If my life is a movie, then today the "pause" button was pushed. I was sick and for a good seven hours I did the following: drank a glass of milk, lay on the couch, sat on the couch, put on a sweater, took off my sweater, heated up a plate of lasagna, ate a quarter of that lasagna, filled up my pink fuzzy hot water bottle and hugged it for all seven hours, watched an episode of Gilmore Girls, drank a cup of green tea, watched two more episodes of Gilmore Girls, drank another cup of green tea, put my flannel sweater back on, moved to my bed, still hugged my hot water bottle, almost shed a "self-pity tear", wrote in my journal, ate an orange, talked with my sister on the phone, read a book, tried to nap...that failed, got out of my bed, drank another cup of green tea...and here I am now!
Before all of this awesomeness-of-a-day occured, I was struggling with the issue of feeling lazy. I do not have a job, and I am not in school; therefore, I feel like I am useless. Therefore, I feel like my life is on pause because I'm simply not doing anything. But the thing is, is that my life isn't on pause. Time is still ticking and God is still working. For instance, every single day of my life is a gift from God, and I can glorify Him by showing His love to others. I don't want to think of this day as a "waste of time" I want to think of it as a precious gift.
I struggle with the issue of feeling guilty for not having a job, or for not being in school. It makes me feel like I'm not talented, or productive; it makes me feel like I'm just wasting my life away. But with much prayer, God is letting it slowly sink in that I'm not who I am because of my talents or accomplishments. I'm not special because of what I've DONE, I'm special because of who I AM.
So what am I? What is our identity in Christ?
1 Peter 2:4 states that we are "...a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God: Chosen and Precious."
John 1:12 states that "...all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God."
According to Matthew 5:14 we are "the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."
And my favorite verse Hebrew 13:5 tells us that God will "NEVER leave you or forsake you." We are never alone.
To whoever's reading, I hope this encouraged you as much as it encouraged me. God is good, and on our so-called paused-sick days he is STILL good.
April 18, 2011
Life in Pause?
April 14, 2011
God Alone.
This song is absolutely amazing. Every time I listen to it it seems to put my life back into perspective and it reminds me why I'm living and who I'm living for. It reminds me just how powerful God is and that He is on His throne, watching over us. We have nothing to be afraid of.
April 2, 2011
Goodbye Germany.
Today is Saturday April 2nd, which means, I have less than two hours left here at Bodenseehof Bible School before I'm forced to check out. I've been awake for over 48 hours...I have pulled two all-nighters in a row and I am just waiting for the ultimate crash right now. I'll let you know when that happens...
There have been many, many tears this morning and I feel like my heart has just been ripped out. 108 goodbyes is hard to do. Saying goodbye to the people who have changed you so much into becoming a better person and those whom have helped drastically transform your relationship with God is hard to do. But the cool thing is the confidence is knowing that if we don't see each other again here one earth, we'll see each other again at the wedding feast in Heaven.
I'm still at the Bode at this very moment, in between saying goodbyes. I have the whole day to spend frolicing around this little town with some friends here so it'll be a good distraction from all of these hard goodbyes and from my sad little empty heart. I'm going to buy alot of German chocolate...alot.
I wonder if I will sleep tonight? If I don't that'll be a total of 72 consecutive hours awake! How fun.
I am excited beyond belief to get home though, to my real home...my Canadian home. My wonderful family is waiting for me and my two suitcases of German goodies!
I can't believe how fast six months can fly. And I can't believe what God can do with you when you let Him have total control. He can do anything, and for that I praise Him. :)
March 27, 2011
John 3:16
FOR GOD: The greatest passion.
SO LOVED: The greatest motive.
THE WORLD: The greatest need.
THAT HE GAVE: The greatest gift.
HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON: The greatest sacrifice.
THAT WHOEVER: The greatest opportunity.
BELIEVES: The greatest decision.
IN HIM: The greatest security.
SHOULD NOT PERISH: The greatest tragedy.
BUT: The greatest interruption.
HAVE: the greatest possession.
ETERNAL LIFE: The greatest destiny.
-John 3:16
March 26, 2011
Eight Days.
