Hello my dear friends.
It has been a couple months since my first post about kicking off this whole adventure. Let me just tell you that I am so richly blessed by all of you. Those who have (and will) support me, those who I have spoken with about my trip, those who have been praying for me since day one and even those who I know will follow this blog. I cannot tell you how appreciative I am. Because of your generosity, my account went from $300 at the end of January to $2,387.65 today! Praise God! And thank you all so very much! I am humbled by your gifts, love, and support. Thank you.
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, (Wow. What a statement, Andrea. I know I know) about what it takes to follow Jesus. I mean, what am I really required to do? So of course, words like, surrender, give up, lay at the feet of Jesus, come to mind. Then I think about passages like Luke 9:23-26 when Jesus talks about how one must "deny himself" and "lose his life" for his sake. Ok, deny myself. Lose my life. Die. Die to myself and deny my life. What are the things in my life that I must put to death? What needs to end? What am I holding on to so dearly that is keeping me from truly following Christ? Is it an attitude, a person, my stuff, a habit? I think of Paul's words in Galatians when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Wow. Crucified with Christ….this is heavy stuff. This is not easy. Putting to death the things in our lives that keep us from total surrender to Jesus can be painful. God has been revealing to me parts of my own life and heart that are absolutely ugly. And let me tell you, it is painful. It is painful when we realize how our selfishness hurt someone else. It hurts when we see the devastating effects of our pride when we fail to truly love others. It is painful when we realize we have been hoarding all that God has blessed us with when we are unwilling to freely give to others. It hurts when we see our sin. Oh, but what joy comes when we recognize these failures and put them to death! These attitudes have no place in my life when Christ rules. We must put these things to death for the sake of knowing Jesus more. "…It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." What love! What hope! What a privilege it is to know Christ! Even as I type this my heart is filled with joy, amidst the struggle.
Well, that's about all I have right now. Pray for me as I prepare for this trip, that God will continue to reveal Himself to me and be glorified.
Andrea
