This last year has been an interesting ride; that’s for sure. I guess I want to write one final blog spilling all of my thoughts. I feel so blessed to be able to return home, saying that I have traveled around the world and experienced so many cultures. I am beyond thankful that so many of you have given to me for this, whether that’s financially, prayerfully, or both.
God has done incredible things throughout this year. I want any stories I share to be a reflection only of Him, not of me, my team, or the organization. This year I have seen Jesus cast out a demon. I have seen people give their lives to Him despite the hardships they will face in their country. I have seen Jesus change people that I never would have expected to be changed. If there is one thing I have taken away from this year, it’s that Jesus is alive and moving. Our God is not a god that lackadaisically sits back and watches us from afar; our lives are NOT a movie to Him. He is a jealous God. He is a loving God. But above all, He is the one and only God. He is powerful beyond our wildest dreams.
The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits Your house, O Lord, forevermore. Psalm 93
My eyes have been opened to a small fraction of God’s strength, and I cannot wait for the day when we will be allowed into His full presence.
Lately, God has been directing me to the smaller prophetical books. It has made me SO excited for Jesus returning, but it has also made me think. These books were written to God’s chosen people in that time, but now, anybody following Him is chosen. This realization caused me to read through these books as if written to me. I don’t want to be a whore as the Lord calls His people. I don’t want Jesus to speak this of me: [she] “adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot Me, declares the Lord” (Hosea 2:13). I want my whole life to be His. As it says directly after this verse, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her” (Hosea 2:14). In Zechariah 10:6, He says, “I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them.”
The Lord is a jealous God, but He is also a gracious and merciful God. I put my hope and my trust in things other than Him; I am nothing short of a distrustful wanderer who does not love the One who loves her. I am unfaithful, unappreciative, and noncommittal to Him. But above all of these things, I am beyond thankful to see Him move in my life and love me through all of this. He has blessed me so much this year, and I know He will continue to do so in the following years.
In going home, I am praying that I do not get caught up in materialism. I know that is a huge struggle in the States to believe we deserve certain things, when in reality they are all blessings from God; none of them are from our doing. I am praying that I will be able to keep that mindset in returning home, not with judgment toward others but with constant thankfulness. I do not want this to me the final thing said about my life:
Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Haggai 1:5-6
I want my life to be a reflection of the Gospel. I do not want to be idle no matter where I am. I want to desire Jesus wholeheartedly, so that nothing else becomes an idol. I don’t want to love worldly things more than Him. So I’ll leave you with a challenge to pray for God to do these things in your life. Pray that He continually brings you back to Him and lovingly shows you what you love more than Him. This will be my prayer as I return home, and I know God will answer. After all, He is a powerful and active God.
So with all of this, I say peace to you, The World Race. It has been a long crazy intense 11 months filled with both amazing and really difficult times. Sometimes I hated you; sometimes I loved you, but our time is coming to a close. Our cross-cultural relationship can no longer exist but thanks for the time we had. And with that, I say au revoir, alveterzane, and farewell.
