I leave for Haiti in less than two weeks! Woah, now that I actually am seeing that, it is unreal! I'm beyond excited, I cannot wait to see the little missionary kids I love so much and I cannot wait to see the little Haitian kids with their big white smiles! I am praying that the Lord will use my skills and abilities to help out the missionaries in a big way. Although, I am beyond excited I am still a little nervous. I'm dreading being away from Matt for three weeks, I'm dreading not seeing my parents, grandparents, in laws, youth group, and my friends for three weeks. I'm terrified that tbecause I will not be working for three weeks our bills will be able to be paid.
There is nothing wrong with being nervous about big steps in your life, especially life changing ones. The important thing is what you do with those nerves. If they keep you from following the Lord's call you are in trouble. I am nervous, but I also am faithful, and to be honest I'm more faithful than nervous. When we are called to serve and love others in the name of the Father He never said it would be comfortable or easy. It's scary....but it's worth it!
The missionary whom I will be going to help has been emailing me a lot the past few days. She has just been telling the type of things I'll be doing while I'm there, asking me to bring things with me, asking if I'm good at or know how to do certain things, she even asked me to type up a newsletter for the school I'll be working at! I love making newsletters (it's the mailing I hate) so to make one and then just email it on is my kind of job!
Because I will be gone for three weeks I have so much that I have to get done before I hop on that plane. I have to make hair bows before I go for our children's group at church (they need them for the last day, which I will be gone for), I need to finish making the hair bows that I am actually taking with me, I need to pick up malaria medicine, start packing, buy snacks to take with me, buy/find all my travel sized stuff, find all my skirts and the shirts that go with them and that's just the stuff I need to do at home.
At work I have to make three weeks worth of bulletins, write down instructions for the ladies who are covering for me in the office, I had to prepare ALL that mail that would need to go out while I'm gone, PLUS do the stuff I normally do in a week for the rest of this week and next week. On top of all of this I need to find time to have quality time with Matt, my mom, my dad, my grandma, and my friends before I go! Whew, I'm tired just thinking about all this!
Because I am human I keep thinking about all the things that need to be done, and not thinking about the fact that life will go on even if they don't get done. I stress myself out about things that it starts to take the fun and adventure out of it.
I just need to chill and let God take over. I know He is saying "chill, I got this!"
Please pray with me as I take this adventure!
"If God is for us, who can be against us?!"
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Praying for Boston
I know that everyone is talking about what happened in Boston yesterday, and for good reason. My friend's dad was running in the marathon, and after about two hours of wondering if he was okay, he text her sister and said he was fine! He was four blocks away from the finish line when the bombs went off. PRAISE GOD!
Yesterday when I was praying for my friend's dad and family I kept thinking "who could do this" "what are they trying to prove" "they will be judged one day for this" and so many other things. It is unreal how much evil is out there and it will always be there, that is until the Lord comes again, and He will come again.
As Christians what can we do? The first and easiest thing we can do is pray. Pray for the people and families hurt because of the people who did this, the city of Boston because I can only imagine the panic and terror they are in, as hard as it may be pray for those who did this. We can also donate blood to the Red Cross. In a few days I'm sure there will be other needs that will need to be met and when they announce that, we can be the first ones to head there.
I hate that we live in a world where people do this kind of thing, but the horrifying reality is that we do. And we will continue to live in this kind of world until He decides to destroy it, and he will!
Please pray for Boston and their families!
Until next time...Revelation 11:18
Yesterday when I was praying for my friend's dad and family I kept thinking "who could do this" "what are they trying to prove" "they will be judged one day for this" and so many other things. It is unreal how much evil is out there and it will always be there, that is until the Lord comes again, and He will come again.
As Christians what can we do? The first and easiest thing we can do is pray. Pray for the people and families hurt because of the people who did this, the city of Boston because I can only imagine the panic and terror they are in, as hard as it may be pray for those who did this. We can also donate blood to the Red Cross. In a few days I'm sure there will be other needs that will need to be met and when they announce that, we can be the first ones to head there.
I hate that we live in a world where people do this kind of thing, but the horrifying reality is that we do. And we will continue to live in this kind of world until He decides to destroy it, and he will!
Please pray for Boston and their families!
Until next time...Revelation 11:18
Monday, April 15, 2013
Jesus Time
I spent the weekend with my best friend from college, Ally. She lives two hours away so we don't see each other has much as we would like to. So when we do see each other it is nothing but catching up on our lives and what the Lord is doing for us. She leaves for Africa two days after I leave for Haiti so we talked about getting prepared for our trips, her love life, my marriage, school, work, and just life in general. Every time I spend any amount of time with her when she leaves I catch myself always thinking about "the least of these." I always end up thinking how much I am longing to be closer to Jesus. She just brings these things out in me and I am thankful for that.
