The Good Shepherd

I came across the 23rd Psalm again today. I've heard this many times over the years and even helped little 1st graders memorize it during Awanas. But when I really look at the lines of the poem I'm just so captivated by the contentment that David found in God. I remember on the eve of my 24th birthday this past year, I was just reflecting on how good God had been over the past 23 years. While we have so many names for Him, sometimes I feel like Shepherd is really all want to use. He protects us, guides us, loves us, tends to us, cares for us, among so many other. 

The Shepherd. There is so much imagery in the Bible of a shepherd and his flock. I love the parable Jesus tells in Luke 15, when the shepherd has 100 sheep and loses 1; he leaves his 99 to search for just 1. Once he find it, there is great joy and rejoicing.

In John 10, Jesus tells the people that, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep." 

One of my favorite authors, Margaret Feinberg wrote this really great book, Scouting the Divine, and in the first part of the book she recalls time she spent with a modern day shepherd. She talks about the in and outs of caring for them, the work that goes into a flock, and yet that's what Jesus does for us daily. Margaret also visits a beekeeper, a vineyard, and a farmer on this journey of hers. Like I said -- it's a good book!

Anyway, I just want to close with Psalm 23. An old Psalm that many of us have heard and leave it as a reminder of what God has done for us (with my own emphasis added.)

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley 

of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, 

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Tunesday Tuesday.

I absolutely love this song! It's so catchy, upbeat and reminds me of 'Brave' by Sara Bareilles.

I also find it very fitting for the new year, a fresh start. The chorus is, "I'm an empty page, I'm an open book // write Your story on my heart, come on and make Your mark."

Her new CD comes out April 22 and I'm sure it will be as great as her others. Oh! And this song is called "Write Your Story" :)

Welcome, 2014!

2014, what a pleasant sight you are! So much to be accomplished in this year, but I am not going to rush any minute because I know that time is going to fly by, just like it did in 2013. I always love end of the year reflection posts because they allow you to look back at where you have come from 365 days ago. To see where God has grown you (hopefully).  If you told me this time last year that I would be leaving my job in 2 days and leaving the country in 3 months, I think you would have had to pick my jaw up off the floor. It just was not what I had planned. BUT, when we submit to what God has in store for us, far greater things happen and the rest is history, or, the future rather....

So, I now reveal to you the 5 themes God was showing me in 2013:

1. We serve the God of restoration.  Ezekiel 37 has a great story of God restoring Israel.  He is the God who is all about restoring his people.

2. Wait it out; God hears you. There is so much Scripture about God listening to us:
-Psalm 40:1 - I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry
-Jeremiah 29:12 - Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
-2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you.
-Isaiah 55:8-9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

What I love about these are two things: 1) It requires action on our part, to pray and have faith, and 2) that God knows what he's doing, it's just in HIS time. [I have to laugh as I read this original note because it was from late January 2013. I was waiting for something, but had no idea what. Only a few months more and God would reveal it in a HUGE way.]

3. Clean out the bitterness. This should be obvious for so many of us, but it is not always easy. Bitterness left too long leads to anger.  Forgiveness and reconciliation are great tools to keep from becoming bitter and I believe should be used regularly in the life of a Christian.

4. Crush the idols. I know this too is an obvious one because it is one of the 10 commandments, but there is a song I love by Jimmy Needham called "Clear the Stage". One of the lyrics is "anything I put before my God is an idol, anything I want with all my heart is an idol, and anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol, anything I give all my love is an idol." Those are a lot of competitors, and remember, we serve a jealous God.

5. God is faithful. I read a lot of the Old Testament this year, and Israel had a lot of issues, much like America today. But God was so good to them! He never turned back on his promises to them, when he had every reason to! When the Israelites had finally reached the promised land after so many years,  Joshua 21:45 says "Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass." I just love that verse. Generations had died since they set out on this journey, God could have changed plans because of their parents' disobedience, they may have never known. But God is faithful.  Yesterday, today, and forever.

So that's it, 2013's lessons. I can't wait for this year; to see what God does in my friends' lives and to see what he does in Buenos Aires.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

My first thought was "Keep Calm Christ has Come, and is Coming Soon."

And just for some Christmas humor....

:)

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope your day was full of love and the hope of Christ.

