An Attempted Summary (OGN 2012- Katie's Input)

Not sure how to write this after reading Abi's post! I'm thrilled!

So Canada weather is a lot like San Diego. It's only been a week and I'm missing it more by the second! I was truly blessed and there's no possible way to put into words the incredible week God gave all twenty of us. :)

May I just say I love traveling with my youth group? They make life interesting. Very interesting. I think Carley might have some input on Billy the Flight Attendant. And who knew they let passengers use the intercom in the back to start a sing-along?

But the odds and ends at the airport and the late night food runs, every moment that brought laughter and a feeling of a family, all that pales in comparison to hearing what God did the entire week.

Personally, my favorite day was my fasting day. I'm sure Carley and Abi have stories to tell (please do, there's no way to do this on my own! :)) about fasting- which might have something to do with almost falling asleep at one point- but honestly, it thrilled me. If I could get paid to fast and pray for a living, I would. It's my dream job. It was more like a worship service than I expected. For those who went to Chris Tuttle's prayer meeting that went til two, it was very similar. My day in particular was the second day of witnessing, so I had been out on the beaches one day. I was struggling with doubt and I think a little fear and confusion. Jesus totally stepped in and calmed everything inside me, and walking away from the room when it was all over, there was this unexplainable joy and a feeling of anticipation for the next day, no matter who I got paired up with or what beach we were going to. And I got to see God at work when we attended the worship service that night and saw God respond to the prayers that were prayed over every object in the room. It was breathtaking.

The other really major story I have to tell was the last day. It was Sunday morning, we had finished our last apologetics class and church meeting of encouragement and we were prepping to go out to the beaches. I was partnered with Andrew Jensen that day and I totally hadn't planned on that. Looking back, that's where I noticed God begin working on the beaches that day, even though we were still on campus. Andrew was one of the three students in our group who had ever been before, so he had experience and different classes than the ones we first-years had been taking. And since he was a guy, we could approach anybody on the beach. He had also fasted the day before, so he had the same joyous energy I had the second and third day. We were literally bouncing in our seats waiting to leave. We had only three prayer requests that day. He wanted the chance to talk to someone who was firm in their beliefs, no matter what they believed in. We both wanted a hard conversation. And I desperately wanted to talk to an athiest after meeting nobody but different denominations of Christians all week.

We hopped into a random van and ended up with no one we knew, save for Whitney, the FSM girls' leader, and John, the man from Fellowship who organized everything. The van was taking us to La Jolla, a beach I had yet to visit. After prayers of people to talk to, I was kind of shocked to find a tiny beach beside a park. It was maybe a tenth the size of all the other beaches I had been to. Maybe less. Andrew stopped us right then and we prayed for God to send the right people to us.
Then came the rejections. This man doesn't speak English, she doesn't want to, watching kids in the ocean, not now or come back later, excuse after excuse not to talk for a half hour straight. A half mile or so down the sidewalk, we discovered more little beaches, which led to our first conversation. God answered another prayer- this man we talked with for maybe ten minutes, was a firm believer in his faith. He had even moved from his home country in Egypt for it. Andrew was thrilled. :) I frankly was thrilled to see God answering and banishing all doubt from my mind that He was on the move.
An hour or so passes. We begin walking back with an hour or so left when Andrew spontaneously begins chatting with a man sitting on a little wall bordering the sidewalk. His name was Kevin, and he didn't know what to think of all this faith stuff. Only by God's grace did he continue to talk with us, asking questions and responding openly. In the end, we all had to leave, but we were able to hand him a copy of the New Testament and an extra copy of John. The second meaningful conversation- a hard one that was totally unplanned and only by God's prompting.
Thirty minutes. Cori and Parker, the fasters of the day, are sharing encouragement and asking how it's going. Parker texts me: "I'm still praying you meet an athiest." We're still analyzing our conversation with Kevin, somewhat overwhelmed, when Andrew suggest talking to a man off by himself. Why not?
Our third meaningful conversation and last one of the week- a man named Tom. He's an Irish athiest.
I'm not sure I understood how speechless I could get. With ten minutes left before the van arrived to pick us up, we stood there silently praying on our own, thanking God for the awesome week. I broke down in tears. I literally had no words (and still really don't) to thank Him. God works wonders, guys. Just ask. :)

So... Those were two of my favorite stories of the week. There are so many more, and nineteen others with totally different experiences. This post is long enough, so I'm going to get some shuteye (or try to) and tell as much as I can in person! Love you all so much!
Soli Deo Gloria! Katie

A snippet of Abi's journey

(Caution: Don't start reading unless you have a big chunk of time! Haha!)

