Embrace All Circumstances

I wrote this a while ago and just never posted it. Sorry its so late!! 

John 15:5

Hebrews 13:6

Deuteronomy 31:6

Isaiah 43: 1-5

Twenty days until I arrive in the town of Kimusu, Kenya! The thought is completely unattainable right now. It seems like just yesterday I was searching endlessly among various internet sites attempting to find the one group or organization that I could give my heart and services up to. Honestly, the closer the departure date comes the more I become awestruck at the Lord’s magnificent power and glory! Who would have thought that the Lord would guide and bless me along a path that gave me the opportunity to go and share His grace abroad? At this point, in my eyes, His will is completely indescribable. Anytime I think I’ve got my plan figured out; God definitely shocks me with a new turn or twist, changing every direction I thought I was meant to go.

Two weeks ago my father gave a sermon in the absence of our church’s main pastor. Being at school, preparing for finals, I sadly wasn’t able to hear the sermon that he labored over for weeks. Fortunately, while working on his sermons he would tell me bits and pieces of what he was discussing, and overall I felt like I understood the concept and points he wanted to achieve. But I guess the saying “you can never judge a book by its cover” could suffice here. Today, while eating breakfast I happened to spot the DVD of his sermon adjacent to me on the table and figured that while I enjoyed my food I could watch ten minutes of it.  I was mistaken. You best believe I sat at that table for over an hour. His sermon was captivating and phenomenal in my mind; truly showed me how absolutely blessed I am to have a father who is such a strong man of God in both his words and actions. Overall, his sermon discussed communicating with the Lord whether it be through prayer, dreams, etc. Within the contexts of the sermon he stated that at times it is our unanswered prayers that can be the biggest blessings in life. How true!!! How many times do people try to micromanage their life, praying for something to go one way or another when what happens among our lives and those throughout the world is all in God’s plan.  He is the ultimate plotter of life. I believe that one of the many aspects of God that makes Him so amazing is His ability to be the calming strength in times of weakness. No matter where our path leads us, God’s right beside us, assuring us to trust in Him because He already knows the outcome of the greatest events that will take place in our lives. And though at times His plan may seem ill logical or hard, we are too childish and unknowing to comprehend that our self-planned way is wrong.

            Being back at home, I now find myself being just as equally stressed and busy as I was at school. There are so many things to do in the twenty-four hours we are allotted in a day. Between work, unpacking, repacking, and preparing for Africa I find myself feeling overwhelmed at times. Sometimes I get so busy, I notice that I focus more on the “Me” and less on the “Him”. I begin to act like I can do it all on my own; which usually ends in a major failure of some sort. Upon hearing my dad’s sermon this morning I went into my prayer/quiet time with a refreshed outlook on communicating with the Lord. Being exhausted by an array of emotions the past couple of weeks, as soon as I opened my devotional and started to read I immediately wanted to laugh and say “real funny God”. My devotion for the day started “Do Not Resist Or Run from the difficulties in your life”. That may not seem funny to you but to me it was hilarious because I was beginning to reach a point of RUN!! The devotion went on to say that our problems are not random mistakes; they are hand-tailored blessing designed for our benefit and growth. Embrace all circumstances that He allows in our life, trusting that good will come out of them. Furthermore, one should view their problems as an opportunity to rely more fully on the Lord.

Between unanswered prayers and feelings of stress, at the end of today I found myself reassured that through all the hassles, God is only preparing me for what is ahead. I have never been on a mission to Africa, but I can imagine that I will be faced with at least one, if not many, situations full of un-comfort or stress. As I continue to prepare for my journey, I pray that while I’m abroad the Lord will continue to remind me that He is ALWAYS by my side, simply using me as a vessel for His words and love. I want to be an open-book for the people of Kimusu showing them the compassion and strength of the Lord so that when they are also in times of tribulation and weakness they know that they too are not alone but have the Lord by their side as support and guidance.

One Sweet Love

Throughout the years I have been blessed with being surrounded by supportive family and friends who have shown me the love and compassion of Christ through their actions and words. Often times people struggle in the early years of their life searching for that one hobby or interest that really captivates their emotions and uses their strengths in a positive fashion. For some they just know it, but for others including myself we have to dabble in various activities in search of finding that one entity that brings passion to our hearts. For me I first discovered my passion when I first opened my childish eyes to discover the glorious things the Lord can do. My personal relationship with the lord truly took form my junior and senior year of high school when I was blessed with the opportunity to travel abroad to Peru and Mexico to help build churches, homes, and worship with the community. It was on both of these trips that the Lord introduced me to two individuals that will forever impact my life. One, was an elderly woman who had just been diagnosed with diabetes and lacked the medical supplies that were pertinent for her survival. The other was a vibrant high school boy who struggled with the emotional side effects of his diabetes in both his personal life and his families. Being a diabetic, hearing the stories brought a burden to my heart that left me changed at the end of both trips. Since then, with the help of my peers and family, I have started a Christian organization on both Auburn and University of Georgia campuses called International Outreach for Diabetes. Through constant prayer and faith in the Lords will, the organization is continuing to expand into what I hope to someday be a state non-profit organization that will focus on sending supplies and support to other countries through medical missions teams.

I first heard of the trip to Kenya at the end of my freshman year of college. Being at school and away from the mission field for almost a year, I had a yearning to go abroad and serve the Lord. Within the first days of being at home I had complied a packet of Christian organizations to present to my parents in hopes of their immediate approval. In my overly ambitious mind I had formulated the idea that I would simply take a “sabbatical from school” and go abroad. As if it was that easy? My parents of course were not keen on the idea of me simply taking a break from school and after multiple conversations; they felt strongly that I need to go back to school. Though my dreams of spending the fall abroad were shattered, I kept feeling a tug at my heart and voice in my head telling me to keep visiting the thought to serve overseas. Thus, I told my parents that I would not be at home the upcoming summer because I was going on a mission trip. Not sure whether they took me serious or not, I took matters into my own hands and partnered with Gaylyn to discuss the potential opportunity to work with David O’Kongo in a medical clinic in Kenya. When first told of the trip I was cautious simply because I am not specifically in a “medical” major, but because I hope to work with medical non-profits I felt that the Lord brought me this amazing opportunity as not only a way to glorify his name but as a learning experience. After months of back and forth communication via Facebook, email, and phone it was decided that I was going on the trip!

As of now, we have about 34 days until we leave!! So far, I have sent out support letters to family and friends and have received a vast amount of emotional and fiscal support. The gospel says that the Lord will provide and throughout this process I have seen that he surely does! I don’t think I could emphasize how eternally grateful I am for all that people have given.

Overall, excitement is probably the main feeling that overwhelms me day in and out. Anticipation of seeing the beautiful landscape and lush area that we will be staying in, along with the differing culture and people of the community, has made schoolwork extremely arduous and toilsome. Though excitement of the unknown often distracts me from my habitual activities, as I count down the days till we depart I find my nerves slowly being shaken. I feel that my world is about to be completely rocked and as much as I can try to prepare myself for what is to come I have no idea at the audacity of what the Lord has planned. Specifically, the past couple of days I have been praying for the Lord to strengthen me and prepare me and my sisters in Christ for this trip. I pray that God will keep me humble and only glorify him in this whole experience because in the end He is the reason that we exist and are able to go and spread his word. I absolutely cannot wait to spend the summer forming relationships with the other girls and the community that are rooted in Christ!!!