I find myself so preoccupied with so many things in my life that I forget to spend sweet time with Jesus. I need to be striving EVERYDAY to have a stronger and more intimate relationship with Him, and EVERYDAY I fail! Why do I keep failing? Well there are so many reasons... laziness, social media, texting, and TV are the main 4 things that keep me from that Jesus time my heart is truly longing for. I believe that laziness is the number one problem in all of America. We have so many things that make our lives so easy we get used to it and become lazy.
I want to spend more quality time with Jesus, learning who He is, what he wants from me, being closer and closer with Him each day. I want and need to dive into the Word of His Father and surrender myself to Him in deep prayer. He has so much for my life and I don't even know the half of it because I am comfortable, too comfortable to keep reading, learning, traveling, helping others, and everything else He has commanded.
When He said to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, love the hurting, care for the orphaned and elderly He wasn't saying those things as suggestions...He was COMMANDING
it. We all need more Jesus time, more time doing things for others and not ourselves. We live in a selfish and dying culture, and I am striving to change that1
Until next time...Luke 3:11
I find myself so preoccupied with so many things in my life that I forget to spend sweet time with Jesus. I need to be striving EVERYDAY to have a stronger and more intimate relationship with Him, and EVERYDAY I fail! Why do I keep failing? Well there are so many reasons... laziness, social media, texting, and TV are the main 4 things that keep me from that Jesus time my heart is truly longing for. I believe that laziness is the number one problem in all of America. We have so many things that make our lives so easy we get used to it and become lazy.
I want to spend more quality time with Jesus, learning who He is, what he wants from me, being closer and closer with Him each day. I want and need to dive into the Word of His Father and surrender myself to Him in deep prayer. He has so much for my life and I don't even know the half of it because I am comfortable, too comfortable to keep reading, learning, traveling, helping others, and everything else He has commanded.
When He said to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, love the hurting, care for the orphaned and elderly He wasn't saying those things as suggestions...He was COMMANDING
it. We all need more Jesus time, more time doing things for others and not ourselves. We live in a selfish and dying culture, and I am striving to change that1
Until next time...Luke 3:11
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Owwww
Lately I have been going to Zumba and I love it!! Now, if you don't know what Zumba is let me explain it a bit. Zumba is a dance exercise, it is Latin inspired but still has flares of hip hop and other types of dance. I go Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and dance my tail off for an hour. The two instructors are awesome at it. I have really been trying to get in better shape for my trip to Haiti, and just in general. But...my Zumba days have stopped...at least for a few weeks.
When I was just a young pup in grade school I twisted my knee, forever causing soft tissue damage. If I turn wrong my knee cap pops out of place and then instantly back in. Yes, you are right it is excruciating! It happens about every two years (depending on how active I am being.) Well, it happened on Monday during Zumba. While I was doing a spin in one of the songs BAM! I found myself on the floor in indescribable pain. I was so embarrassed! Some people helped me to the chairs and I text Matt to come get it. It was the worst feeling EVER!
Monday night I could not walk, Matt got me snacks, drinks, fluffed the pillow, and even unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. I stayed home from work on Wednesday. It is feeling better but I still cannot straighten it all the way.
I am heart broken that I have to take a break from Zumba and keep finding myself wondering if I'll ever be able to do it as hard as I want to. I will start wearing a knee brace like I am supposed to and I am praying that will help, I guess I'll have to wait and see.
When I was just a young pup in grade school I twisted my knee, forever causing soft tissue damage. If I turn wrong my knee cap pops out of place and then instantly back in. Yes, you are right it is excruciating! It happens about every two years (depending on how active I am being.) Well, it happened on Monday during Zumba. While I was doing a spin in one of the songs BAM! I found myself on the floor in indescribable pain. I was so embarrassed! Some people helped me to the chairs and I text Matt to come get it. It was the worst feeling EVER!
Monday night I could not walk, Matt got me snacks, drinks, fluffed the pillow, and even unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. I stayed home from work on Wednesday. It is feeling better but I still cannot straighten it all the way.
I am heart broken that I have to take a break from Zumba and keep finding myself wondering if I'll ever be able to do it as hard as I want to. I will start wearing a knee brace like I am supposed to and I am praying that will help, I guess I'll have to wait and see.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The Future
What a scary thought for me, the future. What does my future hold? I have no clue! I know that it DOES hold loving my husband forever, serving my Lord forever, and loving and helping people forever. Those are the ONLY things I am sure of. I don't know where I'll live in a year, where I will work, if I will ever go back to school, I don't know anything. And to be quite honest, I'm okay with not knowing because God know and he really is the only one who needs to know. I'll just pray that I find out someday.
