Tuesday, September 22, 2009
here i am!!
So I finally made it to Jamaica mahn! It is so beautiful! I will post up some pictures soon, hopefully. I am already so overwhelmed (in a good way) about how much God has and is going to teach me. I've been reduced to tears already, for a couple different reasons. One is that I do miss you all and knowing I won't be talking to you all for 5 months really makes my heart weak at moments. Today, though, during worship a woman came up to me and told me to know that "I am not alone". It was such a good word. God is teaching me so much about the close relationship He longs to have with me. I have always loved God, but it is here that I'm beginning to fall in love with God. I know that this is the first or perhaps the overall reason why he has brought me here and to this point. This is the second reason for my tears here. It feels so good and right to be here. I have realized that I have been hurting for quite awhile now. Hurting in a place in which I could never figure out. But I was hurting to be loved. Loved in a way that only God can love us. See it was not that in any moment God did not love me completely, but rather that I had never allowed myself to fully BE loved my God. I have in someway guarded my heart against Him. Today during worship though I drew a picture of a skeleton who's heart was being held by God. That's how I feel now like I'm starting to come alive again and God is holding my heart.
Friday, September 11, 2009
getting ready!!
Hi everyone!
I have an awesome opportunity this fall to go to Jamaica through a program called YWAM (Youth With A Mission). God has called me to be apart of a short term mission trip in which I will be learning about and sharing God’s amazing love and grace. I’m truly excited to take this next step in my relationship with God! Here are a few of my plans while I’m away:
1.Avoid a really bad sun burn!
2. Eat some sweet new foods. . . maybe
3. Try picking up the amazing Jamaican accent *Yah man*
4. Not shower until I have dreadlocks =)
Just kidding! Those are only a few of the small things I will be doing. Through YWAM I’ll be attending a Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Montego Bay Jamaica for three months. It’s a period where I will be learning more about God’s greatness in a classroom setting. My fellow students will be from both the USA and Jamaica. After the classroom phase we will have an opportunity to go to another country for two months. During this time we will be doing field work such as helping build churches, feeding the homeless, aiding the sick or loving children in orphanages. The greatest of all these though would be for a moment in which we can share the good news of Jesus Christ. We can’t save the world of its pain but we can show them God and His amazing grace and love for us.
God is so good and so much greater than any of us could possibly imagine. It is my heart’s passion to follow Him till the end of time. My favorite verse is 1 Chronicles 22:19 “Determine in your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God”. I love this verse very much because sometimes we get so caught up in the motions of our lives that we become stagnant or repetitive. What if we dared to go farther than that though? What if we dared to live life like we were determined? God is still teaching me so much about how to live my life in a way honoring Him but I’m determined to seek out Him and everything He has for me. This has led me to my decision to go to Jamaica. I know God has so much to teach me there and I’m extremely excited to go!
I could really use your prayer in this next step. Most importantly, prayer that I will have an open heart to what God is going to teach me. I leave in one week and I have never been so far from home or for such a long time but I know God has great plans and I’m ready to follow Him where ever He leads me. Also another fear of mine is the food. I know this is ridiculous =) but I’m an extremely picky eater which makes me a little nervous for new foods other than lucky charms and French fries. I will be packing a whole bottle of ketchup but I’m hoping that I will be able to enjoy a new variety of foods. The last prayer request I have is for heat. I don’t function very well when it gets hot because it takes all the energy out of me. Food and heat could be two of my biggest challenges honestly (God works in mysterious ways) so if you could keep me in your prayers that would be awesome! It would be a huge blessing to have you pray with me to help spread the good news of Jesus from here to the ends of the world. Look out Jamaica here I come!
Share Hope, Walk Humbly, Live Loved, and God Bless,
I have an awesome opportunity this fall to go to Jamaica through a program called YWAM (Youth With A Mission). God has called me to be apart of a short term mission trip in which I will be learning about and sharing God’s amazing love and grace. I’m truly excited to take this next step in my relationship with God! Here are a few of my plans while I’m away:
1.Avoid a really bad sun burn!
2. Eat some sweet new foods. . . maybe
3. Try picking up the amazing Jamaican accent *Yah man*
4. Not shower until I have dreadlocks =)
Just kidding! Those are only a few of the small things I will be doing. Through YWAM I’ll be attending a Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Montego Bay Jamaica for three months. It’s a period where I will be learning more about God’s greatness in a classroom setting. My fellow students will be from both the USA and Jamaica. After the classroom phase we will have an opportunity to go to another country for two months. During this time we will be doing field work such as helping build churches, feeding the homeless, aiding the sick or loving children in orphanages. The greatest of all these though would be for a moment in which we can share the good news of Jesus Christ. We can’t save the world of its pain but we can show them God and His amazing grace and love for us.
God is so good and so much greater than any of us could possibly imagine. It is my heart’s passion to follow Him till the end of time. My favorite verse is 1 Chronicles 22:19 “Determine in your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God”. I love this verse very much because sometimes we get so caught up in the motions of our lives that we become stagnant or repetitive. What if we dared to go farther than that though? What if we dared to live life like we were determined? God is still teaching me so much about how to live my life in a way honoring Him but I’m determined to seek out Him and everything He has for me. This has led me to my decision to go to Jamaica. I know God has so much to teach me there and I’m extremely excited to go!
I could really use your prayer in this next step. Most importantly, prayer that I will have an open heart to what God is going to teach me. I leave in one week and I have never been so far from home or for such a long time but I know God has great plans and I’m ready to follow Him where ever He leads me. Also another fear of mine is the food. I know this is ridiculous =) but I’m an extremely picky eater which makes me a little nervous for new foods other than lucky charms and French fries. I will be packing a whole bottle of ketchup but I’m hoping that I will be able to enjoy a new variety of foods. The last prayer request I have is for heat. I don’t function very well when it gets hot because it takes all the energy out of me. Food and heat could be two of my biggest challenges honestly (God works in mysterious ways) so if you could keep me in your prayers that would be awesome! It would be a huge blessing to have you pray with me to help spread the good news of Jesus from here to the ends of the world. Look out Jamaica here I come!
Share Hope, Walk Humbly, Live Loved, and God Bless,
Steph
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