Thursday, August 26, 2010

"The Lord himself will fight for you" - Exodus 14:14

"What he wants from us first of all is not a technically correct performance, but our heart" - Peter Kreeft

Before I left New Orleans, I was having some girl time with a few wonderful women. We were just talking about various things...the usual topics, but also so much more. It reminded me of the moment when Elizabeth and Mary met, and the holy children in their wombs leapt for joy. These women and I were sharing in the joy of the Lord. We were delighting in the Presence of God that dwelt in each of us.

We got on the topic of what each of us were going to be doing with the next few years of our lives. One of the women simply said, "You know someone asked me what I was going to do with my life and I responded that I am trying to figure out what God wants....and then I thought wait...that is a lie...I know what God wants....He just wants my heart."........I sat stunned. It was one of those moments where beauty..where light just penetrates your heart in a deep way.

I have made it my life's goal to figure out what God wants of me, and all he wants put simply is my heart. I was overwhelemed by the truth in this. If I could give God my heart..all of it...at every moment...then we would be so closely united that his thoughts were my thoughts and my thoughts were his thoughts. Complete Union. Now I know that this is not wholly possible until heaven because I am a sinful person, but this statement can dramatically change your life. It is slowly changing mine.

Every morning I wake up and I am overwhelmed by everything I have to do..everything I don't know how to do...everything that could go wrong...everything that could go right. Then I go to prayer and I let Jesus fight for my heart. I try with my feeble will to give him all of it....and that is sufficient.

That is what will evangelize this campus. That is what will change the lives of those around me. That is what will sanctify this world.....If I..If we...every day fight to give our whole heart to Christ.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

.Follow Me

May all Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

"Follow me".......Christ says these two words and just like that his disciples leave everything. Everytime I would read those passages in Scripture, I always thought I would NEVER be able to do that. Just two words..and I would go into the unknown, the uncomfortable, the unplanned, the unseen. I just couldn't do...In my head I would always complain to Christ and say "if you ever did that to me, you would have to give me a little bit more, some kind of floorplan, some kind of understanding about what was to happen. Or else..I would be the apostle still standing on the boat with my net saying, "I think I"ll just catch some fish. I know how to do that."

Yet, here I am in Auburn, AL.

In the beginning of this year, the Lord said "Follow me" and I did!! I really did it! I flew all the way to Annapolis, Maryland to interview to be a missionary with an organization called FOCUS. I knew nothing but what the website said about the organization, I knew not one person, I had no idea how to be a missionary, and I went! To this day, I am amazed at the way the Lord brings us beyond ourselves. His grace and his love can change the hardest of hearts.

I was eventually offered a position on staff. My life as a FOCUS missionary started at training in Champaign, IL. It was such a wonderful experience. The Holy Spirit is doing amazing things through the willing hearts of his children in FOCUS. It is the New Evangelization at work, and I feel so blessed to have been called to take part in it.

Now, I have officially started my second week here at Auburn (which is the university to which I have been assigned). It has been a crazy whirlwind! I have met SOO many people and have already grown to love this place. While I do occasionally have the homesick pains, it has helped me to understand what Christ means when he says, "Take up your cross, and follow me." Leaving home...the place I love..the people I love..my safe place..is my cross and sacrifice made for the salvation of not only myself but for others. For Christ left the home of heaven to dwell with us. I have left my home to dwell with the students of Auburn!!

Pray for me Please. Everyday I feel like a little kid on his first day of school, not sure what to do..what to expect..how to act..who to talk to, but SOO excited about every new thing.

Please know of my continued prayers for you.

"Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word." Luke 1: 38