Although I would LOVE to sell everything I own and move to Haiti and love on sweet babies, that is not going to happen. The Lord has not called Matt to be a missionary and since He has called us to be married therefore no matter how much I think it stinks He has not called me to be a full time missionary. I will go to Haiti or anywhere else He asks me to go for a short period of time and maybe someday I'll have a job where I am able to go for several weeks at a time, but we will wait and see what God has planned. I 100% believe that Matt is to be a pastor in America, although I wish he is supposed to be a pastor in Haiti, that if MY plan, not His.
Growing up I never knew a missionary or really what a missionary was, I didn't know people moved to broken and hurting countries to tell its people about our Lord and Savior. When I was in high school I met a really good friend, who had been a missionary in Sri Lanka. I was fascinated by her family and the stories they told. Then as I got older I started hearing a little bit more about missionaries, then I met my now best friend Arica who lived in Mexico and what not. Then when I went to a Christian College it was a HUGE thing for people to go on mission trips for months or years at a time. I was so interested in the idea of being a missionary! So when I had the chance to go to Haiti I was all over it. I never thought I would be going back so soon and for three weeks!
The Lord has put missions on my heart but He has not called me to be a full time missionary, as much as it stinks. He has called me to be a wife, and in order for me to do that I am stuck here in America.
I don't know what I will be "when I grow up," I don't have the slightest clue. What I hope will happen is that I will become a loving homeschooling mother, continue to be a better wife, go back to Haiti a few more times, go to Africa, be the light of Jesus in the darkest parts of the world, even America has dark parts!
Until next time...Jeremiah 29:11
Although I would LOVE to sell everything I own and move to Haiti and love on sweet babies, that is not going to happen. The Lord has not called Matt to be a missionary and since He has called us to be married therefore no matter how much I think it stinks He has not called me to be a full time missionary. I will go to Haiti or anywhere else He asks me to go for a short period of time and maybe someday I'll have a job where I am able to go for several weeks at a time, but we will wait and see what God has planned. I 100% believe that Matt is to be a pastor in America, although I wish he is supposed to be a pastor in Haiti, that if MY plan, not His.
Growing up I never knew a missionary or really what a missionary was, I didn't know people moved to broken and hurting countries to tell its people about our Lord and Savior. When I was in high school I met a really good friend, who had been a missionary in Sri Lanka. I was fascinated by her family and the stories they told. Then as I got older I started hearing a little bit more about missionaries, then I met my now best friend Arica who lived in Mexico and what not. Then when I went to a Christian College it was a HUGE thing for people to go on mission trips for months or years at a time. I was so interested in the idea of being a missionary! So when I had the chance to go to Haiti I was all over it. I never thought I would be going back so soon and for three weeks!
The Lord has put missions on my heart but He has not called me to be a full time missionary, as much as it stinks. He has called me to be a wife, and in order for me to do that I am stuck here in America.
I don't know what I will be "when I grow up," I don't have the slightest clue. What I hope will happen is that I will become a loving homeschooling mother, continue to be a better wife, go back to Haiti a few more times, go to Africa, be the light of Jesus in the darkest parts of the world, even America has dark parts!
Until next time...Jeremiah 29:11
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Good News
SO...this is going to be a lot of random thoughts, not just one like they usually are.
1. My flights have been booked for my trip, it is real! On May 13 I will leave Evansville at 10:15 am and arrive in Detroit at 12:41 pm. Then at 2:10 pm I will leave Detroit and arrive in Orlando at 4:49 pm.
I will be staying the night in FL, and the next morning May 14 I will head to Haiti! Then on June 4 I will fly from Haiti to FL and stay the night there. On June 5 I will leave FL at 6:30 pm and arrive in ATL at 8:11 pm. Then at 8:55 pm I will fly from ATL and arrive in Evansville at 9:12 pm, then I will head home!
Yes, it takes 2 whole days to get there.
2. I have raised almost all the money I need for the actual trip! God is too good! I still need a little more for the actual money I have to have on me while I am there.
3. Matt and I have finally gotten a home! We have stayed there two nights and it is great! We are getting cable and internet today so then we will actually be able to just hang out there. It has 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms, a HUGE living room, washer and dryer hook up, a shed, a yard, and.....a DISHWASHER!!! Halleluiah! I am very thankful to have a home that is not an apartment and that we can afford!
