Look At The Birds

Matthew 6:26 - Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Hey y'all!

This verse is a pretty common one. I've heard it. I've believed it. But it has taken on a whole new meaning to me this past week in Ocean City. Part of that is due to the gosh dang seagulls here.. but in all reality, God's provision over me this past week has been crazy. Prepare to get a full load of my life in these next paragraphs.

God's provision has shown itself in an abundance of ways. One of the hard parts about being on mission is the financial aspect. Food here is not provided and is not cheap to buy. I was getting really frustrated with the amount being spent on food. So I decided to have more self-control. When people went out for ice cream, I said no. And when I went to do quiet time at the coffee shop, I didn't buy any coffee. Small things, but things that were hard to do. And God provided. He sent a friend to me with ice cream that first night, and a friend to buy me coffee the next day. Again, they were little things, but they touched me so much. God cares. He saw my efforts, and He didn't leave me alone. That same week that I was stressed out about finances, I literally cried out to God. Within half an hour, he sent me an email with a job offer. God doesn't leave us, guys. Now that doesn't mean God will always give me what I want. It just shows that God is powerful enough to do what needs to be done. He will provide for us much more than He'll provide for the birds. And let me tell you - those seagulls are sure well-fed.

Another way God has shown provision is by teaching me that I need to accept help from people. For those of you who know me well, you know that I don't like to be weak. I don't like to accept help. But God knew that was an unhealthy mindset, so He did what He needed to do to change that. A hard situation arose that I didn't know how to handle. I've been learning to lean on the help of all 67 other students here. They have given me wise words, emotional support, love, protection, and hugs. I could honestly not have done it without them. They were the provision God gave to me.

Just because we go through trials doesn't mean that God isn't providing. In fact, it's the opposite. It means God is providing. He cares about the little things. He provides. He is always providing sanctification and love. He is providing himself. He is providing the church - community. And those are better things than anything from this life. It's not all good. But God is all good. And He's working it out.

Faithful Follower - Kels

My support group this past week

Worldy

Hi friends!

I don't know how God continues to teach me so much in such little time. This blog is a little more of a personal story, but it's been on my heart so I invite you to see how God is shaping my life.

The past week was titled World Week. It concentrated on God's calling in all of our lives to reach different parts of the world and fulfill the Great Commission. For those of you unfamiliar, the great commission is found in Matthew 28:19-20 - "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." God is at work in the nations whether we involve ourselves or not. It is so incredibly beautiful.

From the time I was a kid at maybe age 10, I knew I wanted to be a missionary. I wanted to see God's Word move through the world. But I thought that being a missionary only looked like moving to a desolate jungle island and living with a tribe. While that can certainly be true, I didn't feel called there. I was in such conflict at such a young age of how to be a missionary. When high school and the age of choosing a career rolled around, I decided on event planning. I had a talent and a passion for it, but it never really fulfilled me.

Fast forward to now. One of our wonderful Cru staff gave a message about not living in our comfort zone of the typical American life. All that was running through my mind was all of the people here in their comfort zone and living the typical American life. They don't know they need anything more. My heart hurt for them. That's when I realized those are the exact people I am going to be working with in the business world. I suddenly was able to see how God had fit all of the pieces of my life together - my talents for events and my heart for sharing the Gospel with Americans. Ministry in the business world is what God has called me to do, as terrifying as that is. I mean why would they want to listen to me? Realizing that for sure gave me peace that surpasses all understanding. While the details might be sketchy - what specific city, what ministry training to gather before entering the workforce, etc - my vision to see the great commission fulfilled has taken shape.

I don't share this to brag about how God revealed something to me. I share this to encourage you. I never saw until this week just how God uses our passions and talents to accomplish His work if we let Him. While I wanted to be called overseas, my talents and heart are for here. I pray you can use your talents and passions for the Lord as well. Our time here is so short. It's a beautiful thing when we can use that time to bring glory to God in our own unique ways. Nothing is more fulfilling. If you need some direction at where your skills lie, I recommend taking a Spiritual gifts test and praying over the results. We were made to fulfill the great commission if we so choose to dedicate our lives to that. I pray you have found the way God has called you.

Faithful Follower - Kels

My sweet discipler Amelia

Body Image

Hi all!

Last week in Ocean City was a beautiful week. It was Family Week for all of us here on mission. That meant some beautiful lessons about comparison, support, and encouragement were learned. While that all sounds fun and dandy, don't be fooled. It was hard. It was painful. Let me give you a glimpse into my sin-filled perspective of this and how it was changed.

Coming to this mission, I met some of the most incredible people I've ever met. Everyone on this mission is here because of their genuine love and commitment to God. We came to be trained as leaders and change this world for God. Inevitably however, that means there is a lot of subtle comparison going on. I can't speak for everyone, but I know that I subconsciously wanted to be the "Best Christian" - whatever that meant. I didn't realize how hard I was pushing myself to be the best at everything and perform for God. I woke up early to spend time with God, talked about my testimony at work, shared my faith with strangers, journaled, tried to become best friends with everyone, and learned how to help people. While all of these are worthy and God-glorifying things, I realized I was comparing how much I was doing with how much other people were doing. It caused stress and exhaustion and isolation.

Once I became aware of this desire of mine to be the best, I broke down. How could I take even the purest things and twist them with my sin? Sin hasn't tainted a part of us. It runs through our whole body and overflows into every single aspect of our life. Bringing this sin into the light was depressing. But realizing it is cancelled sin in the eyes of our Lord made me bow down in thankfulness. Romans 5:2b says "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." I learned to rejoice in the fact that I can see God's glory abound from this. Romans 6:6 says "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." I have freedom from these feelings of comparison and self-righteousness.

The week ended with every student being assigned a role to take over when the staff leave on July 7th. There was a lot of potential for comparison and bitterness to see how the roles were assigned. But we have freedom to think of ourselves less. God gave the perfect opportunity to rejoice with each student in their individual role. I've been able to see how well each is performed and how I couldn't do their role. I can't be strong in every area. I've gotten to see where my strengths do and don't lie and it is okay. I was made perfect by God. Why do I need to compare and try to be the best at everything?

Since learning this freedom of self-forgetfulness, God has changed my hard heart. Putting God and others first as commanded is truly the most freeing thing. I guess that's why God listed them as the greatest commandments.. I've found so much joy in encouraging and supporting others. Together we are the body. That's why this blog has the strange title of Body Image. My image of the Body of Christ was changed when I stopped thinking about myself. I pray you can experience this yourself.

Kels - Faithful Follower