Hello Everyone!
As I have been thinking about my trip, journaling, reading the Bible, studying, etc. I have just had an over and abundance of excitement and thankfulness stirring in my soul. As days go by I see God working this trip out for me piece by piece. He is leading me in suttle ways. When there are days that I am unencouraged he reveals his love an assurance towards me. I mean wow God!! You really know how to keep me in constant awe and worship of you! I can’t believe this is even happening in the first place. Even just researching the countries I am going to (Costa Rica, Ecuador, Thailand, and Malaysia) I can’t even believe it is a real place. The craziest thing is that God made all of this…for me and for you!! Wow! Just that in itself just keeps me in constant awe and worship. I have been so thankful, inspired, in awe, and excited lately I cannot contain it. I cannot help but praise God for even the wonderful people in my life or the fact that some of these details for my trip are slowly starting to fall into place! God is so good! All the time….and all the time….God is good!
God has even given me a greater sense of hope and thankfulness when I see those around me get excited for me. The best thing of it all is seeing how God is blessing people through my trip and I haven’t even left my front door yet. God has given me more opportunities to share the gospel, serve, help others serve, and grow closer to my family in Christ all because of THIS trip. It is crazy. Thinking back to my childhood I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life. I felt God calling me to help others around the world. I thought this was just my dream but I was wrong. More importantly this is apart of God’s dream and his plan. Lord I am so blessed and forever thankful! Praise be to God!
Lovelies, I want you to know that God also has you apart of this plan. God’s dream is that we all do something to impact the world in some way, shape, or form. I am seeing how God works in others every single day. From the amazing dentist office that makes it their mission to go to countries in need once or twice a year to provide dentists appointments, to my CRU family who evangelizes on campus on a weekly basis, to these sweet sisters in Christ who have a heart of pure gold, to the brothers in Christ that pour out their hearts to the Lord and their church, to my own family who serves at the church, to these ladies in my Bible study who are some of the strongest and best moms I have ever seen. These are the little things that give me hope on a daily basis. These are the things I praise God for and the things that bring joy to my heart. We all have this same dream, more importantly we are all doing this not by our power but by God’s. I’m not only thankful for these people in my life, but I am also thankful to know them and see God’s power and light within them. God has really been flipping my whole world upside down this past year. I no longer view people as simply people. Instead I see these people for who they are…a treasure, God’s inheritance, love, beauty, and a piece of God’s art work. It makes the world such a better and more enjoyable place when you are able to see others this way. Beloved, no words can describe my excitement and thankfulness. NONE! It is overwhelming and simply undescribable.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Proverbs 31, which talks about what it is like to be woman of God. Some highlights of this passage are,
8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.”
20 “She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.”
25 “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.”
This is so encouraging and so exciting for me to hear! I love this so much because I aspire to be this woman after God’s heart, a woman that is full of pure joy and love, a woman who openly helps those in need, a woman that is brave, a woman that is strong, and most of all a woman who knows that her faith and identity is found in the one true God. I love this so much and these verses have been on my heart a lot lately. I really wanted to share that with you!
All these things have been filling my heart with pure excitement, joy, and thankfulness. I know I have probably said that around 20 times in this post alone, but it is so true. I honestly cannot wait for what is to come. But I thank you Lord for where I am at right now. I pray that you shape me and form me into the woman you want to me to be. Lord, I pray that I can be like this woman in Proverbs 31. Lord thank you for showing us bits and pieces in your plan. I thank you for all your blessings and all you have done. I love you Lord! Thank you all for praying with me and taking some time out of your day to read this. I am so glad I get to share my heart with you and just praise the Lord with you. Love y’all!
Much Love,
Courtney <3
