5 Days

Five days, 120 hours, 7200 minutes.



God is so good. He is. He just really, really is. Today has been an incredible revelation of His love for me, and His protection and wisdom.

In church this morning, we gave thanks for what this past year has brought. As I sat in the pew, and watched the people around me, listened to the blend of voices, I could tell how sorely I would miss worship in the two weeks I'm gone.

But then my heart started breaking at the the thought that the country I'm going to does not have the refreshment of the Sabbath every week. It's unimaginable to me to not have my church family, or prayer, or songs of worship. I would be so incredibly isolated. I would be lonely, depressed, cold. My chest literally started aching as I realized how much I take for granted. Even the thought of living a life so blind to meaning and purpose, brings me to my knees under the weight of the world.



So today, as I lift my praise to my God for everything He's done for me, I also beg Him to bless Iraq as He's blessed me. They are no less deserving, I'm constantly wondering how God could want me as His daughter, how He could use me. And in the face of my own failure, a fierce desire like nothing else in my life rises up in my heart. If someone like me can be redeemed to be Jesus' bride, and He tells us to go out to the nations, and spread His word than I will do everything to obey.

In some ways, I feel like Christ's commission is viewed as an exhausting chore. But if we don't do anything to receive God's cherishment, and there are broken searching people around us, how can you be satisfied in your own works? The Gospel is the Good News!



When you have something exciting or joyful to announce, there is no hesitation or labor involved.

And the story of a God who made you uniquely, who desires to save you from your own destructive nature, who would sacrifice His child, who wants you as His own child, to be heirs to a magnificent kingdom and inherit eternal life - There is no greater story!



I hope to never lose my awe over this ethereal and glorious plan. I want my awe to double each and every time I get to see it born in someones eyes. That my faith would be constantly childlike, because I would have the privilege of seeing it as stunning and wondrous, through the perspective of a new believer.



I am so thankful for those who love me, but who love God more. I never quite understood the power of having hands laid on me, but after today I've had the privilege of being prayed for three different times, surrounded by my church and friends. Every time I was filled to the brim with gratitude for answered prayers. If I felt unsure and fearful before, the prayers of those who surrounded me banished that. I'm sure there will be moments of trial, and I will still experience fear at some point, but I'm confident in my mission, confident in my God.
How can you keep back from just stopping everything and just worshipping? God is good.

Ways to Pray:
1. For the hearts of those I'm about to meet to be seeking the truth, and have ears to hear.
2. For the intuition of the Holy Spirit, to know when to speak and when to stay silent.
3. Last minute details to come together for the teacher training and the after school programs.
4. Safety in travel and the entirety of the trip - Invisible to the enemy.

"Oh, send out Your light and Your truth!
Let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your house.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And on the harp I will praise You,
O God, my God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God."
Psalm 43:3-5