The pictures in my slide show are ones that I have taken in Tahiti, Ireland, Hawaii, and on 2 different trips to Australia. I love landscape photos and have been blessed to be able to capture photos of some of the most beautiful places in the world. Enjoy!
It's 12:09 a.m. which means that it is officially New Years Eve. Finally, 2010 is upon us. This means resolutions and goals for so many. While we were in small group last night, Stacy asked us what our resolutions were. But it was the kind of resolutions that she mentioned that really stuck a chord. "What kind of biblical or spiritual resolutions have you thought about..." is the question that was asked. Hmmm...for whatever reason, I hadn't even thought about a selfish resolution, not to mention one based on my faith. So I got to thinking last night and today. What ARE my biblical and spiritual resolutions for 2010?
read my Bible daily
keep up my prayer journal
start up our organization for girls/women
become a great leader for God
become a small group leader
help our missions team grow across Columbia
disciple more people
lead more people to Christ
pray without ceasing for my family members and their salvation
These are just a few of my short term resolutions...I will keep adding to the list. I just want Jesus to be my EVERYTHING. I want to be sooo consumed by Him.
I've finished the first parts of my new site called "Single girl on a mission...to be the hands and feet of Jesus." There is still a lot of work to be done, but I'm excited. I hope it can help people reevaluate their walk with God and show that Jesus is sooo amazing and once we give it all to Him, we become new. We are freed from our sin. We have the option of where we will spend eternity. Imagine how beautiful God can paint the sky in just a second. Now think about what heaven will be like when Jesus went over 2000 years ago to prepare a place for us. I can't even fathom what heaven will be like after all of this time preparing when I see the beauty that is created in mere seconds. I can't even begin to describe how amazing and beautiful I think it's going to be. It's not meant for us to fathom. But it's going to be amazing.
I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and a safe one! I can't wait to spend it with tons of people from REFUGE! It's going to be amazing! Will 2010 be the year? Who knows! :) Love you all!!
Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup;
You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:5-8
There you have it. Oh little town of Medaryville. This is where I grew up. Do I miss small town life? I'd say yes and no. Medaryville gave me the opportunity to be close to my family. Everyone lived within 10 minutes of each other. It was great. Now everyone is scattering as the years go on. Families aren't what they used to be. God has been pushed aside. He has been pushed out of the equation. I love the wedding vows between Vanessa and Frank in "Madea's Family Reunion." Even though it is just a movie, the words are so true. And when spoken in actual truth in a real marriage, can make all of the difference. Instead of the marriage just being about 2 people, its about incorporating God into the marriage as well. These are the vows:
I never thought that I could meet someone like you.
You are my friend.
You are my smile.
You are my everything.
You are a breath-taking reflection
of God's heart for me....
of how he pursued me...
and loved me even when I didn't love myself.
You held my hand in the darkness
and you pulled me out into the light.
I love you...
You are my light.
And it doesn't matter what happens
in this life as long as you're with me.
When I look at you, I know that there's a God
and that he loved me so much
that he took the time to create you...just for me.
I love you....past my mind....beyond my heart....
I love you from my soul.
And that's the space where only you and God dwell.
Does it get much better than that? In order for a marriage to remain, God MUST be the center of it. I have seen very few marriages last and the ones I have seen that are not centered around God, its by only His grace that those marriages have even lasted that long. It's a sad time. It makes my heart ache to watch people everyday battle with problem relationships or problems in marriage. If you are married, stop and remember your vows. If you are still single, think about what you would want to say to your husband or wife on that special day. Words are only words unless they are put into action. Your vows must be lived, not just spoken. I pray that when I am married, my spouse will love me just like Christ loves the church. Because only then will I know that it is true and pure and what the love is centered on. Wow...I can't wait till that day. To know that the one that God is preparing for me, is going to love me like Christ loves me. I can't wait. It will be whole heartedly and with complete abandon to anyone else. And I pray that God doesn't bring anyone to me who isn't strong enough in God to be able to live his vows. Words are only words unless they are put into action.
Like I said in my previous post...if you are single, it is soooo important to pray for the person that God is preparing for you. Why wait till you meet that person? Start now...remain faithful to that person even if God hasn't revealed him/her. Don't continue to give your heart away until you think that you have found the one. When you do that you are giving pieces of your heart away to each person you date and when it is finally time for you to marry, you will only be giving your future spouse what is left of your heart. He/she deserves all of it.
The way a man treats a woman is a reflection of his relationship with God...
This was just something that was on my heart tonight. I'm praying for my Christ built warrior, whoever he may be....
God is changing my heart. Anybody who knows me, knows that I have always been an independent person. Ever since I can remember, I have always been taught that in order to have things in life, I would need to be the one to make that happen. I was never taught to rely on God for all things in life. I was taught that He would be there through the bad, but was never taught that He would be there through the good. I have learned more about God and His love for us more in the past couple of months than in my entire life. Dropping a couple of people off at the shelter tonight broke my heart. To see 2 buildings that looked nothing more than storage buildings, house a couple hundred homeless people each night...there is not a lot that is more heartbreaking.