Hey ladies!

I want to say, first of all, that I'm so sorry that I have not been as involved on here as I'd like to be... I haven't commented on all the chapter entries, and I'm behind in reading my book! Things have been hectic around here lately! From France, to San Diego, to Texas... I've been everywhere! I feel stressed and overwhelmed a lot - I thought that wasn't supposed to happen in the summer?! So here's to make up for my absence the past few weeks!

I began writing this entry as a summary of everything that has happened over the past few weeks... But France ended up taking over it all! (;  So maybe OGN can come later... I know that Katie and Carley will have some input on that too. So enjoy... here's a novel I spontaneously decided to write!

France was incredible! I've shared with some of you, but most of you I haven't even talked to since I've been back! It was life-changing. Not anything like I was expecting. You all heard my stress and uneasiness about the situation, not knowing if it was God's calling, not knowing if everything would get done, etc. But there is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind, that the trip was planned intentionally by God LONG before the thought ever came to my dad, or to myself. God knew what He was doing.

Being in France, I came alive. I felt a sense of belonging, strangely enough, in an area that I had never been before, with people I didn't really know that well at first. After the first few hours with the Sullivans, I felt right at home and a part of their family. They welcomed me in just as their own. I felt a connection with the kids that I don't think I could have, had I not walked in their shoes, just five or six years prior. I connected with the parents and learned so much from them, because for the first time, I was able to have a new perspective of life as a missionary, the perspective that my parents had while we were living in Tunisia, that I never really knew about. 

There were many nights spent sitting on the couches of their living room, after the kids had gone to bed, crying sometimes of sadness, sometimes of joy. We spent time in prayer together, in a way that I had never experienced before. I saw immediate answers to prayers, in ways I never would have expected. As God spoke through me, with words of encouragement and sharing of my experiences from Africa, God taught me things about myself that I had never known before.  

Being in France, I felt a real connection with God, and I truly felt His presence day in and day out. I unpackaged the nicely wrapped God that the American culture displays, to find a God that dares to be dangerous, and calls me live life on the edge, solely depending on Him. In one moment (that I can tell you about more vividly in person), God was with me in a very tangible way and He protected me from danger when no one else could have. (It's a pretty cool story - I'd love to share it with y'all soon!) 

Words will never do justice to explain my feelings, I know that for sure. One thing I do know, that experience changed my life in a way that will effect my future. I have new desires, hopes and dreams of the way that I want to live out my life. God had already placed it on my heart to go out into all the world and share the love of God to the least of these, but being in the little town of Besançon, my calling was confirmed. In the past year, I've wrestled with feeling dissatisfied and uneasy being in my little bubble of Little Rock Christian and Fellowship Bible Church, and the culture that I live every day in West Little Rock. And now I understand why. Because God created me, and He created each of y'all to live so much more than this. I've learned I'm "wired that way" (as I've been learning with Ms. Jeanne!) to live a dangerous life. To live a life with one goal, one hope, one purpose. And that's to proclaim His name and to bring glory to HIS NAME ONLY. Not mine, not my family's, not my friends', but the true God, the one creator, the only Savior.

Now I'm home, and I'm wishing I was still there. Although I do love my Sonic runs and trips to Target! (;  But my challenge now is to find a way out of that bubble, while still here. And it's tough. I'm faced with so many things that aren't even an issue overseas... Materialism, business, boys... Haha! And so it's a battle that we as believers have to fight everyday. But with hard work, but mainly God's strength, we get a little bit better at it each day! And I'm thankful to have friends like y'all fighting alongside me (; 

Chapter Fifteen: Lord, help me be strong when bad things happen...

