Standing on the Promises of God

It's only been 2 weeks... not bad, right? To be honest the past few weeks have flown by. My wisdom teeth removal was not the worst experience ever, however the recovery has not been fun. My face wasn't bruised or horribly swollen which is a blessing though. So I was able to go down to Indy to get my guitar. I was also able to finally get my new tattoo which is pretty exciting! It's on my wrist and it says "Remain in Me" from John 15. I've been thinking about it for a long time... which is more than I can say for most of my other tattoos. I do have to say that this one hurt a LOT more than any of the other ones, probably enough to keep me from ever getting another one!

2 years ago I was in Panama City Beach, Florida on vacation. I decided to take my bible head down to the beach one evening during the sunset. I had decided prior to getting down to the beach that I would just pick a few Psalms to read so that I wasn't committed to a long time and could get back up to the room and hang out. Well after reading a few familiar Psalms I felt the Spirit prompting me to dig a little deeper. So I flipped to the New Testament, ready to hear something from Jesus. I ended up in John, which happens to be my favorite gospel to read. I thumbed through the pages and ended up stopping at chapter 15. Now, some of you may remember a little book by Bruce Wilkinson called "Secrets of the Vine." It was a very small, simple book written not too long ago that became a phenomenon for many people. It's based on John 15 and gaining a life of abundance through prayer. There is even a prayer given that you can pray to gain abundance. This book became so huge and main stream in my area during high school that people began to believe it as magic words to gain money and success. "Just pray these words and you'll be given everything you've ever wanted" was the theme that came out of it. I've read the book and I understand the author's purpose and people misconstrued his words, however I have been VERY turned off from John 15 because of how over done it was in my high school years. All of that to say that as I stopped on this very familiar passage of scripture I thought, "I haven't read this in a while, I guess it won't hurt to speed read over it."

First of all, how conceited of me to think I know everything about a passage and that God wouldn't have a new word for me! I think back on my attitude towards John 15 and I'm embarrassed because I know that there are other books that I've avoided because I've been convinced that I had them figured out, that I couldn't learn anything new from reading them. I've missed out on so much and I've limited God by ignoring parts of His word because of my own self-righteousness. That's a hard thing to admit, fo sho!

So anyways, before I began to read on that breezy April evening in Florida I prayed and asked God to speak loud and clear through His word. I was at a place of complacency in life and wanting answers as to what God wanted from me... where I was to go next, or how I was to be moving in my ministry. Well He answered loud and clear as I read and studied John chapter 15 that evening! It was then, on that beach that I received my call into missions. Through a time of intense studying and prayer, the Lord revealed that He is giving me the unique opportunity to go and serve where ever I'm needed... and at the time it was Uganda. He gave me the strong promise that if I remained in Him, abided in Him, He would remain in me. He called me to love others deeply, in a way that I'm not capable of without Him. He called me to go and build strong relationships, to use the communication skills that He's given me to further His Kingdom. I am getting ready to head back to Uganda for another year, (and while I don't think that I'm called to Africa for the rest of my life, rather whatever mission field can use me, maybe America... who knows?) and the most important thing for me to remember as I prepare to leave the people and places that I love is to remain in Him. To stand firmly on the promises of God. So, that's what this tattoo is about. I like it.

The rest of the weekend was just hangout time. Church Sunday, then lunch with an awesome family, a nap, and back to the church for a grad party/Eagle Scout ceremony. One of the senior boys at New Hope had asked me to come and I wasn't planning on being in town, but as you might recall I'm the smartest person ever and had to go back for my forgotten guitar, so it turned out to be a blessing. I left pretty early so that I could get home and have a minute to chill before heading back to work. Throughout the weekend my teeth didn't feel too bad. I ate soft food, didn't drink through a straw, and therefore didn't have to worry about taking any strong pain meds. The doc did put me on steroids, which I guess is normal to help with swelling. That was NOT fun for me. They caused me some major anxiety... so much so that on that first Saturday night, while I was in Indy I didn't sleep one minute. It was NOT fun. I was shaky and nervous. It was definitely my least favorite part of the wisdom teeth removal. Well at least until my stitches got pulled out on tuesday because I decided I was ok to eat a piece of beef jerky, which in effect pulled out the stitches, leaving a nerve nice and exposed. Gross, right? Yeah, well not just gross... incredibly painful! I don't normally take the pain meds that I'm prescribed after a surgery, but you better believe that last week I took vicodin on more than one occasion. Since I don't take that stuff often, it makes me loopy. I imagine that that's what it feels like to be drunk. I don't like it at all. A visit to the dentist confirmed the exposed nerve and since then I've been doing my best to keep my mouth clean so that it will heal because I'm pretty tired of having this nerve pain! My bad!

Over this past weekend we had a mission trip training day with the youth which was a blast. We laughed a whole lot while getting our work done. It was a great preview of what the mission trip will be like this summer. I had a couple of the senior girls over for a sleepover the night before because the training was way out by my house anyway and of course we had a blast! Love those girls!! I love the opportunities to minister to an awesome group of kids. As leaders, we're definitely blessed at Wheatland Salem. :) I can't wait to hang out with everyone again this wednesday night for youth group! This coming weekend we're having Alexandria's 3rd birthday party which will be a blast. She's too darn cute. I'm also leading worship for the confirmation service on Sunday. Then the next weekend all my bff's will be in town for Carley's baby shower!! I seriously cannot wait to spend time with them!! I haven't seen Stacy and Owen since July and Michelle since Christmas. The weekend after that I"ll be in Indianapolis for all of the fun graduation parties of the youth down there. Once again, time is flying. Before I know it I'll be in Haiti with WSC, then New York with NHPC, then Birmingham with WSC, then it'll be August and time to start packing for Uganda.

Please be praying as all of this exciting stuff is coming up. Pray for times of rest in the midst of the insanity. Pray also for Uganda, World Gospel Mission, Heritage International School, the families and missionaries there now. Pray for ministries here, for health, for family and friends. Let me know how I can be praying for you. Be blessed this week. Much love homies!