How can I even try and formulate a sentence that would allow you to have a mere glimpse of my month here in Cambodia?
From the moment I stepped off of the plane I knew something about this month was going to be different. I knew God was going to challenge me in new ways.
As we settled in to our small house I had almost an ungrateful spirit. No matter how much I tried to be joyful, I found selfish, prideful, spoiled Layne trying to drag me down.
Determined not to let the uncomfortable living conditions or my own self-entitlement cause my month to be one giant collision of negativity, I decided to do something different. I made a decision to find the joy in EVERY circumstance that I was faced with, the point of connection with Jesus. This meant that I was going to have to see that every situation good or bad possessed something tangible for me to receive or enjoy James 1:2-8.
As I began to take this approach on thinking I found that my negative thoughts began to occur less and less. I began to see God’s upgrades (Graham Cooke “The Art of Thinking Brilliantly”).
An Example of God’s UPGRADES:
I walked over to the church to teach English to my group of 5 college age Cambodian friends. It was 7:30pm and still in the 80’s. Drenched in sweat and exhausted, I sat down and asked them what they wanted to talk about.
“Tell me all you know about Jesus!”
As I sat there and talked with them about love and truth, it was almost as if God flipped on the A.C. and gave me an incredible boost of energy. Before I knew it we had been talking for 2 hours! Just as I was getting ready to walk out of the door RaxSemi tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I felt the holy spirit tonight.”
It would have been so easy for me to walk in to that class with my negative attitude and miss out on the amazing opportunity that God allowed me to be a part of.
This is just one on the many times that God has shown me just how much he loves me this month. He loves me enough to upgrade every circumstance in my life. The only question is whether or not I choose to take that upgrade.
Adventures In Missions
From the moment I stepped off of the plane I knew something about this month was going to be different. I knew God was going to challenge me in new ways.
As we settled in to our small house I had almost an ungrateful spirit. No matter how much I tried to be joyful, I found selfish, prideful, spoiled Layne trying to drag me down.
Determined not to let the uncomfortable living conditions or my own self-entitlement cause my month to be one giant collision of negativity, I decided to do something different. I made a decision to find the joy in EVERY circumstance that I was faced with, the point of connection with Jesus. This meant that I was going to have to see that every situation good or bad possessed something tangible for me to receive or enjoy James 1:2-8.
As I began to take this approach on thinking I found that my negative thoughts began to occur less and less. I began to see God’s upgrades (Graham Cooke “The Art of Thinking Brilliantly”).
An Example of God’s UPGRADES:
I walked over to the church to teach English to my group of 5 college age Cambodian friends. It was 7:30pm and still in the 80’s. Drenched in sweat and exhausted, I sat down and asked them what they wanted to talk about.
“Tell me all you know about Jesus!”
As I sat there and talked with them about love and truth, it was almost as if God flipped on the A.C. and gave me an incredible boost of energy. Before I knew it we had been talking for 2 hours! Just as I was getting ready to walk out of the door RaxSemi tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I felt the holy spirit tonight.”
It would have been so easy for me to walk in to that class with my negative attitude and miss out on the amazing opportunity that God allowed me to be a part of.
This is just one on the many times that God has shown me just how much he loves me this month. He loves me enough to upgrade every circumstance in my life. The only question is whether or not I choose to take that upgrade.
Love you…mean it…
Chelsie Layne
Chelsie Layne
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