[*I
appologize now for the hodge-podge of ideas all thrown into one blog.]
The past
couple weeks have been full of freedom and numerous opportunities everywhere we
go. No matter where you’re at, God is
calling you to something. Sometimes that
something is to just sit in His presence and let Him speak to you, sometimes
that is to just sit with Him and praise Him over and over, sometimes He wants
you to encourage someone next to you, or just simply be a friend to a stranger,
or give some food to a homeless man, or just to hug someone, or just remind your
child that you they are special and made in God’s image, or just listen to a
friend, or pray for someone sitting on the Wal-mart bench, or….the list goes on
and on. No matter where you’re at, God
is calling you to something.
Several of
us have been taking Spanish classes for the past two weeks. Each day we would take a bus into town near
the University and start class at 8:30 and stay until 12:30 (for those with
short attention spans (like me!!) this was a bit difficult at times). Almost every morning when I got on a bus, God
gave me someone to talk to, even if it was in very slow, broken Spanish, I was
able to build a relationship just in a few minutes with someone I had never seen
before and most likely would never see again, but it was a blessing to me and
it seemed to be for the other person as well. Usually
they were so excited that I wanted to talk to them and would always smile to
let me know so. There are at least 8
people I can think of off the top of my head that God blessed me with to talk
to just on the bus.
We have had
MANY birthdays to celebrate on our squad just in the past week and a half (I
think I’ve eaten WAY too much cake!!).
But one part of ministry, especially while we are all away from friends
and family, is to help celebrate and make each other’s birthdays special and
fun and feel like they are with family, because after wall, all 26 of us really
are one big family! So, it has been so much
fun to minister to those on our squad in that way.
Speaking of
our ‘family’, please be praying for Mark as he has headed home for the rest of
the World Race. His sister was in a
serious accident about a month ago and he has gone home to be there to help out
with her and be there for her. Having to
say good-bye to a family member is never easy, but it is exciting knowing he
will be returning for our final debrief at the end of the race. But…right after Mark left, we got Sarah Lapp
back! She went home over three months
ago to be with her mom once she found out she had cancer. We are excited to have her bright smiling
face back with us! Keep praying for her
mom and family back home as she is still in treatments.
Last week I
had a few moments that were rough for me, but God has been showing me so much
through that. Have you experienced a
time when you were going through something tough and painful and God spoke to
you right in that moment and with the words you needed to hear? God always seems to do that for me! During hard times, I seem to run to everyone back home…my friends, my family but God spoke to me and said,
“Kari, I’m waiting here for you. I never
left you. You’re running to everyone
else first but I am still waiting for you.”
In that moment, I realized God wanted to use this time to teach me
something. And as soon as I run to Him,
He wraps His large loving arms around me and just holds me. He gives me His shoulder to cry on and just
holds me. I have been reading through
all of Psalms and that day He brought me to Psalm 139:
“O Lord, You have searched me and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from
afar. You discern my going out and my
lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue You know
tit completely O Lord.
You hem me in—behind and before;
You have laid Your hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where
can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I
flee from Your presence? If I go up to
the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I
settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will
hide me and the light befome night around me,” even the darkness will not be
dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to
you.
For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise You because I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful I know them full
well. My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in
your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your
thoughts, Oh God! How vast is the sum of
them! Were I to count them, they would
outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.”
Many times
when we’re going through tough and painful times, we start to doubt; satan
starts to speak lies to us. Initially
that’s what happened to me, but then God used people, His word, and His voice
to speak truth into my life, to remind me of who I am in Him. No matter where I go, what I do, or how I
feel, God is ALWAYS there. He never
leaves, never fails, never stops loving…
I hope you
know how much YOU are loved, how much God wants you to run to Him, how much He
wants to comfort you and hold you, and be your ALL. He knew you before you were even formed in
your mother’s womb. He has a purpose for
you and your life and it’s NEVER too late to start listening to His voice. Maybe He just wants you to stop and talk to
someone sitting alone in a Subway. I hope
you know how He is proud to call you His child,
His prince or princess. I hope
you know how much He values you. Don’t
let the lies of the world, of satan, remain in your head but allow God to
replace those lies with truth!
One thing
I’ve learned from living in community is how important the body of Christ
really is. We are here for each and when
I’m hearing lies and need some truth spoken into and over my life, I can go to
any one of 25 other people and they will speak that truth and pray over me! When I’m struggling with any kind of
temptation or distractions from where I need to be focused, I can go to someone
in the body of Christ, in my family, and share with them my struggle and they
will listen, show love and grace, come around me, and pray for me! And vise versa. This is what the body of Christ looks like!
“The
body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts
are many, they form one body. So it is
with Christ.”
~1 Cor. 12:12
