For Everything There is a Season

Allergies are raging, temperatures are dropping. It can only mean one thing: season is changing. How many changes accompany the changing of a season? Wardrobe, health, studies, daylight hours, sports: all of these things change during the transition from Fall to Winter. It’s the natural order of things. We experience it every year, yet always complain when it finally arrives. We go from saying “I can’t wait for it to be cooler” to immediately complaining about how cold it’s gotten. At least that’s how I’ve perceived it. It’s just like as a kid, I would always wish summer to arrive sooner so I wouldn’t have school, but as soon as I had nothing to do for a few weeks, I wished school was back in session.

For everything there is a season.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? For everything there is a season, a reason, and a purpose. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes that “for everything there is a season, a time for every matter under heaven” (3:1). As I sat down to write today, God laid this upon my heart. How often do try to take our lives into our own hands rather than trust God’s timing?

I’m in a season in my life where I’ve been struggling to rely on God’s supremacy and finding my fulfillment in Him. As Christians, we are called to give God our whole hearts. He doesn’t want just half of your heart, or even just three-fourths of it. He wants all of it. All. Todo. Complete. Every single bit.

But we’re supposed to love people, too. How are we supposed to give God our whole hearts while still loving others?

Yes, we’re supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus says that this is the greatest commandment. Our love for others should not compare to our love for God. In fact, Jesus says in Luke 14:26 that our love for others should look like hate compared to our love for God. If your love for something could measure up to your love for God, that thing has become an idol.

It’s easy to make something an idol in our lives. Oftentimes, we don’t realize we’ve done it. For instance, softball was an idol in my life. I realized this when I first attended Centrifuge in Glorieta, New Mexico, the summer after my junior year in high school. That was an easy one to detect. But, I’ve come to the realization recently that the desire for a relationship has replaced softball as an idol in my life.

We’re human, we desire relationships. While this may be true, the desire can bring forth idolatry. I’m ashamed to admit this but my desire for a relationship seemed to overshadow my desire to further my relationship with God. It should not be this way.

Our identity should be found in Christ. God is sufficient and He is all we need. Did He not give His Son on the cross so that He may have an intimate relationship with us? He loves each of us more than anyone could ever imagine. His love cannot be measured on a scale of 1-10. He would never betray us; He will never leave nor forsake us.

When we don’t know what’s in store, God does. When we are uncertain of what our future may be, God already knows. We can find peace in the fact that everything will work together to glorify His name, whether or not we see the reason for it in the moment.

“Broken Hallelujah” by The Afters has a line in it that absolutely strikes me to the core.

Even though I don’t know what Your plan is

I know You’ll make beauty from these ashes.

We serve a God that desires to make us into what He intended us to be. He wants an intimate relationship with each of us and for us to give Him Lordship over our lives. Do we trust Him enough to relinquish control of whatever we think is best for ourselves and let Him have it all? I know I struggle with that, but brothers and sisters, He will not lead us astray.

This has just been a round-about way of encouraging you to rest in the fact that God knows what He’s doing. This may be a rough season in your life as it is in mine, but God has it under control. We may not can see the end result, but by trusting in the Lord, we will make it through the storm.

Rest easy.

Along for the Ride

My second summer as an intern at Central Baptist in Springhill, Louisiana, has come to a close. Is it already September? I feel like May, June, July, and August have all slipped past without more than a passing glance. Time flies when you’re having fun, I suppose. Fun it has been, indeed.

God has been at work all summer. Let me start off by saying that He’s so good. He presents us with opportunities and guides us through them. He shows us His path for us if only we seek Him and His will over our own.

If you would have asked me in January if I’d be working at Central this summer, I would have said no. Having worked as the Youth Intern last summer, I felt as though I would be moving on. I originally hoped to be working at Centrifuge over the summer. For those of you who may not know what that is, Centrifuge is church camp under Lifeway that has numerous locations all over the US. However, I was placed on the wait-list and did not get assigned a camp.

Since that wasn’t what God had planned for me, I thought that it would be time to branch out on my own and get an apartment in Pineville. I decided that it was time for me to grow up and learn how to pay bills and live alone. After searching for apartments with no luck, it was obvious that it wasn’t God’s plan for me, either.

