Blogin' it for the very first time!

First off I just want to say that I have never done a blog before. Thanks to Ashlie(our fearless leader and creator of this blog) I going to give this a shot I guess. Well I guess the first thing that I would like to comment on is the 1830 group in general and what it has done for me in my life so far. 1830 is awesome! It is the church within our church and we are the next generation that will eventually take over the leadership of this church or other churches. It is a testing ground and a place to grow and learn more about God. It is a group that lifts each other up and is willing to love people where they are at in their life. It is a place where people can be themselves and not feel the condemnation that the world might give them. It is a great time to have fellowship with one another. First and foremost its purpose is to raise the name of Jesus up and praise His awesomeness!! I really don't think that I would be this solid in the faith if it wasn't for this group of young adults that have encouraged me to press on to get closer to Jesus Christ. It is cool to see what God is doing in that group of young people and to see all the potential that is in there. We are the giant slayers and we are like the small Gideon like army!! I just want to thank the leadership of 1830 for an awesome job they are doing. Pastor Ron is a very good leader and I want to thank him for being apart of the Hideouts that we have. Gavin and Ashlie are a great couple that strive to follow Jesus and are willing to preach what God has spoken to them. Caleb and Aimee are stellar as well and Caleb does a good job teaching when he does it. Last but not least is Arica. She is very nice because she helps with the food and man is it good when she makes it or orders it!! But anyway... to everyone else who has prayed for me or even just listened to me... Thank you all and God Bless you!!! Well I hope this was good enough for a my first blog entry!

Learning Submission

For the past 1 year and 9 months that I have been home from YWAM, God has truly done an amazing work in me. To many of you here on the home front, my life has been an open book as you have been apart of the grueling process that change can so often bring. Correction, that God can so often bring.
It is no surprise to me that we're hitting "submission" in Sunday School. This has been a major topic in my life throughout the past two years. Learning to submit is never fun nor easy, especially for any of us who are children of Adam. Naturally I am a very stubborn, selfish, prideful and impulsive person and I do not like to be told "no." Well as any good father would do when confronted with a child like me, he would pull out the belt or the rod of correction. My Father, my Heavenly Father, did just that. He set me down hard on the Potter's wheel and began to water me down as to soften me up.
When I first arrived home from YWAM I was on fire and ready to go, go, go. I was ready to minister and change my church because I knew that they were not where they needed to be spiritually speaking (I'm surprised no one stepped aside as to let a lightening bolt strike me, yikes). Thinking back now, I just shake my head at that girl. I won't get into too many details as to how the Lord dealt with me, but lets just say that the verse in Hebrews 12:6 takes on a whole new meaning for me. " For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he punishes every son he accepts."
I felt when I first came home that I would only be home for a short visit, that it would be temporary until the Lord moved me elsewhere. I thought 6 months tops! As I say that I get a picture in my head of God holding on to my pants as I'm sprinting in place trying to break free so that I can run ahead. That's kind of what it felt like. I had the desire to sprint, to hit the track and take off....change the world for Jesus! But to my confusion and alarm the Lord kept telling me to wait, to be still and to stay. To quote a wise man that I know "the ways of God are slow, steady and sure." Boy did that go against the grain for me!
At first the only thing keeping me here at home was that I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that the Lord had called me here. I was determined to walk in obedience, however my attitude stunk. I cried, complained and threw many of tantrums but I would like to THANK THE LORD for friends like Ashlie and Pastor who served as crash pads for me. They drew close to me and helped me learn to walk. It was through their love and support that it became easier for me to be content and to really learn to submit. Not just to the Lord but to my Pastor, my 1830 leader, and to my brothers and sisters in Christ. God worked out alot of junk in me and worked in humility which I think is key to submission.
I am now really and truly enjoying my time here and home and am not looking to leave anytime soon. Time and time again Pastor would tell me that, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." I have found this to be so true. I'm experiencing that great gain and am loving it! I have learned that its not about just enduring a season, but embracing it and living it to its fullest for the glory of God. I wish I could better expose my heart before you because seriously I feel new and improved. :) God is so good and so faithful. He makes me laugh and do things that I could have never imagined myself doing. He thrills me and inspires me so much! Hallelujah! Amen!

