Warm Weather & Reminders

Today was beautiful. After a weekend of cold and rain today was beyond amazing. When I got home from Pre-K I decided to head to a park in town to read and journal (one of my favorite things to do on a beautiful day)! While there I got a call from one of my teammates from this past summer that I've been trying to get in contact with for a few weeks. It really made me miss the team, and reminded me of so much that happened this summer. It reminded me also that for as close as our team is, and for how rarely we talk now- we experienced something so unique this summer. We are a family, spread apart by many miles, each of us living very different lives but- we are unified in Christ. Whenever a phone call is made conversation picks up where it left off. I miss them very much tonight. We laughed on the phone reminiscing of the funny things that happened, and talked about some of the things that went unknown to us until we were back in the states. Then she said something a little more serious like "You know...I wish while we were there we wouldn't have complained as much as we did, I wish that we would have just looked at what was going on around us and took it in without hoping for anything more."

How true is that for everyday? We spend so much time hoping for the next thing. In Africa it was things like a shower, dreaming about what we would eat first when we got home, being excited to see our family and friends when we got home. I am not saying at all that in the moment I wasn't grateful for the experiences, because I really was, but I could have been more present in the moment. I think we all could be a little more present in the seasons we are currently in, in the moments that pass us by each day.

In church yesterday the pastor talked a little bit about how each day we spend a significant amount of time looking down on ourselves, or thinking that we're not getting what we deserve (there is a difference between humility and thinking poorly of ourselves). He talked about how these things can become idols, I had never really thought about it that way. When we complain about things and act as if we are entitled to something it kind of is like telling God that what He has for us isn't enough, like saying that we know better.

So this week I'm hoping to live with this new perspective. To be thankful and focused on who Christ is and all He's done. To not dwell on the things that aren't or on my desires but on what is.

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3

Joy, Togo, and 2011

Last night I couldn't sleep. Have you ever had one of those nights where no matter how hard you try or how tired you are your mind just wants to keep going. Last night every time I closed my eyes my mind would fill with the people of Togo that I met this summer and the various experiences that I had throughout the summer. I realize that I've been suppressing this for some time. At the end of this semester I was asked by someone if I was going on another 'trip' this summer- this made me pretty angry. Last summer wasn't just a 'trip', it wasn't just about me either: God revealed so much to me about Himself and His creation and I was able to meet and see some of the hard injustices of this world yet see how good God is in it all. Last night as my mind was replaying the stories and memories of this summer what struck me was the joy that never seemed to leave the faces of the Togolese believers. No matter the situation I remember them laughing and smiling in their carefree way and I know it was because their assurance was in Christ. No matter how little they had or how hard things were, it really didn't matter because they had Christ and that's the greatest possession anyone could ever have.

Togo has a population of 6,752,000 with 56 different people groups. There are 54 languages and only 13 complete bible translations into these languages. Many people groups profess to be Christians but still practice witchcraft and live in daily fear, which means that they must not fully understand the hope in Christ. It struck me last night how much I have been failing at sharing all that I saw and what God is doing in the country of Togo. He is moving. The believers there need prayer, their lives are vastly different from our comfortable cushy lives here in the U.S. but they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I don't know if I'll ever return to see my friends in Togo and join them again in sharing the gospel of Christ's hope throughout their country, but I still am on a mission with them. I can continue to pray for them, to support and encourage them in their continual battle. My missions trip this summer may have physically ended, but in my heart it will continue throughout the rest of my life. Who knows if God will ever call me to leave the United States again for His mission, but my life will be lived as His mission because my life is not mine to live it's His to use and glorify Himself through.

There is so much hope in the gospel, and so many people in this world who have yet to hear it. Christ is the greatest message we could ever share- so why don't we share it in abundance? I'm completely guilty of doing this, keeping what I believe to myself and rarely talking about the joy only Christ can give outside of my believing friends, but this year I hope to dig deep into God's word and proclaim His glory through all I do and say, not matter who I'm with. Recklessly abandoning my fears, my reputation, and turning away from my selfish heart.

The United States of America has a population of 313,630,000 people. There are 364 people groups and 71 unreached people groups. That hurts my heart so much when I read that, in churches we always talk about international missions, but what are we doing every day, what about the people in our classes and the people we pass everyday? As wonderful as overseas missions is, God is still moving here and we are called to be living for Him and sharing Him where ever we are. Whether He calls us to live in a far away unknown land, or in a development in the suburbs of Philadelphia we are His servants and we are entrusted with the message of His gospel and our mission shouldn't change.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2
"So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

Am I proving faithful to the hope I have been entrusted to share? And am I putting aside my earthly desires and selfishness to live for Christ? Am I living recklessly abandoned to God's will? I guess that's my resolution for 2011

Hope

This morning I was reading through Psalm 33 and fell in love with it. It gives such a wonderful picture of hope!

Psalm 33

1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

4 For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you