I started praying that God show me what He wanted me to do and where He wanted me to be over the summer. Low and behold, three days later Kevin Gray texted me and asked if I’d like to have the position of Children and Youth Intern for the summer. God has a funny way of answering you when you surrender the situation to Him.

That was in March, I believe. I finished out my sophomore year and came to Springhill. I was able to relax a few weeks before beginning work. However, being Children’s and Youth Intern was nothing like I expected.

Wacky Tacky Tuesdays, Sports Camp Thursdays, and a Children’s Bible Study on Sundays took up half of my attention. Wacky Tacky Tuesdays was a 9 am- noon program scheduled for preschool-aged children. With CDC (actual school program) going on during that time, it ultimately ended with the WTT being cancelled. During my time with those precious little darlings I had a blast.

I may have looked forward to Sports Camp Thursdays a little bit more than Tuesdays for obvious reasons. Sports! This day was for the 1^st-6^th grade students. Throughout the summer, we played softball, volleyball, and dodgeball. The free movie at the movie theater on Thursdays also became our friend when we didn’t have many kids or when I was out of town with the youth.  For the children that regularly attended this program there was a finale celebration at Magic Springs in Hot Springs, AR. It was quite the trip!

My heart is with these children that I spent the summer with. I’m going to miss them terribly. I became close with so many of them and I love them all dearly. I can’t wait to see how God is going to use them and work through them as they grow.

As for youth activities, I mostly just lived life with them! Having been around most of them during my short time in the youth group before college and as intern last summer, relationships have already been formed. I regard each of them as a little sister or little brother and  would do anything for any one of them. They’re each close to my heart.

We attended Centrifuge in Glorieta, New Mexico, this summer. Believe me when I tell you that it was an eye-opener! God worked in so many ways that week! Romans 8:28 says: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” It doesn’t say just good things work toward our good, but all things. Every good and bad occurrence works toward His plan. Everything that took place at Fuge worked toward His plan for each of our lives.

Thursday night at camp was another eye opener for me. It was the night that we took up the missions offering. The offering this year is going to the Karamojong people in Uganda. Just for a little background on the Karamojong, they believe in a god, but this god can only be reached through a witch doctor. They will listen to whatever the witch doctor tells them. If he were to tell them that their god needed a man sacrificed in order for the crops to be good, that’s what would happen. Through this, God confirmed the call to missions He has placed on my heart.

The next trip on the schedule was the annual mission trip to New Orleans. I pretty much summed up the trip in my last blog post. My heart still yearns to be with the children of New Orleans and I pray continuously for those we encountered, that the seeds that were planted fell on fertile soil. Join me in praying for them.

August came and went, bringing with it my transition back to LC and the beginning of my junior year. I’m a junior…in college. I still sometimes feel like I’m still a freshman. My classes this semester are Intermediate Spanish, 20^th Century American Literature, Creative Writing, Intro to Church Ministry, Public Speaking, and Adaptive Activities. If you know me, then you know my biggest fear this semester is my speech class. Praying that God will give me the strength and ability to make it through this class without stuttering my life away.

It’s been over a month since I’ve blogged and I plan on making it a much more frequent thing. Let me know if there’s anything that you need prayer for! May God guide you along His plan for you and draw you nearer to Himself.

 

To the Least of These

With God granting me the privilege of being intern at Central Baptist Church in Springhill, LA, for the second summer in a row came the honor of attending the annual mission trip to New Orleans. Last summer was my first summer being able to attend the trip and God opened my eyes to so many things in my life. I knew that He would be faithful to do so again.

Before we departed for the trip, I was in constant prayer that the youth's eyes would be opened, that they would become selfless and realize that they're living for more than just themselves, for more than just the moment. There is far more to life than a boyfriend/girlfriend, a friendship, or a vacation. In the grand scheme of life, those things don't matter. What matters is that God is glorified through our lives. Material things will pass away. If we find our identities in these things, we too will pass away. Identity in Christ is eternal.

My mindset at the start of the week was that I was going to love on kids and that by our being there, the kids were going to be effected in a way that would show them Christ. This happened, but the missionaries were also shown Christ through the kids.

Jesus says in Luke 18:16-17 "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." To receive something as a child does would be to be overwhelmed with joy. I remember when I was a little kid, any present I received was  "just what I always wanted!"