I want to be poured out for Him. The reason I am here is to do His work, not mine. It is amazing to know that I am 100% for sure that God has me where I'm at for a reason. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. All of the things that I have went through in my life, I would never change. They have led me to where I'm at in this moment. God has been preparing His way for me. I love being obedient to God even when the way is scary. And a lot of times it is. We just have to trust in Him. We have to trust that His way is better than ours. We have to trust that He knows what is best for our life. We may think that we know, but we don't. All the plans that He has made for us, lead us down His path. The reason that so many veer off that path is because they choose to do it their way instead of Gods. It's our fault, not His. He allows it to happen, because He is a loving God. He allows us to make mistakes and He allows us the opportunity to repent of those mistakes.
I really believe that fulfillment for a Christian woman begins with Christ in every area of her life. There is not one person on this earth that can make us as happy as Jesus can. I've learned a lot by being single. I believe God is opening my eyes to many new things and opportunities that I wouldn't be able to do if I were married right now. I'm not saying that when I am married one day, that I won't be able to fulfill God's callings, but I believe God will call me to do things based on whatever state of life I'm in whether it is singleness, in a relationship, engaged, marriage, or even in motherhood. Each of these seasons of life are sooo important and God allows each season to have it's own purpose. God is going to call each person to do something different for His kingdom during each season of their life. This is soo amazing to understand. Many people think that singleness is like a disease. Apparently because I'm not married, it's somehow become the worst thing in life! There are people out there dying EVERY day without knowing about Jesus. This is WAY more important than me having a "happily ever after" with someone.
That doesn't mean that God doesn't want me to have a "happily ever after." I actually believe He is currently preparing me for it. He is changing my heart and changing things in my life so that one day when I am married, I can be the wife that I am supposed to be. I want to be a wife that is based on biblical attributes. I want to be a submissive wife. And this is definitely not something I would have wanted a year ago. It's crazy. When God reveals the person that I am to marry, it will be amazing because we will completely complement each other and not complete each other. I don't want someone who needs to be completed. I'm completed in Jesus Christ. I want someone where we can complement each other. Did you know that a man or a woman not complete in Jesus Christ will be a complete drain on the person he/she is dating or married to? It's exhausting. But to have the love of Jesus completely and utterly fulfilling our hearts and lives....wow....it's amazing and will continue to be amazing. That love just overflows and you can't help but want to share it with everyone, including your s/o.
I love the fact that the next person that I hold hands with, will be the same hands I'm holding onto on my wedding day. I know this, because I'm doing God's will for my life. This means in ALL aspects of my life. I'm not going to date someone just because I feel like it. The only person I will be dating, is the person that I intend on marrying, and that is ONLY if he is the one that God has sent for me. This makes my heart jump for joy! I have learned though that during this process, I should not only be praying that God will teach me to be the person I need to be for marriage, but that God will also teach my future husband all that he needs to know and learn. This is huge. How many of you have just prayed for God to bring you someone, but you haven't actually prayed specifically for that person. Everyone prays "God, please send me that special someone." But nobody takes it a further step and prays things like "God, I know you have the perfect person out there for me. And until you reveal that person to me, I pray that you will guide him and teach him the attributes of Your life so that he can become the man you intend him to be." I pray that my current husband is praying for me too. Not just for God to reveal me to him, but that I am whole heartedly devoting my life to Christ with complete abandonment.
There are many things that I need to learn before I feel that God is going to reveal that person to me. First, I need to know that I am COMPLETELY content in my singleness. This boils down to the fact that even though I want to be married some day, God may have other plans. God may actually call me to be single for the rest of my life, and if that happens, I must be content in Him. Fully content. To know that He is enough for me, is beyond explainable.
To have tasted the love of God is like nothing that can ever be explained. There are not enough words that can describe the love that He has for us. There is nothing greater than the obedience that Jesus showed by dying the cross. Yes He did it because He loves us, but He also did it to be obedience and to teach us obedience. The night that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He taught such a valuable lesson that can never be forgotten. He asked God if there was another way. Is there another way to save these people from their sins. And there wasn't. Jesus had to be obedient and know that He was going to lose His life for the sake of ours. This pleased Him. Even though He knew that He would die a torturous death, He still obeyed what He was called to do. To teach us that even though there may be another way, that way is not always God's way. I do pray though that the man that God is preparing for me is absolutely 100% obedient in His walk with Christ. He does not do what the world wants him to do, but what God wants him to do. I pray that he too wants to be the hands and feet of Jesus and we can do God's work together. Life is never ordinary with Jesus.
My prayer is that people open their eyes. We need to get back to the way life was in the early biblical times. We need to actually LIVE the Christian life rather than just say we are a Christian. Anybody can call themselves a Christian, but most can't back up their words. Actions speak louder than words. What are you doing to be the hands and feet of Jesus? If God looked at your life, would it be pleasing unto Him? If you died today, would you be able to look God in the face and know that you did all that you could for His kingdom? Most people can't say that they have. It's time to start. It's time to change this world and it's time to start living the Christ-like life instead of just talking about it. One thing is for certain, it's not going to be all sunshine and roses. A true walk with God is going to have is trials and tribulations. God is going to allow us to go through temptations that will truly test our faith. Which way will you choose? Will you choose your way or God's way?
Jackie Pullinger was an amazing missionary who gave up her life to go to Hong Kong to spread the Word of God. She gave up her life to do God's work....Please take a look at this video that has been put together with a short snippet of some of her inspiring words. This is entitled "Go". Let's be the hands and feet of Jesus. What will you do to make this happen?
