point. I didn't know if it meant short or long term (I still don't) all I knew was I was supposed to go. So I mentioned to my pastor that I was wanting to take a missions trip to this orphanage that I felt God was calling me to and he started doing some "investigating" as to whether or not we could go. It took about a month maybe longer for them to finally be able to talk and him get all of his questions answered. There many times that I thought "well maybe this isn't what God is wanting, maybe I misunderstood". Everytime He would reaffirm me that this was His will. And so every Sunday morning I would ask Pastor Ed for an update. Finally on Easter Sunday I got a call later in the afternoon from Pastor Ed saying we had the green light to go ahead and plan this trip! Needless to say I was overjoyed!! I immediately went home and sent an email to the orphanage to verify dates and get everything started.
This morning I woke up and had received an email back that those dates worked and we were welcome to go down. At first I was filled with excitement and then with stress. I was all of a sudden overwhelmed with the number of things I needed to do! I started relying on my own strength instead of God's which is something has been teaching me during the waiting period.
Please pray for me as I plan this trip to keep God the center of my focus! I want this trip to be completely for Him and bringing Him glory through everything we do. Pray for those who are to go on this trip that God would reveal to them that He wants them to go and that they would be willing to listen. Also pray that God would do an amazing work in all of our lives and in those around us while we are preparing for this trip.
If you want to look at the orphanage that we are going to the link is;
http://www.arkchildrenshomes.com/Home/tabid/258/Default.aspx
If you have any other questions of ways you can pray or help let me know. Also if you are interested in going on this trip let me know my email is jamyers88@hotmail.com
In Christ's awesome love,
Julie
This morning I woke up and had received an email back that those dates worked and we were welcome to go down. At first I was filled with excitement and then with stress. I was all of a sudden overwhelmed with the number of things I needed to do! I started relying on my own strength instead of God's which is something has been teaching me during the waiting period.
Please pray for me as I plan this trip to keep God the center of my focus! I want this trip to be completely for Him and bringing Him glory through everything we do. Pray for those who are to go on this trip that God would reveal to them that He wants them to go and that they would be willing to listen. Also pray that God would do an amazing work in all of our lives and in those around us while we are preparing for this trip.
If you want to look at the orphanage that we are going to the link is;
http://www.arkchildrenshomes.com/Home/tabid/258/Default.aspx
If you have any other questions of ways you can pray or help let me know. Also if you are interested in going on this trip let me know my email is jamyers88@hotmail.com
In Christ's awesome love,
Julie
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Letting go of the "dream" and embracing a new one
Most every girl dreams of getting married and having kids. I do know a few that didn't have this "dream", but I was definitely one of them that did! I love kids and everything in me wanted to get married and have children of my own. God has really been working in me lately to let go of this desire. I have been reading passion and purity by Elisabeth Elliot and it's really been making me understand how much of a distraction getting married can be. Elisabeth Elliot is a very wise woman who absolutely loves the Lord! She is someone who I consider to be a strong woman in the Lord. Yet she had many struggles with her relationship with the Lord when she was courting her late husband Jim Elliot. I always thought that if I could find a strong man of God to be my husband we would not have those challenges that many christians face while being in relationships. One of them being forgetting God because we get too busy thinking of that special someone. I just figured If he was a godly man he would constantly be drawing me to the Lord not distracting me. Jim was definitely a a godly man who was strong in the Lord yet Elisabeth struggled with trusting God with their relationship and there were many times that she would get distracted by thinking about Jim instead of God. So anyways... After saying all of this I have let go of the dream of getting married and having kids. I realize that although this is something that would be wonderful and I'm sure God could still use me an teach me many things through it, I believe He has a different plan for me. I know this will be hard! And I will have many moments where I am weak and have this desire again, but I am now embracing God's dream for me instead of my own. Whatever it may be! I desire to follow His will completely, never forgetting Him or putting anyone in my life above Him! Besides if His will is for me to work in an orphanage, which I believe it is, I will have tons of kids to take care of and love even if they aren't technically mine! God has definitely blessed me with the gift of loving other people's children as if they were my own. :-)
In Christ's awesome love,
Julie
In Christ's awesome love,
Julie
Thursday, January 14, 2010
School has begun
My preparation of schooling has begun. My semester started a week ago Monday. I am taking the classes that I need to take in order to get into the nursing program. I am taking a class that will certify me as a CNA(certified nursing assistant). It's an eight credit hour class crammed into eight weeks. I am at class four hours a day, four days a week. It's going to be a crazy eight weeks! Plus, I am taking a Composition II class! YIKES!!! Leading up to this semester, I was very excited! I was looking forward to finally working toward what God was calling me to do. I am very rarely excited for school, but since I knew it was in God's will I was actually looking forward to it. I am little bit stressed now because it's a TON of work! God has been helping me so far though and I know He is faithful to get me through the next 7 weeks!
Last week we had our first skills test, meaning we had to show our instructors that we knew how to wash our hands right, how to do restraints and how to put on a mask, gown and gloves. I was one of 3 out of 30 that was able to pass all three the first time! We have three chances to pass each test, if you don't pass the third time you fail the class. Most everyone was failing the mask, gown and gloves test and praise the Lord I was able to pass it! We also had our first lecture test yesterday and I got an 100%!!!! I was SO excited!!
Please pray with me that I continue to do well and that I will continue to work hard for God's glory! I tend to procrastinate a lot and you can't really do that with this class and I don't want to do that! Also, pray that I do not get discouraged. I am a very relational person and between my puppy and school I can't really hang out with people as often as I would like to. I also have to say "no" a lot and I really don't like that either! :-)
Thank you for all of your prayers so far!
Love you all!
Julie
Last week we had our first skills test, meaning we had to show our instructors that we knew how to wash our hands right, how to do restraints and how to put on a mask, gown and gloves. I was one of 3 out of 30 that was able to pass all three the first time! We have three chances to pass each test, if you don't pass the third time you fail the class. Most everyone was failing the mask, gown and gloves test and praise the Lord I was able to pass it! We also had our first lecture test yesterday and I got an 100%!!!! I was SO excited!!
Please pray with me that I continue to do well and that I will continue to work hard for God's glory! I tend to procrastinate a lot and you can't really do that with this class and I don't want to do that! Also, pray that I do not get discouraged. I am a very relational person and between my puppy and school I can't really hang out with people as often as I would like to. I also have to say "no" a lot and I really don't like that either! :-)
Thank you for all of your prayers so far!
Love you all!
Julie
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