Monday, June 29, 2009

LifeBuilder's VBS Day 1

Today was the first day of the VBS we're doing down at LifeBuilders in Detroit. It was amazing...Matt and I have the best crew ever and the kids are loving it! God is working in some amazing and awesome ways. The English language does not contain the words to express how awesome and amazing tonight was.

That's really all I wanted to say.... God is amazing, VBS is amazing, Kids loving Jesus are amazing, and the conviction that comes from listening to the story at VBS and saying "Fear Not!" a million and one times every night is amazing. God is good!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Worry...

Tonight before I went to Lighthouse I had asked God to just really convict me and stir my spirit. Well, He did. The message tonight was directed straight at my heart. The topic you ask?? That would be worry. Lately I've been struggling with worrying about the future. Who my future spouse will be... Where am I going to be in a few years life wise... Will I be a good interpreter... Will I be able to get a job....is another 4 years of school really in the mix??? Through all of this worrying, God has been speaking to my heart, plainly and rather bluntly saying...
"I'm God, you're not. I know what's best, I love you and I'll take care of you if you'll just let me. Knock it off with the obsessing of the future. Trust Me."
FYI: it's a lot easier said than done. But it was something I was working on. And then tonight happened and God just showed me how much I'm still worrying. I think the thing that hit me the most was that when we worry, we're saying to God that he can't keep his promises, that he can't be in control. We are looking at ourselves saying I'm in control... I'll handle this (which is rather stupid since worrying doesn't do any good). Worry is a sin that stems from pride. Worry is telling God that we don't trust him enough to do what he says he will do. But when we take our worries and fears to God in prayer, we are taking the focus off ourselves and admitting just how much we can't, but God can.
I'm not even doing justice to what was said tonight...So, you need to check it out for yourself by going to www.lighthousecollective.com and listening to the podcast of tonight's message... it should be up in the next couple of days.
So will you join with me in turning the focus off ourselves and onto God??

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Delighting and Desires

So lately my mind has been on love and such. Maybe it's the fact that many of my friends are now engaged and I'm still single and waiting. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that my cousin is getting married in couple of months and I'm standing up in the wedding. Whatever the reason, it's been hitting me lately how very single I am and how quite a bit of the time I'd rather not be. Don't get me wrong, some days I am really good with being single. Other days are a bit more trying as I continually learn how to be content with my life situation. All this to say, while trying to not think about this subject quite so much and not worry about the future, God reminded me of something I wrote in my journal after one of Cliff's messages at Lighthouse (on 1/4/09). So the following is the notes from my journal on that night and possibly some additional commentary now:

What Delighting Means...

"Take delight in the Lord and he will give you your heart's desires." Psalms 37:4

Delight doesn't mean I'm happy with God. It means that he is my everything-- my sustainer, my lover, my hope, my past, present, and future, and everything else I need (or desire).

My desires aren't really a boyfriend, to be famous, or to be the best at what I do, but rather they stem from a deep desire to be loved, appreciated, honored, and highly thought of.

When I delight in God, the desires of my heart are truly being met in every sense of the word. I am being loved, honored, cherished, treasured, esteemed, appreciated, and he thinks very highly of me. When I delight myself in God, my desires are met beyond what i ever could dream of-- because I have finally said, "God you are more than enough for me."

Back to the present. At times I wonder if I can truly say that God is more than enough for me. And even more than that, do I live like he's more than enough for me? Do I live like he's fulfilled the deepest desires of my heart? Most often the answer would sadly be no. Too often I look to people to fulfill what I see as the desires of my heart. But just as often, people can't provide the fulfillment of those desires. The desire continues, wanting, yearning to be filled. And too often I don't turn to the one who can fill it, the one who has already filled it if I would just realize it!

So I think with where my thoughts have been lately and what I've been thinking my desires are I needed to reread this. Don't get me wrong... I'm all for marriage and hope to be married myself one day :-) But a human is never going to fulfill the desires of my heart, only God can do that. Humans will fail, but God never fails. And this was a good reminder of some of the lessons that God has been teaching me lately.