4. I am NOT joking, while in the middle of writing the paragraph below I received word that Matt and my dear friend Shorty is cancer free!!! Praise the Lord, He is good and answers prayers!! I know so many people have been praying for Shorty and his health and the Lord has healed him! Shorty is 79 years old with a heart of gold! He takes Matt and I for ice cream and when you see him you can't help but smile. He loves life and lives it to serve the Lord and others. When I found out he was sick I was heart broken! The world was not ready to lose Shorty and the Lord knew that. He is now cancer free and I am Praising the Lord!
God is teaching me that I need to stop worrying! Why do I worry? I know why, cause I'm a control freak and if there is something I cannot control I am going to worry about it! I was really worried about not getting my money raised in time because the trip was official like 3 weeks ago and I leave in a little over a month. I was worried we would never find a home we love that we could afford. I was worried about Shorty and his health. I was worried about so many other things that are not even significant enough to mention. God has got this...He has it all. Why can't I just let Him run with it without worrying about it? Looking back at the first six months of our marriage I have no clue how we survived! I didn't work very many hours at my then job and Matt only had one of his now two jobs. The only way we were able to pay all of our bills is because God had it under control! He blessed us with parents and grandparents always happy to feed us when we had NO food or money for food!
The Lord has found Matt and I a home, is sending me back to Haiti, and healed Shorty! You will not see me today without a smile on my face!!!!
Until next time...Psalm 118:24
1. My flights have been booked for my trip, it is real! On May 13 I will leave Evansville at 10:15 am and arrive in Detroit at 12:41 pm. Then at 2:10 pm I will leave Detroit and arrive in Orlando at 4:49 pm.
I will be staying the night in FL, and the next morning May 14 I will head to Haiti! Then on June 4 I will fly from Haiti to FL and stay the night there. On June 5 I will leave FL at 6:30 pm and arrive in ATL at 8:11 pm. Then at 8:55 pm I will fly from ATL and arrive in Evansville at 9:12 pm, then I will head home!
Yes, it takes 2 whole days to get there.
2. I have raised almost all the money I need for the actual trip! God is too good! I still need a little more for the actual money I have to have on me while I am there.
3. Matt and I have finally gotten a home! We have stayed there two nights and it is great! We are getting cable and internet today so then we will actually be able to just hang out there. It has 2 bathrooms and 2 bedrooms, a HUGE living room, washer and dryer hook up, a shed, a yard, and.....a DISHWASHER!!! Halleluiah! I am very thankful to have a home that is not an apartment and that we can afford!
4. I am NOT joking, while in the middle of writing the paragraph below I received word that Matt and my dear friend Shorty is cancer free!!! Praise the Lord, He is good and answers prayers!! I know so many people have been praying for Shorty and his health and the Lord has healed him! Shorty is 79 years old with a heart of gold! He takes Matt and I for ice cream and when you see him you can't help but smile. He loves life and lives it to serve the Lord and others. When I found out he was sick I was heart broken! The world was not ready to lose Shorty and the Lord knew that. He is now cancer free and I am Praising the Lord!
God is teaching me that I need to stop worrying! Why do I worry? I know why, cause I'm a control freak and if there is something I cannot control I am going to worry about it! I was really worried about not getting my money raised in time because the trip was official like 3 weeks ago and I leave in a little over a month. I was worried we would never find a home we love that we could afford. I was worried about Shorty and his health. I was worried about so many other things that are not even significant enough to mention. God has got this...He has it all. Why can't I just let Him run with it without worrying about it? Looking back at the first six months of our marriage I have no clue how we survived! I didn't work very many hours at my then job and Matt only had one of his now two jobs. The only way we were able to pay all of our bills is because God had it under control! He blessed us with parents and grandparents always happy to feed us when we had NO food or money for food!
The Lord has found Matt and I a home, is sending me back to Haiti, and healed Shorty! You will not see me today without a smile on my face!!!!
Until next time...Psalm 118:24
Monday, April 1, 2013
I'm Terrified!
I have been seriously stressing about raising the money I have to raise for my second trip to Haiti in 4 months! When I say that out loud it is unreal that I have only been home four months and I am already going back. This time, I am actually more anxious (in a bad way), scared, nervous, stressed, and doubtful than I was the first time. So, what is the difference, I have already been there once, right? Well, here is the difference....I'm going alone, I'll in a foreign country for 3 weeks, I won't see my husband for three weeks, I won't be making any money to help Matt pay bills, I leave in about a month!
I know this is what i need to be doing, but when I constantly hear people whom I love act like it is the worst decision EVER made, it makes it hard.
"Oh you're going back to Haiti, when?"
"May"
"THIS MAY!?"
"Yup"
"For how long?"
