India Update - I'm having my cake and eating it too!

Okay, so here's the deal. Initially I was supposed to go to India for 6 weeks and depart from the states on January 7, 2009. In doing this I was going to put off my graduation by 1 semester. I wasn't very pleased about the matter, but when God says go. Go!

There were several requirements that I had put on myself in order to go for the 6 weeks.

1. I could not be the only other person there along with Dan, our guide.

2. The classes that I needed to take had to be offered in the fall so I could graduate.

3. I had to come up with the money.

4. I had to have the blessing and go-ahead from my parents.

All seemed to be going as planned. Life was great, but then some things changed and kind of threw me a curve ball.

1. I was going to be the only other person there for the remaining 4 weeks after the rest of group went home.

2. The classes I need to graduate are only offered in the spring.

Needless to say, I had some decsions to make. After much prayer, my solution came to me. Go for 2 weeks with the whole group and then come home and finish out the spring semester.

Here's how it worked out. Our trip has been moved up. We are now departing on January 3, 2007 (which is a Saturday at 1:15p.m.). We will arrive in India on January 5 - yeah, that's a really long flight!!! We will be staying at the Hope orphanage for approxiamtely 10 days and then be returning home. We will arrive at Will Roger's World airport on January 17, 2009 (which is also a Saturday) at 11:40p.m.

That's not all! Since classes start on January 12, I've talked to all of my professors for next semester and they are totally cool with me missing the first week of classes. Some are even allowing me to use the images I shoot while in India for some of my projects in the classes.

So, not only do I get to go to India, I get to graduate too! God is SO good. I don't know why I even worry about the details, because he always works them out for me.

You know the old saying "You can't have your cake and eat it too."? Well it's wrong. When you let God work everything out for you, He let's you eat it. Why wouldn't He? Cake is awesome!

I'm Going to India!

I just wanted to let all of you know that I am going to India on a mission trip! I will leave January 7, 2009 and be there for 6 weeks. I am very excited!!! Please be in prayer that I will have enough sponsors. Unfortunately it takes a lot of money to minister to people on the other side of the globe. My team and I will be working with widows and orphans in particular as well as villagers struck by poverty.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers! Let me know if you want more info, I'd be happy to tell you everything I know = D

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

-James 1:27 (NLT)

Me and the Chain Link Fence

I have needed to write a blog on submission (because God told me to) for a while now. But I didn’t do it because submitting my will, plans, opinions, ideas… and control is really hard. And how could I write a blog telling people to submit to God when submission is still an issue that I have to work on everyday?

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just feel like I can work out a situation on my own. I don’t really need anyone to help me out or tell me their opinion. How ignorant I am sometimes.

Just recently I’d been struggling (hard-core) to submit my heart to Him in a certain matter. I wanted to and even tried at times but there was a disconnect somewhere. I knew that I had not truly given it over to God because I kept thinking and obsessing about it (which is a pretty good sign that I was trying to be in control). (grins to self)

So… how did I come to the place to submit my will in this circumstance to God?

Well, it’s pretty simple really. I tried over and over and over and over (well you get the point) again to make things happen the way I wanted them to and EVERY SINGLE TIME something went wrong. It’s almost like what I wanted was on the other side of a chain link fence and I was so close to getting it, but I just couldn’t. Basically I got tired of always failing. So after a few tears and a lot of disappointment I realized that I simply cannot control everything. BUT God can! (Amen and hallelujah!)

Understanding and believing are two totally different things. I’ve always understood that God has my best interest at heart and works out everything in my life for my good… but as for believing, I can’t say that I truly did.

Believing that God can take care of me is SO liberating!!! I no longer have to stress about making everything work out, because He does that for me.

So if you want some hard-core liberation come to the end of yourself and submit to God. It truly will change your life!

I'm certainly NOT perfect. I still have to choose to submit my will to God everyday... but I'm working on it. Maybe we can work on it together!

The Gaps and the Babies - Babies

This is “PART 2 the Babies”. In my last post I dealt with the gaps in our teeth and spiritual walk. Now I am dealing with the babies. I encourage you to read my last two posts (Lessons From Braces? and The Gaps and the Babies – Gaps) before reading this one as it will aid you in your understanding of the message.

Baby teeth are good while you are a child because they fit your mouth. But as you get older and mature your bone structure changes and your jaw gets bigger. This is why we have adult teeth (God was pretty thorough when He created the human body). Baby teeth are only good for a short amount of time as they are not meant to be in your mouth forever.

After you’ve lost most of your baby teeth and your mature adult teeth have grown in you will notice a difference in size. The new, mature ones are a lot bigger than the babies.