God is in control

Hi everyone
Lately God has placed it on my heart so much to remind me that it is not about me but it is about him.
Paul said in Corinthians "who ever glories let him glory in the Lord"
This is such a powerful verse to me so many times when we are apart of something great people congradulate us on a job well done and we say thanks I worked really hard to make it happen. This may be true but we need to remember that without christ we could do nothing he is our source for everything. When people say job well done we need to automatically say praise god Praise god and give all the glory to him for he is the reason that it we were able to get it done.
I heard a quote one time I found to be very true, "God doesn't need us he wants us" God is going to change the world and he just wants to know if we want to come along for the ride.
So lets just remember that serving in the kingdom of heaven is a privaledge and not a right.
John: 15.16 Says "you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit"
Just something to think about amen :)

Reflections on submission...

So, I am going to bite the bullet and be the first one to post on here. :)

For the past 24 hours, our Sunday School lesson from yesterday has been kinda rolling around in my head (thanks Jay! - he be the new teach -) For those of you who don't know, we just started a new book for Sunday School...it is "Touching Godliness through Submission" by K.P. Yohannan. I'll be honest, haven't cracked it open yet, just skimmed over the back. However, I'm excited about it.

Yesterday Jay talked about how the natural speaks of the spiritual, using the solar system as an example of God's perfect order. He highlighted the way that each planet is specifically placed, but most importantly, the earth, and the exact distance it is held from the sun...not too hot, not too cold, but just right (thanks Goldilocks). He used this example (in much more detail than I'm giving) to show how God has set up the body of Christ with order...and how that order gives lots of room for differences, personality, talents, etc and yet through the order God has set up, when we submit to Him and to one another, things work! i.e. the planets in their placement and rotation are "submitted" to the sun, gravity, etc. The verse we focused on was Ephesians 5:21 -

"...submitting to one another in the fear of God."

That is an idea that runs counter to our culture's obsession with independence and individuality. Yes, God made all of us unique and with specific purpose. Yet, we are not meant to do it alone. I'll admit that this is something that the Lord has really worked hard on me in the past couple of years. Being the oldest in my family, I am used to doing things on my own, being in charge, and thinking for myself. It is not difficult for me to take initiative and overlook asking for help. Not because I don't like people, but usually because its just easier to do it myself and I don't want to "bother" anyone. Or, in all honesty, my pride says that I can do it better myself anyway. Sometimes when I am in a rough spot, it takes extra effort for me to reach out to others. I am generally pretty transparent about my "issues" but that isn't the same as allowing people to speak into my life and really being connected. I have really been stretched in the past year when it comes to truly submitting not only to God, but to the order he has set into place...His family (leadership, brothers/sisters in the Lord, etc). It is not easy, by my goodness it is ever rewarding!

Jay touched on the practical application to submitting to one another. Some of that means overlooking idiosyncrasies, offenses, preferences, and flaws that we might see in our brothers and sisters and putting on love, grace, and humility instead. Yes, there is a time for confrontation and "speaking the truth in love"...but I think sometimes we could afford to extend a little more grace! After all, how great is the grace that our Heavenly Father extends to us despite all the mistakes we make! In examining myself and my own heart, I've found that the more the Lord works on my heart to bring humility, the more I am able to love and extend grace to my brothers and sisters (still working on it of course). THAT is when the Spirit can truly move, because unity is there!

I could say a lot more on this...but I know others will have good stuff to say...

I'll leave you with just my heartfelt thanks. To all of you, whether you are here or far away. I am so incredibly thankful for the family God has given me through His body. Each of you have encouraged me at some point or another and played an intricate part in not just my life, but in God's order that He has set up for His family, the church. I don't know what I would do without you all! I am excited about what God is doing and is going to do as we continue to submit to Him, each other, and the plans that He has for His body.

Have an awesome day!