Hey ladies! So since Coplea couldn't write last week, Rachel suggested that I just go ahead and post for my week. So here's Chapter Fifteen! :)

I don’t really remember too much of that day other being ushered into my parent’s bedroom, along with my siblings. My dad held my mom’s hand and said, “We feel that God is leading us to join staff with FamilyLife. Their headquarters are in Little Rock, Arkansas. We’ll be moving.” We three kids sat silently for a moment before I did the only logical thing that a dramatic seven year old could do. I cried. Long and hard. My life was over. In the space of maybe ten minutes I had gone from being all smiles to all sobs. “How could Mom and Dad do this to me?” I thought angrily, “And more importantly, how could God do this to me? I’ve been a good kid……ok, maybe I did play with Mariah’s Barbie doll without asking, but that’s not the point. My whole life is here in Virginia. I can’t just leave!” But almost two years later, we did leave. And to be honest, I hated Little Rock with a fierce passion. Even when I tried to make friends, I was met with rejection and let me tell you, I spent a lot of nights crying myself to sleep. Over the next year or so, I began making a couple friends. I was even invited to a few birthday parties. But whenever I felt my cold heart begin to thaw, I would quickly shut it up with bitterness toward my parents and God. I thought that if I pouted enough, Mom and Dad would move our family back to the “promise land”. I was maybe eleven when I realized that I did not control my family; God did. And no matter how much I whined, sobbed, or pouted, I was stuck here and I might as well enjoy myself.  Now looking back, I’m ashamed of my lack of faith. At the time it felt as if my world was collapsing but God was always there, helping me to be strong in the hard and frustrating times. I think that when we’re going through a trial, it’s like looking through a straw. Nothing is clear or makes sense and we think life is horrible or God’s forgotten us, just because of our perspective.

Four Reasons for Bad Times:

1.       Sometimes bad things happen to us so that the power and glory of God can be revealed in and through us. I loved how Stormie Omartian used the story of the blind man in John 9 as an example of God using something that would normally be considered a tragedy to bring glory to Himself. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Chapman family’s story, but on May 21^st, 2008 Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest daughter Maria Sue, age five, was playing in the family’s driveway when her older brother, Will Franklin, drove into driveway and accidentally hit his little sister. She was rushed to a local hospital, but her injuries were fatal. No one knows why God allows such tragic accidents to happen. But we do know that God used this incident to bring new believers into His eternal family. God can bring glory to Himself through any situation.

2.       Sometimes God allows to go through difficult times in order to make us into better people. I have personal experience with this one. The move to Arkansas was uncomfortable, but it forced me to go out of my way to make friends even when I might fall flat on my face. Believe it or not, I hate talking to people I’ve never met before. It’s awkward and weird and I would rather just have someone else talk for me. But because I can’t hire people to speak on my behalf, (I’ve already checked Craig’s List and Amazon) I have to shove the shyness deep inside me and suck it up and be friendly.  I know that God has slowly started burning this bashfulness and fear out of me, one awkward conversation at a time.

3.       Sometimes our misery is caused by God disciplining us. At times, bad things are kind of like getting a spanking from one of your parents. It’s painful and you don’t understand why you can’t have an easier punishment, but in the end it makes you better because you learn from your mistakes.  On page 157 it says, “It never feels good to be disciplined, but we always learn something from it. It saves our lives.” If we’re guilty of a sin (and be honest, when aren’t we sinning?) God will find out about it. You can’t hide from the Creator of the Heavens and Earth simply by crawling under your covers. God is constantly working and shaping us into His likeness. And sometimes that requires Him scrubbing out the stains that are holding us back from fully giving ourselves to Him. 

4.       Sometimes the sorrow, sadness, grief, or pain of difficult times is entirely the work of the enemy. Satan will use anything to trap and drown us when we go through hard times. Absolutely anything. I think of someone going to a junkyard, picking up scraps that can be used for a specific purpose. Satan goes shopping in our “junkyard” looking for old bits and pieces of bitterness, anger, sorrow, pride, jealousy, depression, impatience, etc that can be used against us again and again even when we try to forget they were ever there. But let’s face it, if we try to beat the enemy by our own willpower or strength, we’ll fail miserably. God has the power to take away our horrible situation, but He can also give us the strength to hold onto Him as He walks with you through the valley of the shadow of death. God won’t give anything to you that you can’t (with His help) handle.