How often do we let the ways of this world hinder how we spread the Gospel? Or how often do we let it get us down? If your answer is anything like mine, it's far too often. Yes, unlike a child, adults have responsibilities that weigh them down. How much lighter would those responsibilities feel if you began each day with a quiet time?

I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not very consistent when it comes to quiet times. I usually do them every day, but at sporadic times. One day it will be in the morning, one right before I go to bed, one day it's whenever I can squeeze it in between activities during the day. I've been in ruts where I wouldn't have a quiet time for maybe weeks on end. Worst weeks of my life.

If you claim Christianity, you should know that the Bible calls us to live out the Word of God. If we aren't in the Word daily, how would we know how to live it out?

The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5:1-2, 15 "therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. [15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise." Working with youth, and having just been in their shoes two years ago, I know that this is one of the most difficult things to grasp as a teenager. In a world where it's all about social status, who's dating who, what brand name you wear, and what sports you play, it's hard to stay focused on the one thing that matters: Christ.

No matter what situation one is in, there is always someone who has it infinitely times worse. Those in attendance on the mission trip were able to witness this first hand. Some of the places we canvased, some of the places we passed while in the French Quarter...they were unfathomable. It breaks my heart to see someone in the conditions some of the people in New Orleans are in. The state of being which some grown adults were in, to be so uncaring as to walk around during the middle of the day drunk out of their minds.... Those who don't know Jesus break my heart. The state of our society breaks my heart. If it breaks mine, I know it breaks God's.

One of the first little girls that came up to our site on Monday was the perfect example of coming to Christ as a child. She was probably about 10-years-old. She's been a faithful participant in our program the past few years from what I've heard. We were talking to her as we were walking toward the community room of their apartment complex. When asked what she looked forward to most, I expected that she would say the cookies and Kool-Aid or getting to have fun with all of her friends. Instead, she blew my mind. She said "getting to learn more about Jesus."

We are the children of God! As children of God, shouldn't we always be eager to learn about our Father, to spend quality time with our Father? 1 John 3:1-3 says this: "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared' but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure."

So often we take for granted the freedom of learning about Christ, or having a church on every corner. A lot of places don't have that. In several countries all over the world, reading the Bible or being a Christian is illegal. Sure, it's "not cool" to be a Christian in the USA, but we won't die for it....at least not yet. A lot of people claim Christianity because it is what is expected of them or because they think if they claim it, they can do whatever they want and still avoid hell when they die. How many of them would claim Christianity if they lived somewhere where it was illegal?

Missions is where my heart is. I yearn to reach those unreached people groups with the Gospel. I crave to see joy fill someone when they hear of Jesus for the first time. I thrive even for those moments of getting turned down, getting a door slammed in my face as I did in New Orleans, just because I know that God is faithful. This mission trip has reaffirmed my heart for missions and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Phillip Carroll always tells us that there will be a kid that will become yours for the week, that will steal your heart from the first moment. There was definitely that. My kid's name was Envi.

Throughout the week, we laughed, made her crafts, and talked about Jesus. The first time I walked her home, when I left I told her I loved her and got no response. The next day, she comes through the door and gives me a hug and tells me she loves me.

Friday was our last day with the kids. Right before they were to all go home, I felt God tugging on my heart. I looked at Envi and asked if we could talk for a minute before she left. Throughout the week when we would talk about Jesus, I would say a lot and she would reply with "yeah," or "I know," or "okay" for the most part. I assumed it was just because she was shy. When I began, I asked her if she could tell me who Jesus is. She said yes. So I said, "Okay, tell me." She just shook her head. I told her who Jesus is and that He loved us enough to die on the cross for everything that we do wrong. I showed her some verses in my Bible. She asked me "Why did he have to die for us?" and I told her since God is holy, He cannot stand the sight of sin. Sin separates us from God. God wants to be able to be with us, so He sent His Son Jesus to die for us so that through accepting Jesus as our Savior, we can go to Heaven."

Envi asked me how to pray and how to accept Christ.

Friday was filled with tears for me. The love and faith of a child... God is so good! He put us all on that mission trip for a reason.... to witness to others and to see God's love in return. Anyone that reads this, I just ask you to pray that the work that was started in the hearts of those in New Orleans continues. I pray that the seeds that were planted are watered. God is faithful and will continue working down there, but His people must receive Him. Thank you.