Launch week!

I’ve made it through my first week of the World Race J. It’s been a whirlwind week. We arrived on Monday morning with the other leaders and settled in. Highlights about the flight: Starbucks in Hong Kong, fish soup for breakfast on the plane, and somehow missing all of Sunday due to time changes. This week has been great. The rest of our teams arrived and we have been staying with some amazing missionaries that work with a small, poor squatter village here outside of Manila. It’s been amazing to hang out with the people, learn about how the trip works, and seeing God work. The Spirit has been moving amazingly here. Prophecy has never really been on my radar, but I did it this week and it rocked my life. I’ve learned it’s not about saying weird futuristic things, but speaking life and truth over people…and seeing those things being fulfilled. This mission is all about declaring truth and life over people and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing. If you had told me a week ago that I would be trying to raise a lady from the dead like I did yesterday, I would have laughed pretty hard. It didn’t seem all that funny yesterday though when I was touching the feet of a dead woman and praying over her and her three small children with 40 other racers. No I haven’t gone crazy, but this mission expects amazing things to happen and as a result, they have seen amazing results. Marisol didn’t wake up and walk yesterday, but we’re still praying for her and really learning about challenging our faith and the power of our God. Besides that, my team of women is amazing, the Philippines is beautiful (in fact, it reminds me so much of Costa Rica), and I can already see the amazing work God is doing in us. Did you know they have free karaoke in the malls here?? Celine Dion and I busted it out the other day! Tomorrow morning we will be leaving on a 6 hour trip and going to Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines to begin our next three weeks of ministry. We will be working with a ministry called Threads of Hope that teaches women how to make bracelets and sell them in order to support their families. We will also be working with the church there and the community children. We are so excited because many of my girls actually sold these bracelets to help raise funds and awareness for the World Race. So that’s what’s going on. I should have internet where we are going, so we’ll keep you posted! Thanks for your prayers! Much love!

Reckless abandon...

As I come down to the last couple of days before my trip, I want to make sure I document how I'm feeling and what I'm thinking. Besides doing my "before leaving for overseas rituals" of eating all of my beloved American foods in ridiculous quantities, enjoying long, hot showers, getting joy out of flushing toilet paper, and trying to see every person I've ever known before I leave for a year, I'm doing pretty well. I expected to be an emotional roller-coaster with yet another transition coming and to be nervous with anticipation over a new chapter in life. While I have experienced some of that over the last few weeks, I have right one basic feeling about what is coming: Peace.
I know that is the Holy Spirit in me, confirming His path in my life. There is no other explanation. If I didn't have that peace from Christ, I would think that living in 11 different countries in 11 months with just a tent in a backpack was crazy...but right now, it makes the most sense in the world. "Reckless Abandon" because that is a phrase that Oswald Chambers preached throughout his ministry and it characterized full surrender to Christ. Being what appeared to be "reckless" in the eyes of others to be abandoned to God's perfect will. There is no fear in this because God's will is formed from His perfect love (1 John 4:18). Chambers writes,
"In our abandonment we give ourselves over to God just as Himself without any
calculation. The consequences of abandonment never enter into our outlook
because our life is taken up with Him."
That is how I want to live. Whether I'm living in a tent in Uganda or an apartment in Costa Rica, or a house in Ohio. God asks us each to fulfill a purpose in a different way. It just requires an attitude of willingness. So I'm just excited. Excited about new cutlures, new experiences, new foods, new ministry, and most of all new insights that will teach me about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for those of you that will be following me on my journey. I will be posting stories, pictures, and comments about life around the world and how God is working. I'm sure there will also be a great assortment of ridiculous situations I get myself into over the next year, and I will most definitely relay those to you all :). I will be praying that as I abandon myself to Christ, that you would be doing the same wherever you are- making a difference where God has you. Love to live and live to love :)

Spiritually skeptical (part 2)

Once again God has been humbling me and proving me wrong with my spiritual skeptivity (is that a word?). Now I know that God isn't always going to be giving us an answer or telling us exactly which direction to turn when we want to hear it. There is something beautiful about the wait and receiving an answer or gift after having to wait for it. I am a firm believe that God doesn't like to do things early...he's never late by His standards...but always shows up just in time (whether that matches up with our time table or not). I have been trying to experiment with these things though... like taking the Spirit at His word, learning to identify when He's speaking to me, etc.

A couple of weeks ago, we were at a ladies worship night at our church and we had an amazing time of worship. While we were praising, I had that funny feeling like the Spirit was speaking to me. I thought it was just me...but when you hear it over and over again you start to wonder. I felt like He was saying that someone specific that was there needed to know that God thought they were beautiful. I was like well duh, all women need to be told that they are beautiful. That's my life goal...to teach women about Christ by working through the one basic principle that the Creator of the universe thinks we are precious in His sight. I pushed that thought back down. It came back. Then I feel in my spirit: "say it." I say no. Again, the Spirit is prompting me, "say it." Nope. Sorry. No way do I want to speak up in front of these women and tell them that the voices in my head are telling me to say something. Of course I used that excuse that I want to be one of those Christians that is cool, someone that others want to be like...not one of those Christians that are proclaiming stuff in the middle of services lol. So my mom is up there talking and I'm sitting there with my hands covering my mouth to prevent any word slippage. oh I'm starting to sweat now. lol I can feel it coming. All of the sudden, without any warning, my hand slips up. Before I can bring it down, she sees me and calls my name. FAIL. lol so I start talking and I just start saying what I felt like the Spirit was telling me. "Someone here needs to know that God thinks you are beautiful. That He loves you. That He desires you and wants to make you whole..." I said everything and sat back just shaking from being overwhelmed with the Spirit and from embarassment. We prayed and then like any good churchgoers, went to eat some dessert. I wasn't out there for two minutes before a new visitor to the church came up to me in tears and fell into my arms saying that she was the one that needed to hear that. She said she had felt something say to her that she needed to pay attention because God had something to say to her. She had been struggling with self-worth for years as the result of many struggles and she finally heard that freeing message that every woman wants to hear, "I [the LORD] think you are beautiful. I created you and you are precious in my sight."

Once again... I am a believer. :)