T-minus 93 days until I leave. That means 3 months, 12 weeks, 2,232 hours, and 133,920 minutes. And God. Is. Moving. Folks, our God is mighty. He has been showing me every single day just how great he is and how much he deserves my devotion. He is so straight up awesome; I can barely believe he chose ME to do his work. His love is powerful and strong, and he gave it to me! Now, I can love others the exact same way he loves me. That means agape love, unconditional love, out-of-this-world kind of love. And I get to bring it to every stranger I meet and every friend I know. This is the love I’ll be taking to the people of Thailand and Cambodia and sharing with everyone along the way, I am so stoked to bring the light of His Gospel around the globe.
Since my last blog post, I have a few things to follow up on. I started fundraising and… it’s been real. I just started sending out letters and wow, I am amazed that my parents have been doing this for 17+ years. It is so hard to let go of control and completely trust that God has His hand over this, because, friends, if God doesn’t have this, it ain’t happening. So, my focus recently has been on getting the work done and trusting that the Lord will carry it all the way. There’s nothing I’d rather do than give all my cares and concerns to him because I know he can handle it. I continuously remind myself that if this is his plan for me, he’ll guide my steps (which includes the practical, stressful need of fundraising). A verse that reminds me of this is Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (honestly, read 16:1-9 it’s all amazing.) For me, it means that I must devote my heart to his way and discern what his plan is for me and God will guide me to the right path. All the stress and worries are unnecessary, the funds and plans and chaos is under his control, my job is to keep pursuing him and his way in my life.
Okay, so another update, I go to a weekly worship night at a YWAM base in Orlando and each week seems to bring me further into faith and closer to my Father. Last week was crazy eye-opening. It started out with some fantastic songs and I had so much energy I couldn’t help but move and worship and praise God. Then, All Hail King Jesus (Upperroom) started. This song is so powerful, and I’d even say it’s my favorite worship song. The lyrics go like this:
All hail King Jesus
All hail the Lord of heaven and earth
All hail King Jesus
All hail the Savior of the world
Let every knee, come bow before the King of kings
Let every tongue, confess that He is Lord
Lift up your shout, let us join with all of heaven
Singing holy
All I could do was sing as loud as possible and worship. I was in the presence of my King, the Lord of heaven and earth. He is holy and I just needed to proclaim that. It was infinitely wonderful. Right then, someone behind me touched my shoulder and asked if she could pray for me. She said that she felt like God wanted to be the King of my life and he wanted to be a part of every single thing I do. Guys, that was exactly what I had been praying for. God heard me and so clearly reached out to care for me. It was one small prayer, but it touched me so deeply. My God cares. He cares for me and everything I feel and everything I do. And he wants it all to be His. All I could think was YES. Yes, Lord, it’s all yours. How could I do anything except live for him? He is so loving and strong; he created the universe! How can I do anything except worship?
You may have noticed that I am most often impacted by songs, but that doesn’t mean God hasn’t used Scripture to show me things. For the past 21 days, my friend and fellow Thailand-and-Cambodia-bound World Racer, Mariah Gulsvig and I have been going through John together. I am so grateful for her and her insight and how I can see God working through her story. She is a blessing. Looking back on my notes, I saw John 12:19, “So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are gaining nothing. Look the world has gone after him.’” This verse hit me straight in the face. I read it and stopped in my tracks, then reread it. Bros and sisses, the WORLD has gone after Christ. There is nothing anyone can do to stop us from running directly to Him. He is the most powerful being in all existence and nothing can keep us from him. And that, my friends, is the truth.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to keep up with me and if you feel called to support me by prayer or funds, let me know! I love you!
3 John 1:5-8 “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