I have a total of eight and a half days left in Germany. I can't even believe this. I'm so excited to come home because I miss my family terribly...I miss them almost as much as I miss good old' North American food. But I'm going to be extremely sad about leaving this beautiful country and all of the beautiful relationships God has given to me here. I know that the relationships will prosper, but they'll never be anything like they were here. I can say with full confidence that everyone here at Bodenseehof is like my family; we're all brothers and sisters who see each other at all hours of the day and we live in the same building and we play the same sports together and we eat all the same meals together: Family. This has been my home for six months and I'm sad to leave it.
I'm trying my best not to get depressed. But as I was telling someone yesterday, it's hard for me to make the most out of my last week here when I KNOW that the dreaded day of April 2nd is on its way. 108 goodbyes will be hard to do.
All I can do right now is thank God for giving me this wonderful opportunity. He has blessed me in so many ways and I have changed so much since September 23rd. I came here broken, but I'm leaving here with a full and bursting heart. I am ready for life beyond Germany! And I'm also ready to finally have more time for blogging. :)
So one cool random fact is that the other day our principle gave us all envelopes. We're supposed to write a letter to ourselves, seal it in the envelope and give it back to the principle. Then in one year, March 2012, He will send the letter back to us. My letter is currently 6 pages long. (is that surprising in any way? No.) All I know is that I can't wait to see where I'll be in a year! I have an idea right now, but anything could happen. Life is just so exciting.
March 6, 2011
One Eighty.
God, you are amazing. This weekend has truly been evidence of Your endless love for all your children. To anyone who’s reading, I would just like to share about my weekend here in Germany. I feel like God has just stretched me over these last couple of days and He has filled my mind with incredible insight as to who I am in His eyes.
I had outreach this weekend. For any of you who don’t know what this all entails, it’s just a weekend where my Sing-team hosts kids from a town called Rossweg and we just spend the whole weekend with them: playing games, singing, sharing testimonies, going on photo scavenger hunts, and just hanging out.
I have realized that I am a very selfish person, and I hate admitting this. When I found out I had outreach this weekend, I got upset because I wanted to have this weekend for myself. I wanted to spend it with my friends. I wanted to read and catch up on my homework. I just wanted to do the things that I wanted to do, to stay safely nestled in my zone of comfort where nothing bad or nerve-wracking could happen to me. And then when God subtly nudged me and reminded me that spending time with these kids is for His glory, I just got mad at myself! I got upset at myself because as a Christian I should WANT to reach out to people, I should WANT to share Christ with these kids. Since I was fearing this weekend, it made me wonder if I really am a Christian. You would think that out of my love for God I would want nothing more than to share Christ, but since I was dreading it all, what did that mean for my relationship with God? Does it mean that my love for Him is fake?
On Thursday morning, all these struggles just exploded in my face. I felt an immense amount of insecurity. I guess my biggest fear is being rejected by these kids; I’m scared of reaching out because I’m terrified that once I do, they might laugh in my face. It’s actually ridiculous how I let my fear and imagination get the best of me. I mean, what kind of 20 year old gets intimidated by a bunch of 13 year olds? My dread for this weekend and my lack of confidence became obvious to those closest to me this day. I guess my insecurities just love to radiate from my face, but I’ve found that this is a blessing in disguise, because when your best friends demand to know what’s wrong and why you looked so distressed, it opens doors for encouragement and prayer. This is exactly what I received. God speaks to us in so many different ways, and I definitely believe that He uses people to do so. He uses our friends, our enemies, and even complete strangers to engrave His truth into our hearts.
And even something incredible occurred at my singteam practice that day. I decided to be honest with my team saying, “guys, I’m just not feeling it. I’m not motivated at all for this weekend…singing is honestly the last thing I want to do.” And rather than just shrugging, or brushing my comment off, they all put their guitars down and said, “OK, we really need to pray.” And so we did. After that prayer, it wasn’t as if I was jumping up and down just dying to sing and motivated beyond belief. I was just…light-hearted. I felt like this is how life should be lived. When we’re feeling down or when a friend tells us that they’re struggling, don’t say, “I will be praying for you.”; rather, say “let’s pray right now.” Pray immediately and pray always. Pray without ceasing! Because I know that after somebody’s done praying for me, I feel like somebody cares, I feel loved, and I feel encouraged. It’s incredible!