When I first got my braces (ask me to tell you the story of my first screening sometime, it’s pretty funny) I still had baby teeth. When I went in for my screening the orthodontist told me that I had baby teeth and although he could give me braces I would eventually have to have surgery on my mouth. My adult teeth were stuck in my jaw bone and couldn’t come down on their own.

So I did get braces… and it hurt (don’t believe the people who tell you otherwise because they are lying)! After a while of having them on the time came when they told me I had to have my surgery because my treatment would no longer be beneficial without it. I asked them, “Can’t I just keep my babies? I don’t want to have to go through the pain!” They told me that I couldn’t because after a while my baby teeth would rot away as they are not meant to be in your mouth for an extended period of time. So I had surgery.

Okay, now for the lesson… you were thinking that I would never get to it, weren’t you?

When we first come to Christ we are like the “Babies”. We are supposed to read the Word, grow our relationship with Christ, and become mature Christians. Sometimes we choose not to do that and remain “Baby Christians”.

But this is extremely dangerous. Remaining an immature Christian will cause God not to be able to use you as much as He would like. If you do not grow and never become mature, you will likely become just like my baby teeth and rot away. Your relationship with the Father will be quenched and you will fall away from Him.

“A farmer went out to plant some seeds… seeds that fell on the shallow soil with underlying rock spouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died.”

Matthew 13:3, 5-6

The Gaps and the Babies - Gaps

In my last blog I mention that my teeth (before braces) were an overall mess. Filled with gaps and babies.

But I didn’t really explain the spiritual similarity of this, so I am now. But because the lessons are so good they deserve their own entries (grins to self). So this is PART 1 focusing on the gaps.

Gaps between teeth are no good. They allow food to get stuck between your teeth this can look gross and feel uncomfortable too. They also can cause all kinds of bad stuff to happen like cavities which require a lot of trips to the dentist to get the problems fixed. They can also make you feel insecure with your smile and like you need a lot of work to become attractive.

Ready for the spiritual lesson? Good!

Gaps are like the chasm that separates us from God. Things get put in the gap to make it bigger and bigger which separates us from Christ even more. In our own power we cannot get to God. It was only through His son, Jesus Christ, dying on the cross that a way was made.

We cannot close the gaps in our teeth by ourselves. It requires braces and a retainer (see my last post for the spiritual lesson about that). That chasm that separates us from the one true, holy, and just God can never be bridged in our own efforts. It requires God, the “bridger” of all gaps, the ultimate orthodontist! (Grins to self).

So how do we get across the giant gap?

Well it’s quite simple. Since we cannot bridge the gap ourselves; we simply walk over the one that Jesus has already made for us. Ask for forgiveness of your sins and tell God that you want the chasm that separates you from Him to be done away with. Tell Him that you want a relationship with Him, and ask Him to live in your heart. There is nothing we can do to get to God, except acknowledge that in our own power we can’t do it and then ask Him to do it for us. Because He is the ALMIGHTY and can do anything!!!

I encourage you, get rid of the gaps. I’m glad I did!

Spiritual Lessons From Braces?

Something I've been learning lately is that the things we dislike most and cause us the most problems are really what mold and shape us.

I had braces for 3 years and 9 months (a stinkin' long time). I hated everything about them. The pain they brought, the inconvenience they were, and the general displeasure they brought me.

My braces were taken off on Friday! Praise Him!

My teeth before the braces looked completely different than what they do now. Before they had gaps and some of them were babies. An over all mess. But the braces fixed all of my problems and now my teeth look wonderful.

The thing is that I have to wear a retainer all the time to keep my teeth in perfect alignment. Without it, my teeth would go right back to their natural positions. Even after all that time, effort, pain, and discomfort.

"So what's the lesson?" you may be asking. Well, read on I tell you!

What I've learned is this.

As sinners, we are like my old teeth. Unable to be fixed by our own efforts. It requires a force greater than our own (That's JESUS, by the way) to make the changes. Sometimes the changes are painful and they hurt, they bring us unhappiness and occasionally discouragement.

But the very thing that causes us pain is the thing that grows us into a more beautiful creature and more pleasing to God. The changes create alignment with God (and let me tell you, you want to be aligned with God!!!).

But it doesn't stop there. The "Jesus Braces" aren't enough. Submitting our sin and making the initial changes isn't enough. We need a retainer.

We are not going to remain on the right track without a "Spiritual Retainer". This retainer is the Holy Spirit. We have to have the Holy Spirit in our lives to guide us and keep us in check. The Holy Spirit is our power over sin and our power over Satan, himself. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to walk in victory over Satan and the powers of darkness. It is impossible to live a life victorious over sin.

The Holy Spirit, our retainer will allow us to remain the beautiful creation that God has created and will help us to always be in right standing with God, aligned with Him.

Thank God for His braces and retainer!