Once a YWAM-er, always a YWAM-er, they say.
I am beyond excited to be on this journey!
I came in to the YWAM Nashville base September 22nd. I have 3 awesome roommates and there are 22 students total. I love everyone here, students and staff.
Our first week was about Relationships. I learned so much. We also did our first street evangelism on Friday night from 6-10 p.m. I was on the team that went to the ghetto - so far out of my comfort zone. It was a predominantly black neighborhood. As we were there, at least 3 drug deals occurred. Still, as terrified and out of my comfort zone, I felt safe and at peace. We prayed for many people, then went to the Riverview park. There, we divided into teams of two. Me and one of my roommates prayed for two women; the first had a military daughter in Korea who was very ill. The second lady had been through a difficult divorce and marriage, as her husband of 15 years had abused her and mistreated her - "You name it, he did it" she said. She fought for custody of her daughter, and got her but lost all her money in the process. She is also without a job and no one will hire her. All her friends left as soon as times got rough. She was crying the first time we prayed for her, when she hadn't told us anything. Then when I saw she was upset, I asked if there was anything else we could pray for & that story came out. We prayed again & got her a business card for the church we were working with. They are going to help her with finances, and electrical and other needs as she's afraid she's going to get evicted. She was so blessed by the experience, and so was I! I realized I've been living in a little protective bubble. There are so many hurt people out there, living in dangerous places every day, inside the US!
This week our topics are about Hearing the Voice of God. Already, I've realized that God is always speaking and sometimes I'm the one not listening. He first revealed himself first by the sentence "In the beginning, God created..." which reveals him first as our Creator. So Creation itself is God speaking to us.
Also I realized my mindset is wrong. Instead of talking about how we wish Jesus would just come back now, I want to live, as our speaker said "Wanting to give Jesus a kingdom worth coming for. There is too much work to be done, we need more time!" Let's not have Jesus come back to a kingdom that doesn't recognize him.
A random note that gave me hope was that in Iran alone there are over 1 and a half million underground church missionaries!!
There is so much more I'm learning. I love it all.
We have quiet time scheduled in the morning. I am learning to just be quiet and let God tell me what to pray for, what part of His Word to read, and just let him speak.
We also are having fun just getting to know each other here. I should find out which place I'm going for the 8-week outreach phase in a week or so!
Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Two Weeks then New Horizons
Two weeks.
In two weeks, I will be leaving two states away from where I've lived my whole life.
In two weeks, I will say good-bye to all those I know best and make a new "family" of friends.
In two weeks, I will hug those I love, the last time for three months.
In two weeks, I will leave the life I've known behind forever. I will be changed, I know it.
I will leave complacency, comfort, for challenges and the rewards that come with them.
I will leave relationships and church family for new ones that I'm sure will stay with me forever.
Two weeks will fly by. I am ready yet unprepared, contradicting though that may seem. I'm ready because God has called me to do this, and to always be prepared to go when he says. I am not prepared because I have my own list of things to do such as buying early Christmas gifts, spending time with friends not seen enough, and cleaning out my room, all of which should be done but I can survive if it doesn't.
The last few weeks, our pastor has been speaking on "Greater Things", challenging us to go out of our comfort zones, a fitting message for where I am in life. Today, we sang "Glory to God Forever" by Fee which says: "Take my life and let it be, all for you and for your glory, Take my life and let it be Yours" http://youtu.be/h64opCwLZCw
And "So I stand, with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe, of the One who gave it all. I stand, my soul Lord, to you surrendered, All I am, is Yours"
And those lyrics echo the cry of my heart. All I am is His.
That's why I am not sad to leave. I will miss this, I will miss the people, but how can I be sad when He has called me? How can I be sad when true sadness and heartbreak is calling from the hearts of the broken and needy, those who I am going to learn how to minister to? Why should I let fear and comfort control me (again from the spot-on sermon at church today) when, by leaving, I can help deliver the message of hope this world needs so desperately?
