Another Journey

As we set out on the journey of life we encounter many obstacles and road blocks. How we over come or go around them shapes who we are and what we become. This time of the year is always a transition time from school to summer. For some it will just be another summer and for others it is the end of a large chapter and the beginning of the next. Their journey to college, work, or military has many roads. Where will I go, what will I do, how will I make it.

I can remember just three years ago I had these same thoughts and questions. I was not sure how it was going to work out or how I would ever make it without a miracle. The real miracle was I was going. Before I get to that we have to go back almost tens years to when I graduated. It was June of 2000 and I had joined the Marine Corps. I was to leave the day after graduation, but graduation never happened. It never happened due to a bomb threat on the venue of the graduation. So I would be heading away without walking with my class. To be honest I was happy I did not have to sit through a graduation with some 600 plus students. Looking back on it I wish I had been able to go.

I headed out said all my good byes and was on a plane for San Diego, CA. I arrived with some small delays along the way, but I had made it. The next thirteen weeks would be tough and it was going to make me a United States Marine. "The few the proud the Marines." That was going to be me all buff and tough with my M-16. Little did I know that my next chapter was about to have a big dead end. Just one week into basic training after I had been yelled at alot, shot in the butt with every needle available, and had received my rifle I got some bad news. On the seventh night the drill instructors inspected each recruit to make sure they were injury free. They looked at my feet and saw that they were red and blistered and sent me to the doctor first thing in the morning. I was told that I had problems with my feet and was heading home, but not before they got manual labor for a week. So I had made it two weeks and now I was going home. My dream of a military carer had gone up in smoke. What would I do now?

Once I came home I spent the next several years going from job to job. Trying night school for a few semesters and just feeling like school was not for me. I felt like there was no purpose for my life. All I did was work, eat, and sleep, and I had no friends they all went away to college. I became depressed and that led to drinking. What a great idea drink to cure depression, wow I was a bright one. I finally had a thought "If there is no purpose then why live." I decided to first go to church with my family and see if this God thing was real. If it was real then there was a purpose for me. The next year I kept going to church and was enjoying it. I had people to talk with. Nick and Chris invested alot into my life. They were the young adult/ youth leaders. They left after a year and I was back to whats going on I had no one again.

My journey kept taking turns and I felt like I was getting motion sickness. I left my church in search of another one where I could learn and grow. By this time I had two friends from high school I spent time with. I am so thankful for them and their love they showed me. My journey landed me at Westside Baptist Church where I meet some amazing people who would alter my journey. I came to true faith while at Westside and was led to my first overseas mission trip.

This chapter of my journey I would call my great commission year. In the winter of 2005 I decided to look at bible colleges and found my current school Boyce College. This decision came from a conversation I had with a dear friend. I had mentioned that I felt God telling me to go to college for ministry and his advice was "if God gave you a dream put some legs on it and get going." In the spring of 2006 I visited the college with my friends Jason Young and Darrell Morgan. Darrell had recently become an associate pastor in Williamstown, KY. This college just so happened to be in KY as well, and it was only a little over an hour away from him. After seeing the college I knew this was where I wanted to go to college. Before coming to college I went overseas again this time I spent 6 weeks and worked with a missionary. He taught me a ton about missions and what it meant to be a missionary.

My journey kept taking me places I had never thought were possible. I went to college and I am still there. I work with youth, preach and so much more. I never would have believed all this would have happened ten years ago when I graduated. My journey looks so much different than I had thought, but I would not change it for anything. The next chapter in my journey is to head overseas again this time for 4 months. I am still waiting on my acceptance letter for the program. So as I have reflected on my journey I encourage others to look back at theirs. For those young students know this that where ever your journey takes you God will be with you and His guidance will help you to be a faithful servant for His kingdom. Our journeys are a testament to the power of Gods saving work. If he can take a depressed kid with no confidence on the edge of suicide. He can use anyone of us for His great purpose.

Psalms 25:4 "Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths."

Hands on

I recently started my application process for Hand-on. Hands-on is a program where college students can go over seas for a semester and earn 12 college credits. The cost is 2,900 dollars for most jobs and that is a lot cheaper than paying full price for 12 credits.

This is an opportunity of a life time, but it doesn't come without some problems. Several things that come to mind are; how will I save the money for it. I will have to leave my job, but on the bright side my boss said she would rehire me. The biggest problem I see is where will I store my belongings and when I return where would I live until I am able to save enough money up to once again pay for a place to stay. I know that God in all His wisdom knows the answers to these questions, but that doesn't mean I have not thought about them.