“We All Need Somebody to Lean On…”

When we’re going through a hard situation, sometimes we just need a hug, a nice cup of hot chocolate, and encouragement from a friend. And you, lovely ladies, are the kind of people that I know I can go to about anything. Every time we meet together I see you all living out Proverbs 17:17 which says, “A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.” A true friend can go through something horrible, turn around, and use their experience to help someone else. Page 159, “Suffering increases your compassion for the sufferings of others.” Use this suffering to bring glory to God! Don’t let your circumstances determine your emotions. Ladies, our joy comes from Christ, so we can have peace and happiness even when the sky is falling. Pray through the pain and God will bring something beautiful out of it. You may even be able to encourage someone else using your experiences.  With God, the possibilities are endless. 

Much love,

Bethany

Romans 12:12

Of Prayers Requested and Answered

Alright ladies, I had a fabulous God-given day. And I would love to share part of it with you. :)

Number one, the weather was gorgeous! It was a beautiful day to be alive. :)

Number two.
Bryant has the freshman take Physical Science and the sophomores take Biology. Last year, one of the science teachers was an atheist (the one Rachel B. had). We had heard about some teachers that had to be hired before the school year started. I didn't think anything of it til I talked to my youth pastor tonight. He started telling me about some ladies they were going to interview to fill in a few roles at FSM and how one of them, who had an interview next week, called to cancel.
The reason?
She got a job teaching biology at Bryant High School. :)

Now, while it has been a fabulous day, I do have a request. While staying home alone with Kara and Connor, Kara accidentally forgot she wasn't wearing hotpads on her hands and touched a pan right out of the oven for a second. She dropped it and her fingers were turning red. We're not sure if she has a severe first degree burn or a mild second degree burn, but we're grateful that it's not infected so far and that we were able to reach our parents to make sure we were treating it right. If I could ask you girls to pray, a praise is that we knew what we were doing and a prayer is that my sister's fingers heal quickly.

So! What do you girls think? Having a good summer so far? Had any answers to prayer?

Chapter Thirteen

Ok!!! So CHAPTER 13!  I triple checked to make this was the right one.   Intro The intro starts with the fact that with Christ He will remove negative feelings if we ask him to.  A little personal lesson I have have been learning this month.  When I find myself angry or upset about a circumstance in life (which happens everyday) if I humble myself and pray the anger is removed.  If I am praying about a sadness I have the pain doesn't always go away but I always have a peace about it.  It never stops amazing me how fast God answers prayer!  I have seen that so much recently, in life changing things and in details of life.  Another thing that caught my attention was the feeling of being forsaken.  Even Christ felt it.  The poem Footprints in the Sand came to mind.
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,  "You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.  But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.  Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?"
The Lord replied,   "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you."  -Mary Stevenson.
   Anytime we feel forsaken all we have to do is call on Him.  God is perfect He won't leave you.  So that means that it is your fault, unintentional or not.  We are the ones that always find ourselves drifting.  The disciples had the privilege of walking with Christ daily and they still failed time.  Be in rhythm with Christ. If you're not you will be able to tell in every aspect of your life.   9 Ways to Get Free of Negative Emotions 1. Refuse to be anxious about anything, knowing that God is in control of your life when you ask Him to be.  John 16:33 tells us that Christ has overcome the world already!  I love that!  The battle is already won. We will still have tribulations, but THE WAR IS WON!!!  "We don't need to be anxious about everything, we just need to pray about everything." 2.  Refuse to be RULED by anger.  Anger is the right-a-way for sin --> Satan.  "An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgressions" (Pro. 29:22).  It is so true.  When I look back at times when I was angry I see now the hurt in the others eyes or the pain I stirred up.  I was often so wrapped up in myself I didn't even see it, or even care.  That is something that if you don't catch will eat your relationships up an cause serious regret.  Even if you are forgiven you still live with the regret until you make things right with the Lord.  Once things are right you are free and God can continue His work in you.   3.  Refuse to be dissatisfied and always complaining.   Being dissatisfied only makes you uncomfortable.  It also makes everyone around you miserable and pushes them away.  If you are tempted to be dissatisfied remember Philippians 4:11, "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content".  It is possible to be joyful in every situation. Remember joy is not the same as happiness.  4.  Refuse to envious of what other people have.  Don't live in The Land of If Only instead focus on Jesus.  When you think about our Lord nothing compares and all the material things fade.   4.  Refuse to allow depression to rule your life. Psalm 6:8-9 God wants to lift you out of depression. 6.  Refuse to be bitter about anything.  When bitterness sets in it eats you away.  People notice a bitter soul.  Bitter people seem incapable of showing love.  When bitterness takes hold of your heart it also cuts of blessings.  Ask his to give you a spirit of thanksgiving and praise.   7.  Refuse feelings of rejection.  Always remember that god has not rejected you.  You can always turn to His open arms and find everything you need and more.  When God is the center of your life God will give you favor with other people.  8.  Refuse to be hopeless about anything, not matter how hopeless it may seem.   "Hopelessness is death to the soul.". Without hope there is no reason to live. Hopelessness drives people to do desperate things, things that can never bring them true hope.  Ask God for an attitude of gracefulness.   9.  Refuse to let fear rule your life.   Spending time in God's presence pushes fear out of our lives.  "If God does not have first place in our hearts, then we will be constantly fearing man."