So I wonder about these two weeks, as I desperately try to cover all that needs done before I leave (which in the eternal realm of things, doesn't matter anyway. Other than spending time with people. Relationships last to eternity, I believe). I wonder how they'll ever pass, how this dream of YWAM will become a reality, and I wonder because days just pass so darn fast. I can't imagine what God has in store for me. I'm not even going to try, for I may accidentally put him in a box and try to limit what He has for me.
I am excited, nervous, hopeful, thankful, and in awe of this opportunity before me. I will try not to be sad ever. Though missing people is allowed. I will miss the babies that I consider family, the babies that are now three and two (two years tomorrow) that I had the privilege of being more-than-babysitter to for their whole lives. I will miss the New Hope church family that I've so recently come to know but love so much already. I will miss the friends of my previous church, who are just as much part of my church family today though our churches are different. (So thankful to those mentors who knew me since I was a baby, who pray for me, and encourage me on occasions, like today, of God's plan for me.) I will miss the friends my age, those who I've known forever and those who I've recently met. I will miss the family that, of course, knows me better than anyone else, and who I haven't been apart from more than two weeks in my life.
But I won't miss Jesus because, of course, he's the Best Friend that I can take anywhere :) Now isn't that nice!
New things, new faces, new ministries, new chances for God to work.
These are dreams coming true, in two weeks.
In two weeks, I will be leaving two states away from where I've lived my whole life.
In two weeks, I will say good-bye to all those I know best and make a new "family" of friends.
In two weeks, I will hug those I love, the last time for three months.
In two weeks, I will leave the life I've known behind forever. I will be changed, I know it.
I will leave complacency, comfort, for challenges and the rewards that come with them.
I will leave relationships and church family for new ones that I'm sure will stay with me forever.
Two weeks will fly by. I am ready yet unprepared, contradicting though that may seem. I'm ready because God has called me to do this, and to always be prepared to go when he says. I am not prepared because I have my own list of things to do such as buying early Christmas gifts, spending time with friends not seen enough, and cleaning out my room, all of which should be done but I can survive if it doesn't.
The last few weeks, our pastor has been speaking on "Greater Things", challenging us to go out of our comfort zones, a fitting message for where I am in life. Today, we sang "Glory to God Forever" by Fee which says: "Take my life and let it be, all for you and for your glory, Take my life and let it be Yours" http://youtu.be/h64opCwLZCw
And "So I stand, with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe, of the One who gave it all. I stand, my soul Lord, to you surrendered, All I am, is Yours"
And those lyrics echo the cry of my heart. All I am is His.
That's why I am not sad to leave. I will miss this, I will miss the people, but how can I be sad when He has called me? How can I be sad when true sadness and heartbreak is calling from the hearts of the broken and needy, those who I am going to learn how to minister to? Why should I let fear and comfort control me (again from the spot-on sermon at church today) when, by leaving, I can help deliver the message of hope this world needs so desperately?
So I wonder about these two weeks, as I desperately try to cover all that needs done before I leave (which in the eternal realm of things, doesn't matter anyway. Other than spending time with people. Relationships last to eternity, I believe). I wonder how they'll ever pass, how this dream of YWAM will become a reality, and I wonder because days just pass so darn fast. I can't imagine what God has in store for me. I'm not even going to try, for I may accidentally put him in a box and try to limit what He has for me.
I am excited, nervous, hopeful, thankful, and in awe of this opportunity before me. I will try not to be sad ever. Though missing people is allowed. I will miss the babies that I consider family, the babies that are now three and two (two years tomorrow) that I had the privilege of being more-than-babysitter to for their whole lives. I will miss the New Hope church family that I've so recently come to know but love so much already. I will miss the friends of my previous church, who are just as much part of my church family today though our churches are different. (So thankful to those mentors who knew me since I was a baby, who pray for me, and encourage me on occasions, like today, of God's plan for me.) I will miss the friends my age, those who I've known forever and those who I've recently met. I will miss the family that, of course, knows me better than anyone else, and who I haven't been apart from more than two weeks in my life.
But I won't miss Jesus because, of course, he's the Best Friend that I can take anywhere :) Now isn't that nice!
New things, new faces, new ministries, new chances for God to work.
These are dreams coming true, in two weeks.
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