Ready to fly away.

This September I will be staffing at 360 Maine!! 360 Maine is a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) affiliate but is a little different, working closer with the local church. Visit their website to learn more.

You may remember I did my YWAM DTS (Discipleship Training School) in Wisconsin over a year ago. The directors of 360 Maine were there at the same time training under Madison’s director. I have seen their heart for this mission and after much prayer have decided to join them for a two year term. Some of my responsibilities include mentoring students, other various tasks, and a two month outreach overseas. God has laid this passion on my heart and I can’t wait to see what He has in store! 

Here's the story of how I got here: Ever since I returned home from my DTS I had this restless feeling. I struggled with it, looking for a job only finding a few temporary positions. I kept feeling like there was something else. For months I fought and tried to bury that feeling but it wouldn't go away. 

So I finally asked God about it. He gave me the word "Youth." I wasn't quite sure what that meant, so I continued to wait on God to make it clear. At that same time I was asked to help lead a girls weekend, it reminded me a bit of a mini DTS. I LOVED it!! It was so amazing, it was all the things I love; God, youth, and worship. It also gave me more confidence in my leadership skills. 

I continued to search for a job and get involved at my church until one day I saw that 360 Maine was looking for staff, and it just dawned on me! God gave me this passion for youth, He's been involving me in things to help me prepare to staff, He hasn't led me to a job for a reason. What do I have to lose?

So I applied and here I am! 

I realized that I tried to go back to "normal" life after my DTS because being a full time missionary honestly scared me, I didn't think that was something I could ever do.

But God has been teaching me more about myself and who He's created me to be, and what He can do through me. 

God has given me a passion for youth, but I didn't known what to do with it. I guess was been trying to do what was "expected" of me, but it just never felt right. But now that I've applied and been accepted I am beyond excited! I'm not scared anymore. I can't wait to see where this crazy adventure with God will go next! All I know is it will be great because He will be there, and that's all I need. He makes me brave!

"You make me brave, You called me beyond the shore into the waves, You make me brave, No fear can hinder now the promises You've made."

Thankful

Yes I know Thanksgiving was yesterday, but we should be thankful everyday. So I decided to do this to remind myself to always be thankful.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving,

and His courts with praise!

Give thanks to Him; bless His name!

For the Lord is good;

His steadfast love endures forever,

and His faithfulness to all generations."

- Psalm 100:4-5 

I have so much to be thankful for!

For all my friends near and far. I'm so blessed to know friends all over the world doing things with God. I treasure their love and encouragement. No matter how long we go without talking, we always seem to pick up right where we left off.

My wonderful family. We don't always get along, but I know no matter what we do we always love each other. When I feel no one believes in me, I know they do.

For God providing all that I need. It hasn't been easy and most of the time I get overwhelmed, but God has been with me every step of the way and He wont stop now.

Jesus taking the punishment for all our sins. But also rising from death, so that we can live!

"Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" 

-Ephesians 5:20

Esther

For years I've heard the question asked "If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?"
I never knew quite who to say. But now without a doubt I would say:

"Esther."

I want to ask her what it was like to stand before the king, asking him to save her people knowing he could kill her.
Was she ever aware of God's plan for her life?
Did she ever loose faith?

She seems like such an amazing woman of God! She won favor in the eyes of anyone who met her. Changed the heart of the king with kindness. She Obeyed, but stood up for what was right. She was kind, and she loved and cared for so many! But most of all I admire her courage. If I ever have the chance, I hope I can speak the words she said:

"Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish."

 -Esther 4:16 

She was an orphan, raised by her aunt and uncle. She was not rich, she didn't have an extraordinary upbringing. Esther was just a young woman with faith, courage, and a powerful God.

"And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

-Esther 4:16

Yes Esther, you were born for such a time as this.

What God's been doing.

I thought I should probably make an update since I haven't wrote anything in a long time :)

After I got back from YWAM (see previous posts), it took me a long time to adjust back to life. I missed my friends, the teachings, the experiences and adventures, everything (I still do)! But after some long, constant, crying out talks with God I now know I am where I'm supposed to be... for now.

I know God has something amazing for me, I don't know when and where, but when He says "Go." I'll go.

In the meantime, I'm looking for a full time job. I've had a couple of temporary jobs, and I'm still doing [and LOVING] photography. I'm also involved at my church, helping with the 5th and 6th grades on Wednesday nights, I dance occasionally, and I sing on the worship team. I'm also a mentor to a Jr. High girl.

A few weekends ago I got to help on a teen girls weekend, I also gave a talk on Christian growth through study. It was so amazing!!! It made me realize even more the passion that I have for working with youth.

God keeps showing me that I can do so much more than I ever thought I could. If you would've asked me 5 years ago if I would believe that my first time flying would be over seas, and I would travel to three countries and one is a closed nation, and that I would give a 20ish minuet talk to about 25 people. I would have said "no."

All I can say is that when God says to do something, you can do it! He will never let you fall.

Listen

Something God has been teaching me lately, is to have still small moments with Him throughout the day. We get so wrapped up in the business of our lives, even if we're not really that busy the Internet takes up most of our free time, that we forget to spend time with God! And how many times when I do have a quiet time in the morning, do I still forget about Him for the rest of the day?!

God has been showing me, He loves to meet with me when I least expect it. He loves to share in the everyday moments of life with me. But how many times do I miss it? And so may times I ask God to speak to me, but maybe He has been and I haven't been listening.

We say we love God, but we put Him in a box only to be accessed when it's convent for us. Yet we get mad when our friends ignore us, let's take a step back and think. God is real and He is working, sometimes I need to remember to act like I believe it!

So here's a reminder for all of us today, God wants to speak to you, all you have to do is listen.

Life

Life is so uncertain  It happens if you are ready or not. Whether we believe it or not everyday we're getting older and learning more about ourselves and the world around us.
It's not about where we end up in life, it's the path we take to get there. And it might just be the smallest moments that make the biggest difference in your or someone else's life. So always remember to be thankful for where you are and to let God use you in every moment, and enjoy wherever you are! Someday you might wish you would have.
So no matter how big or small; embrace life, because at any given moment someone could be looking at you. What do you want them to see?

Slave

Something that changed me on outreach was in the form of a sweet little girl we called monkey.

Going to India I knew I had a heart for children, but going to the brothels scared me. When we walked into the brothels for the first time it was crowded, smelled bad, and the stairways up into the building where we would be teaching in were steep, small and dark. When I went one morning for ministry I didn't know what to expect, we arrived to teach preschool and a little girl walked in the room and changed my life. She, in the midst of one of the darkest places on earth has this amazing joy about her. We called her monkey because she loved to be held so much she would basically climb up you to be there. I remember the first day I met her she took my hands in hers and began to jump, I would pull her up so she would fly higher. She laughed and never wanted me to stop. She always sat in our laps, and she loved to kiss our cheeks.

That sweet little girl in an Indian brothel stole my heart forever.

The sad part of her story is that she is still in the brothels. She is neglected by her mother, each time she came for preschool she was hungry, thirsty, and needed to use the restroom. She always came in with the same dirty clothes. Growing up in the brothels her destiny is to be a prostitute.

We are God’s plan to save children and woman like her. Maybe we can’t go, but our prayers are just as powerful, and God is still at work in their lives. 

Around 27 million people are enslaved around the world. It's time we stopped pretending that if we don't know about it, it's not happening. That's a lie! It's going on right now! Here and around the world!

Here is one of the many ways to get involved. http://www.enditmovement.com/ 

"Together we must shine a light to every of the globe and help build a world in which no one is enslaved." -Hillary Rodham Clinton