"3 weeks"
"3 WEEKS??!?!?!"
And that is it, every time!! Am I making a mistake? Am I crazy? Why the heck am I doing this?
NO, I'm not making a mistake! Yes, I am crazy! I am doing this because there are people in Haiti whom I love that need me, and to be honest, I need them!
Yes, I leave for Haiti in a little over a month, yes I just got back from Haiti in January, yes, I am leaving Matt here, yes, I'll be gone for three weeks, yes, I won't be making ANY money in those three weeks, and YES, I am crazy!
Isn't life too short to live it any other way? God has asked me to go to Haiti for three weeks to help out a family whom has dropped EVERYTHING to live in a broken country forever! Isn't it the least I can do, to go help them when they asked for an extra set of hands to 3 weeks...ITS 3 WEEKS! In my whole life, it is 3 weeks!!!
So, it is 3 weeks, why is everyone asking like I have lost it?! Because it is terrifying! Let's be honest here...it is terrifying! It is terrifying to fly alone, to stay in a hotel in FL alone, to land in an airport where very few people speak my language, to make sure NO ONE takes my bags from me, because they will run with it, to be away from my family for 3 weeks, to miss my husband! To organize a whole program on my own, to eat strange things, IT IS TERRIFYING!
But isn't doing something terrifying showing faith and trust?
Don't you think Peter was TERRIFIED to step out of the boat and walk to Jesus? (Matt. 14:22-23)
Don't you think Noah was TERRIFIED to tell everyone that water was going to fall from the sky for the first time EVER? (Genesis 5:32-10:1)
Don't you think Mary was TERRIFIED when an angel told her she was going to have the SON OF GOD!?(Luke 1:26-38)
Don't you think the Israelites were TERRIFIED to walk through the parted Red Sea? (Exodus 14)
Don't you think David was TERRIFIED to fight Goliath? (I Sam. 17)
The answer is YES, they were all terrified! Just like me, I'm terrified to go to Haiti, alone for 3 weeks. But...I'm doing it anyway! Be sure if the Lord is asking you to do something you don't say no because it is TERRIFYING.
PS. I already have over half of my money and people just found out I am going last week! God is so good!
Until next time...Proverbs 3:5
I know this is what i need to be doing, but when I constantly hear people whom I love act like it is the worst decision EVER made, it makes it hard.
"Oh you're going back to Haiti, when?"
"May"
"THIS MAY!?"
"Yup"
"For how long?"
"3 weeks"
"3 WEEKS??!?!?!"
And that is it, every time!! Am I making a mistake? Am I crazy? Why the heck am I doing this?
NO, I'm not making a mistake! Yes, I am crazy! I am doing this because there are people in Haiti whom I love that need me, and to be honest, I need them!
Yes, I leave for Haiti in a little over a month, yes I just got back from Haiti in January, yes, I am leaving Matt here, yes, I'll be gone for three weeks, yes, I won't be making ANY money in those three weeks, and YES, I am crazy!
Isn't life too short to live it any other way? God has asked me to go to Haiti for three weeks to help out a family whom has dropped EVERYTHING to live in a broken country forever! Isn't it the least I can do, to go help them when they asked for an extra set of hands to 3 weeks...ITS 3 WEEKS! In my whole life, it is 3 weeks!!!
So, it is 3 weeks, why is everyone asking like I have lost it?! Because it is terrifying! Let's be honest here...it is terrifying! It is terrifying to fly alone, to stay in a hotel in FL alone, to land in an airport where very few people speak my language, to make sure NO ONE takes my bags from me, because they will run with it, to be away from my family for 3 weeks, to miss my husband! To organize a whole program on my own, to eat strange things, IT IS TERRIFYING!
But isn't doing something terrifying showing faith and trust?
Don't you think Peter was TERRIFIED to step out of the boat and walk to Jesus? (Matt. 14:22-23)
Don't you think Noah was TERRIFIED to tell everyone that water was going to fall from the sky for the first time EVER? (Genesis 5:32-10:1)
Don't you think Mary was TERRIFIED when an angel told her she was going to have the SON OF GOD!?(Luke 1:26-38)
Don't you think the Israelites were TERRIFIED to walk through the parted Red Sea? (Exodus 14)
Don't you think David was TERRIFIED to fight Goliath? (I Sam. 17)
The answer is YES, they were all terrified! Just like me, I'm terrified to go to Haiti, alone for 3 weeks. But...I'm doing it anyway! Be sure if the Lord is asking you to do something you don't say no because it is TERRIFYING.
PS. I already have over half of my money and people just found out I am going last week! God is so good!
Until next time...Proverbs 3:5
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