lessons from georgia :: this is the last blog in a series i’ll be writing and posting in the month of december, inviting others into the things the Lord has been speaking into my life over this past season in gainesville, ga.
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after spending a month at home, i’ve realized that i picked up a few phrases around campus and i had to explain myself whenever i said them around my friends and family. some of them aren’t too hard to figure out, like “fill up to pour out” (spend time with God so you can serve others in His love for them) and “speak life, not death” (complaining and speaking negatively is not of the Lord), but there’s one that needs a little bit more explaining – “don’t let your feelings drive your car.”
the first time i heard that phrase, i had no idea what my team leader, Alicia, was talking about. team stride was having a rough day and it was easy to complain together about how we felt and just mope around, but then we had a teaching on unhealthy spirituality and how much weight your feelings should have in your relationship with God. Rosie, the woman teaching, put it this way: pretend your feelings are your children. you love your kids and you want to give them what they want, but you wouldn’t give them the keys to your car. they can’t drive, and it would be total chaos.
the story sounds a little ridiculous, but it gets the point across. we give our feelings the keys to our car way too much. feelings are great, you should have them and process them so that you stay healthy (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually), but they can’t be the driving force behind what you do.
i realized that i act out of my feelings A LOT and that wasn’t healthy and usually caused problems in the long run, even though it felt like the easy thing to do at the time. when i sat down with God about it, one verse really stuck out to me – James 1:19. it says “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
it’s a pretty well known verse, but most people don’t put it into practice. be swift to hear and slow to speak : it sounds hard to do at first, but one thing that’s helped me is going to God first. kind of like with processing, sometimes i just need to get out all of my feelings with God before i talk to someone about a situation. so this week, i encourage you to do the same. in your time with the Lord each day, tell Him all about that thing that is just getting on your last nerve, or that conversation that you’re stressing over. He knows all things, is more than happy to listen to you and let you filter what you need to say vs. what you feel.
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update on squad d!!
we arrived at the AIM base in San José, Costa Rica two days ago and so far we have been LOVING it !!! the base staff are wonderful and we’re doing a couple days of orientation with them (learning about the ministry, having cultural orientation with local pastors, exploring our new home) before we start ministry this week!
since i’m also a photography intern for AIM, i’ll be posting a couple photo blogs each month, so soon i’ll be able to share more of what the base looks like and what we do each day :))