The good things I see that can come from this are so many. I will gain hands on experience and challenge myself in cross-cultural ministry's. I feel called to go to Africa already full time, so this will give me an eye opening view of what life might be like for me. I am excited and scared. Praise God for his challenges to "Go make disciples." I also see this as a way to help my church in doing missions in the future.

If you could be in prayer for me, and what the Lord would have me do. I would be much appreciated. I would like to be praying for you, so if you have any requests please let me know.

On Mission

The church and the mission of God. There are many different areas that the church needs to be on mission. How does the church balance doing both local and foreign missions? I've heard both sides "we need to work with in our own community," and "we need to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth." Both are true and both should be done. The church has a duty to spreading the Gospel to "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth." We need to always be on mission no matter where we are at. When we are out to eat at Cracker Barrel or on vacation in Gatlinburg, or where ever you may be. Sharing the Gospel is a call that all Christians have.

I feel the church I am currently a member of is spreading the Gospel to the people they are around and those they come in contact with. But the area I feel a passion for and a need to work on is our foreign mission. We have discussed doing a mission trip, but we continue to talk. A good friend of mine once said "if you have a dream put some legs on it and get going." I have a dream and desire for others to catch that dream to share the Gospel to people around the world. My great desire is to have people of all ages and backgrounds to go or help others to go. There are several steps to take to start the process.

1.Be in prayer for where the Lord can use us.
2.Asses our gifts and talents to see how we can be used.

These two steps help to begin the process and from there the planning will begin.

Be on mission with God.

Poverty

“I know poverty because poverty was there before I was born and it has become part of life like the blood through my veins. Poverty is not going empty for a single day and getting something to eat the next day. Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future. Poverty is getting nobody to feel your pain and poverty is when your dreams go in vain because nobody is there to help you. Poverty is watching your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die in pain and in sorrow just because they couldn't get something to eat. Poverty is hearing your grandmothers and grandfathers cry out to death to come take them because they are tired of this world. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep. Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care". " Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light. Poverty is when people accuse you and prosecute you for no fault of yours but who is there to say some for you? Poverty is when the hopes of your fathers and grandfathers just vanish within a blink of an eye. I know poverty and I know poverty just like I know my father's name. Poverty never sleeps. Poverty works all day and night. Poverty never takes a holiday" http://cozay.com/

Can you hear me

What keeps us from hearing God? Can you hear him or is life to noisy. Our lives are so filled with stuff that we miss God throughout our day. I wanna pray to God more, but in reality there are other things to do. Like this blog. I wanna read His word more, but reality is there is always another book to read. I wanna hear God, but I do not make it a priority. Hearing God takes a slowing down of our lives. Are we willing to slow down?

America is on high speed all the time non stop go, go, go. We have drive-thru's for faster service, and we are always connected to the world via. cell phones, computers, and so much more. This high speed life has caused us to be disconnected to one another. Why have we become a non-social society where we no longer care about human interaction. We would rather go through the self check out lane at Wal-Mart, and we try to avoid people as we pass by them by staring at the floor. What happened? I feel this disconnect of human interaction has caused us to be disconnect from God. Technology has severed our closeness with the Father. We read of the fist century church with amazement of how they heard God. They spent time meditating on His word and they prayed with one another. Read Acts 4:23-31.

A few years ago I went on a prayer retreat with my friend Darrell and the first day was touchier for us we did not know what to do or to talk about. We had just spent several hours in a car with one another so the small talk was done. We went to a monastery, so no TV to entertain us. We sat around looking at one another not sure what to do. The second day of the retreat we spent 5 hours with the Lord in silence and by the end of that day we could sit, read, and we talked about our day with the Lord. We did it without the restlessness that we had when we first arrived. The retreat ended on the third day and we felt another day would have been really productive. We had begun to hear God and feel His Spirit move in us. I tell this story one to remind myself to slow down and hear God whisper. Two so maybe you will slow down and draw near the saviour.

What is stopping you from hearing from the Lord. What can you let go of to slow your life down. A word of caution, when the Lord speaks he does not call us to safety, but to be a barbarian for His kingdom. For a more on being a Barbarian read "Barbarian way" By Erwin McManus.