So Thursday evening the kids arrived for supper and the first thing I noticed were how bright their smiles were. All 20 of them were so friendly, outgoing, and just constantly smiling. They especially weren’t shy to try out their English with us, which was WONDERFUL. That night was spent learning their names, performing songs for them, and playing silly games. It was just hilarious, and I loved every minute of it. I can’t help but compare these kids to the first group of kids we hosted back in November. The November kids definitely had the mindset “we’re too cool for this.” And they were very hard to interact with. That weekend I would describe as…awkward. But this group of kids now, I just loved them! They were just so approachable to me.
On Friday, a girl from my Singteam was unsure as to whether she wanted to talk about her sister’s struggle with anorexia when she was to share her testimony later with the kids. And I told her that yes, she should include it, because you never know, there could be a 14 year old girl here who is struggling with the very same thing and it could be a huge encouragement to her. After I said this, it was as if a pile of bricks landed on my head. It became very evident to me that out of all the times I had been sharing my testimony here, I hadn’t actually been sharing my testimony. A testimony is supposed to tell of the turning point of your relationship with Christ. It’s the story of how you fell in love with God. What I had usually been sharing with people were just significant parts of my life story, but I had always left out the part where my heart really did change for Christ. Yes, my brother’s death is a huge part of my life, but it’s not exactly what caused me to fall in love with Christ, if you know what I mean.
So today, Sunday, without even a warning, I got asked to share my testimony. And so I did. And, it went incredible. It went incredible in the way that God gave me the exact words to say and I just got so much fulfillment out of it. After I shared about my huge struggle that began in middle school and followed me all the way here to Germany many years later, I felt like a weight was lifted from my chest, because I had never shared that part in my testimony before. All I could do after was thank God and praise Him for giving me the strength.
After our Sunday morning service, I hung out with all the girls, we had lunch together and we talked and laughed, and they asked for my “facebook name”. They were all just a bunch of sweethearts and it honestly sucked saying goodbye to them. I wish I could have had more time with them, and to get to know them on a more personal level. I wish I could have known what their relationship with God was like. I wish I could have learned their struggles and I wish I could have been their big sister. I may never know if I encouraged at least one of them with my life and my testimony, but God knows. He knows their hearts and that’s all that matters. He is the vine and I am merely the branch, bearing good fruit for Him. All the glory goes to Him!
God did a 180 on my weekend and complete changed my heart. I went from bitterness and dread to excitement and fire! I feel like I’ve grown so much from these past couple of days and I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity. It was unfortunately my last outreach, since Bible school is coming to a fast end. But God has really placed something on my heart: I so badly want to work with young teenage girls. I have such a big heart for them and I know that God can use me in their lives! I just want them to know that they’re loved and that they don’t need to find love from anything else but God. They’re so much better than what the media feeds them, they’re so much better than finding their emotional security in opinions of the opposite sex. They’re so much better than drugs and alcohol and partying. They’re so much better than gossiping and striving to become popular.
God, I just pray that if this is your will, that you will open doors for me. God let me be an example to them. My one desire is that I will use my life for You and that when those young eyes look at me they won’t see me, but they will see YOU shining through me! God thank you for your love and for your confidence in me, and thank you for this incredible weekend that you gave to me.
February 16, 2011
Spain & Babies.
In case you're wondering why I decided to title this blog post as is...well, I just got back from Spain, and my sister just had her baby. What could be better than that??
Spain was so beautiful! I was there for four days with four beautiful lady-friends. The weather was plus 18 and sunny. I got a little bit of a tan, what can I say? :)
And my older sister had her second girl, named Cadence Joy. She was 10 lbs and 4 oz. (Talk about fun times!) It's so exciting having a new little person enter into the world. God has little Cadence in the palm of His hand, and He's gonna do amazing things through her. I just know it!
I'm just extremely happy right now. I have a whole weekend ahead of me, with my only plans being to catch up on my Bible reading.
God bless!
February 9, 2011
Love or Lust?
Love can wait - Lust wants it now.
Love gives - Lust takes.
Love wants the best for the other - Lust wants the best for himself.
Love is tender - Lust is rude.
