Preparation H…?

                 

 

Hahahah 🙂 I couldn't resist!

 Preparation Hurts… it is uncomfortable. I am currently being refined which is similar to working out you might hate it in the moment but are so grateful for it after the fact.

I have been busy busy busy! So much to do and say, so little time!

Here is the deal: God is good. All the time. God is good.

These past few weeks have been a bit hectic. God is working and doing soooo much in me to prepare me for what is ahead. I have been from the tops with Him to the depths. I have been frustrated with Him and then at peace with where He has me. All that has to be done before September has been overwhelming at times. But through it all God has brought me to a place of rest before Him.

I can't do it. I am learning through fundraising, with me nothing is possible. With God ALL things are. He is doing what looks like the impossible and making it possible. He is giving me opportunities to make money and then to give money, to serve and be served, to love and be loved. He has brought me to literally sell my possessions, to take up my cross daily, to love the least of these, to love the little children, to love Him more, to repent, to be in community, to serve the church, to depend on Him more… all before I go. Preparation? I think yes.

It is becoming so real. I AM GOING! With almost $5,000 in the bank there is no going back now. For my birthday my family bought me a lot of the gear I needed. Setting the tent up and sleeping (if you want to call it that) in it for a night made it become alllll too real. It is here. I leave in 2 and a half weeks for training camp! Wow! Talking with my squad members (btw we are L squad whoop whoop!) is preparing me for life with them for the next year and beyond. I wish everyone could meet them because they are SUPER legit. Thanks to Google+ we hangout quite frequently. Ahh I can't wait to meet them in person and hug their little necks!

A verse that the Lord has used to teach me and give me peace about what I am doing is Mark 10: 27-30

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." (talking about salvation). 

Then Peter spoke up, "We have left everything to follow you!" "Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields-along with persecutions-and in the age to come eternal life.  

What a good reminder that salvation is done by the Lord alone, that we have to surrender everything to the Lord, everything. I love that the Lord promises a hundred times as much when we give up homes, brothers, sisters, mothers etc. for the gospel but did you catch what He says after that? "Along with persecutions". Haha He just throws that in. Not only will I bless you with more abundance of homes and family but I will bless you with persecution. Great thanks God! 🙂 

But seriously I count it a blessing to be persecuted. Ok so maybe not in the moment… but later looking at it through His eyes gives a great perspective. Persecution means we are a threat to the enemy. Persecution means we are not on the sidelines of the battle but right in the action. 

I concluded that here I am about to leave the country, leave my home, my parents, my brother and sisters, friends, and other family. For what? The gospel. It is worth it? His word says it is. It gave me an overwhelming peace to know that this is right where the Lord has me. Losing our lives for His sake I have found to be the best way to live!

You don't have to leave the country to lay down your life for the Lord. It happens right where you are at. I pray this finds you encouraged to let things go, to lay down your burdens at the cross, to give up what you think for what God thinks, to truly surrender your whoooole life for the sake of the gospel. It is truly worth it.