Oh poop! (Excuse my French)

Ok so I was working on my post for tomorrow. I was soooooo excited about it because we talked about this stuff in Sunday school today and it tied right in!!! Well, I had made sure to turn to the right chapter but I forgot to move my bookmark. I came back to my room after giving Dad his Father's day gifts and got right to work... ON LAST WEEKS CHAPTER! By page three I was sure this stuff sounded familiar... So that's why I thought "Oh poop!". I was being good too... Well gotta go start the next chapter. I won't have as much to say since we didn't probably talk about the same thing in SS. Love y'all and MISS YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH! Yours Truly, Scatterbrained Rachel

Chapter Twelve: Lord, Help Me Make Wise Choices

As I was sitting in my room, reading the chapter and thinking about what I wanted to write in my blog post, I was listening to an old Disciple (awesome Christian band) CD and there was a line in a song that went like "Decisions will make you or break you." Thought that was cool and it goes right along with the chapter :)

For those of y'all who haven't read the chapter yet, it talks about making wise choices and asking God for wisdom. When we ask God for wisdom, He will help us to make righteous decisions in all things. All we have to do is ask for his counsel.

Ms. Jeanne's post last week was pretty detailed :) but I am going to just write a few paragraphs on my thoughts :)

~

On page 128, Stormi writes about Lot in the Bible (Genesis 13:10-13). Lot was looking for a place to live, and without consulting God, he chose a section of land. He thought it was a fantastic place to live; however, it turned out that he was surrounded by wicked people, and he ended up being captured. "He chose what he thought was best, rather than asking what God knew was best."
John 16:13: "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..." Only God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit know the truth and can lead us into the truth; only He is wise, and only He knows what is best. When we act according to what we think we know, we are obeying and acting according to the flesh. Because the flesh is only out for worldly gain, our motivation for those actions is always wrong. We may be acting out of selfishness, hate, etc. And as we see in the example of Lot, there will be consequences for making foolish and rash decisions. Decisions will make you or break you.

It gets hard when we want to do things that we clearly realize are wrong in the eyes of God. That's the flesh! That's Satan speaking! But fortunately God is more powerful; it's SOOO important that we ask God for wisdom as well as strength so that we can act in a Godly manner as we resist the temptation to sin.

I love on page 132 where it says "If you make it a habit to always ask God for wisdom, then when you have to make quick decisions with no time to ask anyone anything, you will make a wise one because of the wisdom God has placed in you."
We need to get in this habit now because as we are starting to get older, more often we will be faced with those kind of situations when we need to make a decision.... FAST. I can think of several times when this happened to me, but I didn't think to ask God for wisdom and I ended up making a decision that probably wasn't the best.

The list on page 129, "Ten ways to walk in wisdom," has several things we can do to grow in wisdom; I love number 3: "Bring God into everything you do." Y'all, if we could bring God into everything we do.... oh my gravy, our lives would be SO different. And awesome. Maybe just keep that in mind this week, to bring God into everything you do. Ask His opinion on stuff; talk to him when something goes wrong; praise him for the small things; instead of talking to myself (LOL i do that alllll the time), talk to God! He is always there! Seek His wisdom in everything; don't be afraid to ask for help. Decisions will make you or break you, and I'd rather not break.