It’s been awhile since I have posted a blog and a lot has been going on. I would like to start by saying thank you to all of my supporters, I am blown away by the support I have already received. I have already hit my first deadline, and now am headed towards my second goal of $10,000! I am 36% of the way to my total goal of $18,000. God continually amazes me by sending people to come alongside me and support me through prayer and finances. I am so thankful for this journey that He is taking me on.
Training camp is coming up quickly! In October I will be heading to Georgia to meet my squad and go through training camp for the World Race. I am so excited to meet the ladies and gents that I will be spending the upcoming year with. I am excited to see what God has in store for each and every one of us and how He will grow us through this. AND the last country on our route has been changed!! We were supposed to go to Ukraine, but instead we will be going to P O R T U G A L ! We know getting into this trip that we must be flexible and that things can change at any point in time, and here we go!
I recently was having a conversation about who our role models are and who they should be. This really made me think about our culture and who we are putting on a pedestal. Are we looking up to celebrities? Politicians? Musicians? Missionaries? Our parents? Men or women in our church? Who are we encouraging our children to look up to? Growing up my parents never allowed us to have posters of celebrities on our walls because it was a way of idolizing them, and to some that may seem extreme, but is it? Are we idolizing these celebrities who are living in the world and partaking in everything of the world or are we realizing that the life they are living is empty. Just look at certain secular concerts, completely sold out by people who are idolizing them. Our role models should be godly men and godly women. They should be people who are living their life in a way that is glorifying God. Someone who is on fire for the Lord and encouraging others, reading the Word, and praying. Someone who is faithfully serving in the church not because it’s their “duty” but because of their passion for Jesus and their love for those who they are serving.
I was reading through Jonah and thinking about how we are so often just like him. When God told him to go to Nineveh and he ran the opposite direction. Don’t we do that all the time? God tells us to do something or step outside our comfort zone and we say “Nah I’m good, I’m just going to do me”. Or when He convicts us of a sin in our life but we just don’t want to give it up so we say, “Well it’s not like I did this or that… those are the really bad sins”. I don’t want to be like Jonah and run away from what God is calling me to. I want to follow God’s plan for my life. This missions trip being a part of that. I don’t want to be afraid even if there is good reason to be. God has put missions on my heart, He has given me the passions that I have, the experiences that I have gone through, so that I can serve His Kingdom.