11.12.13

I've been eager to write this post for a while, I just had to wait for the right time.  Let me start by saying how humbled I am to even be in this position where I am right now and how God has allowed me to serve him in this capacity for the next two years. I keep having to remind myself that God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called (Moses, anyone??) So, while I often think I am not ready to go yet, I know that God has so much to show me in the next two years and that that is a part of this journey.

I am so grateful for the friends and family that have been with me and supporting me throughout this whole process...which started about in March/April. My prayer warriors. When many times I was doubtful, they were not, and to know that they believed in me even when I didn't means the world--and that was just stateside. Wait until I'm overseas!

Ok, so. Rewind back to April and with a little encouragement from a fellow Journeyman, I officially started the application process for the Journeyman (Jman) program. This is a two year commitment where I'll serve through the International Mission Board. It was a long process, but in November (on 11.12.13) I found out I was accepted for appointment to Buenos Aires. Now in these 7 months between, there was a lot going on, but let me tell you that back in April or May God laid Buenos Aires on my heart. I'm not even kidding, y'all, it's all I could think and pray for when I woke and went to bed.  And when I went to the Jman conference in October there were very few Latin American opportunities I qualified for.....but low and behold, Buenos Aires was there.  Totally divine, I think anyway. I'll be apart of the Mission Buenos Aires megacity team as a guide for partner churches. I don't want to explain myself here because there's a good chance it could change later, but in later posts I'm sure you'll hear all about it :)

So far,  I've had such a great response from people when I tell them I'm leaving, but a lot of people ask... won't I miss my family, like my adorable new niece Reagan??? And the answer is of course, yes!! But, it's only for 2 years. Reagy won't remember me gone anyway ;)  My parents are already planning to come visit even! And let me tell you, my co-workers at Abengoa have been so kind. I hated resigning. Worst feeling in the world because I love the people there, and that place has been a great home to me for the last 2 1/2 years.  I've gotten nothing but well wishes, and people there are giving me advice and telling me of friends they have in Buenos Aires to hook me up with when I need a friendly face.  Talk about making it hard to leave!

And of course people ask me the why. I think being 24 and single without anything to tie me down is the best time in my life for this. I don't want to look back and regret not having gone. One of the reasons I knew it was finally my time to GO as the great commission tells us is because I found myself being jealous of all my friends doing international missions in their lives. Lauren spends a year in Greece. Jealous. Alyssa in Africa. Jealous. I had no reason for not going myself and that's when I decided to get upon the waters and try this thing out for myself, and while I'm not in Argentina yet, I can say for myself, I'm loving it.

If you want one of these cards, please let me know and I'll send you one!

But in closing, I have to say God has taught me so much about how good he is through this process, and the power of prayer. Yes, his will will be done one way or another, but God also wants good things for us. And when we pray fervently for something, and it's in his will, he is so good to us with the outcome that it doesn't even matter if it's what we wanted or not! I've decided to set no expectations up for 2014. Because I know if I do, God's just going to blow them out of the water, so rather than go in and limit what I think my God can do, I'm going to let my God show me how big he is in 2014. I know he did it in 2013.

Tunesday Tuesday.

I just love this song so much that I usually listen to it on repeat for about three times, play another song, and then go back to it. I think Bethel Music's whole CD Tides is supposed to be pretty good, but I only bought this one song because it was just so catchy. Hope you liked it!

Family.

On Thanksgiving, my family had the privilege of working with Jessica Lauren Photography to do some family pictures. And they turned out. So. Good. I mean, I knew they would, but we were also just so blessed with the weather. We had to plan this out a month in advance, and living in Missouri, you never know what you're going to get late November. As I write this, it is almost 60* out and they are calling for 2-4" of snow tomorrow. Welcome to Missouri.

Anyway, back to the post.  Knowing that I'm going to be gone for 2 years and our last family picture was from 2010 and without little miss Reagan, we were well overdue for a picture! These people are my everything and I'm so thankful for the parents God gave me and family I was raised in. I'm so excited to introduce you to all of them!

Here is my mom and dad with my nephew Chandler and two nieces: Delaney and Reagan!

Absolutely love this picture of myself with Chandler & Delaney. It captures their personalities completely.

A sweet picture of my brother's family.

I love this shot of David and his wife Darla.

Here is my sister Leah, Justin & Reagan smiling for the camera!

The whole gang!

So there is it, the summary of my Thanksgiving: family. I was also very fortunate to have a special work friend join us. All in all, this was the best 'last' Thanksgiving as I keep calling it :) I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving out there!