rain that teaches.

Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. 

I'm sitting in my cabin, as everyone else is sleeping. The cabin is silent, except for the pouring rain. Rain is something I have a love/hate relationship with. I love rain because it makes things grow & green, it is calming, it puts life back into things, & it is fun to dance in (I'm thinking of Megan T. right now). I (strongly) dislike rain because being in the sun at the cabin is great & rain prevented me from going to the woods with my camera, Bible, book, & journal like I was going to do this afternoon. I hope there's no rain tomorrow.

Since I can't be looking at the stars like I was hoping to (the stars are hard to see in the suburbs), I have decided to write about what is going on in my life and mind right now. Basically, God is rocking my world with a multitude of things.

First, because of the rain I have spent a lot time today reading this guy's (Matthew) blog from the World Race (see my Options blog). I emailed the organization to get more information about the mission trip and he emailed me back with info and a link to his blog since he just returned from the human trafficking trip I wanted to know more about. Reading his blog has made me question what I am doing with my life? I now am really considering doing the WR next year after I graduate; however, more than that I am questioning what am I doing right now? How do I live all out for Jesus while I am at home this summer and at NWC next year?

Well what has come to my mind is, I am learning to follow Christ each and every day. I am learning what it means to have faith. If I do not have faith in Christ in the small things (at home and school), how can I expect to have faith in the big things (like going on a year trip all around the world)? Some things I have learned this past week has also helped me get the answer.

God has shown me how INCREDIBLE He is this past week. I just finished reading The Seven Longings of the Human Heart by Mike Bickle, and it opened my eyes to who God has made us to be. We were not created to be fulfilled by this world. We were created to be enjoyed by God, to be great, to be wholehearted, to have intimacy without shame, to be beautiful, to be fascinated, and to make a deep and lasting impact. The Lord fulfills each of these longings that we have.

Now, back to my original question...what am I doing? Well, what I can do right now is tell other people about this. There are so many people I know who are searching to fulfill these longings in places that are not the Truth (JESUS). People need to hear that they are loved and God wants to have a relationship with them (especially since He created them).

Another way I am learning is through random other things. This week I watched the Basic videos by Francis Chan and the Lord used that to put in simple terms what it means to follow Christ. To follow Christ is to do what He says. It is not some crazy religion, it is putting our faith in Him and what He says. I also have learned from some of my brothers and sisters what it means to use prayer to encourage one another. Prayer is a powerful thing and I learned how much the Lord delights in HIS CHILDREN. At church two weeks ago Pastor Paul told the congregation what it would look like to talk to our friends or people around us as if they were children of God. Well, while praying with some friends this week, God showed me how I have that type of community around me. I am God's daughter, His workmanship, His creation, and HE DELIGHTS IN ME. Not only that, but He loves ALL of His people. In fact, He is JEALOUS for us. When you follow Christ, it is a sacrifice, but that is what we are called to do. Christ came to establish a new law, one that would save us when we believe in Him. Read Hebrews 10-THIS IS LOVE.  Our sin and lawless acts, He will no longer remember (Hebrews 10:17). 

"It takes God, to love God." Bickle said this in his book. As humans we do not have the capacity to love God, without Him. I want to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37-40) because of the sacrifice of Christ that is described in Hebrews 10. Well, it is only God who can help me do this. It takes me learning from Jesus how to love God and it takes me coming to the cross every day with what I am struggling with. My love for the Lord is increasing because I am learning the freedom and peace that I have from God. Philippians 4:4-8.  

So as the rain is coming down hard on the cabin, I also sense the Lord raining down showers of love and experiences to know Him better in my own life. Father, I pray that you would reign over this world and people would see that and souls would be saved. Jesus, RAIN DOWN.

(i wrote this 24 hours ago. i didn't have internet so i couldn't post it until now).

options

I  like options, but sometimes they can be overwhelming.
Now that my second year of college is done and I only have one more to go, I am starting to think about what to do after I graduate next May. Here are my options so far:

1. Live at the Annex. This is an apartment connected with Source (a ministry in Minneapolis that I did a mission trip with this spring). The apartment is for women who have gotten out of sex trafficking and other women who want to be role models for these women. http://sourcemn.org/index.htm
2. Go on a World Race trip through Adventures in Missions. They have many different trips including multiple 11 month trips that go to 11 countries and a 4 month trip that goes to a few different places and focuses on human trafficking. http://www.theworldrace.org/
3. Apply for an internship through World Vision that is in Washington. There is a pretty cool story about how I found this internship.
4. Any other missions opportunity/trip....Africa is on my heart.
5. I am sure other options will come up....summer camp counselor, travel to New Zealand or Greece, other jobs, etc.

All of these options seem blissful to me. Since I am graduating early, I want to go out and do missions and experience this beautiful world God has created. I do not feel called to staying in Minnesota, though I would love to live at the Annex because it is something I completely support and it is a huge missions opportunity in my own city.

I will be praying for the next year about these options and thankfully won't have to be deciding anything for months down the road. I would appreciate if you (whoever you are that reads this) would be praying for me about this too. I want my decision to be following God's plan and not what this world or my head tells me to do.

I like options because they all have their pros and cons, though all of these seem WONDERFUL. I think options make LIFE an adventure. My goal is to not worry about this decision because God's got it. Jesus even commanded His followers not to worry in the Sermon on the Mount.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. -Matthew 6:28-34