Love builds up - Lust breaks down.
Love sees the other - Love looks for itself.
"The purpose of marriage is living to glorify God by reflecting His design, and giving thanks to Him through it." :)
Those were just some notes taken from a recent lecture.
Today is our school's day of Prayer/Silence.
And tomorrow I am off to Spain for travel weekend!
February 3, 2011
Outreach!
What is this “outreach” I speak of? Well, this weekend for four days, my Singteam (Crosswalk Motives) along with a fellow drama team from my school packed up and drove 5 hours to a little village in Northern Bavaria called Neuenmarkt. We essentially reached out to people of all ages with our sermons, songs, and dramas, with the one prayer that we softened their hearts to the grace and love of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. I made it a point to journal my Outreach experience every night before bed with the intention that I could share with you about it on my blog. So here it is, with a few things edited. :)
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
You’ll never guess where I am right now! I’m on the 3rd floor attic of a little German house in a town called Neuenmarkt. Our Bodenseehof outreach team got split up and through the church we were dividing into staying with different host families. I’m not gonna lie, I love my host-family.
This is my 3rd outreach, but it is so incredibly different from the other ones. My first outreach took place at my school where 40 junior-high aged kids came and stayed for the weekend. This was difficult in that it was my very first outreach, I was so nervous, it was completely out of my comfort zone, and I also had to remind myself that I was technically on outreach and I couldn’t hide in my room or hang out with my normal Bode friends here. For my sing team’s second outreach, we drove 20 minutes and performed at a Sunday morning church service, and then participated in songs upstairs with the little Sunday school children. (This was the easiest one, since it only lasted a few hours) But this outreach is five hours away, for a whole weekend! Terrifying, right? WRONG. I’ll try to describe this in the best way I can…before my first outreach, I unfortunately have to admit that I was nervous and I was completely dreading it. After that weekend ended, I realized that I had no reason to dread such a thing, and long story short, it ended up being a GREAT weekend.
Today before we all took off to Neuenmarkt, Sarah and Jessica pulled me aside to pray and asked me, “so Jenny, what are you nervous about this time?” (Apparently their memories are sharp and remembered vividly how I was before my first outreach! Ha) And with a huge smile on my face I answered, “Honestly…there’s nothing. I’m not scared or nervous about anything.” I really couldn’t believe those words were coming out of my mouth. I felt completely at peace about everything; and this my friends, is what God’s peace looks like. But I told them, “Can you guys just pray that I will remember that this weekend isn’t about me, or my singteam, or the songs…and that it’s all about God? I just need the reminder that God knows every word that will be said and that He is in control.”
After that session we all headed back to our host families, and my host-mama made lasagna for me! How sweet! Eating dinner with them was interesting; I attempted my best German, and they attempted their best English. Sometimes we definitely couldn’t understand each other…but I definitely did understand when she mentioned that her 22 year old son owns every episode of Mr. Bean. Oh man, you should have seen my face light up!! :D
We then spent the rest of the evening with our outreach team back at the church just chilling and making pizza. (Germans put corn on their pizza, how strange…yet tasty) It was nice just hanging out and bonding with my team. For the rest of this outreach I just pray that I will honor God with everything I do and say…especially with the words that come out of my mouth. I need to remember that the whole reason for outreach is to REACH OUT to lost hearts and to share Christ with them!
Even though I sit here alone on this pink bed, with pink sheets, a pink pillow, pink blanket, and a pink lamp, (how did they know I loved pink?!) in this strange house in this strange country, I don’t feel alone. Thank you Jesus for being here with me and for never letting go of my hand. That’s one thing I’ve learned...if ever you’re feeling distant from God and you don’t feel like talking with Him, just THANK him. Thank Him for his protection, and thank Him that His Holy Spirit lives in you. :)
Friday, January 28th, 2011
It’s 11:30 PM and let me tell you, today was THEE longest day of my life. Not that it wasn’t an awesome day or anything, it was just slow. This morning I woke up at 7 AM to have breakfast with my host-fam. And it’s just kind of funny because they were all finished eating before I even started, so they just sat there awkwardly and stared at me as I indulged in my Nutella toast. Oh the joys of the language barrier!
At 8 PM the outreach team met at the local middle school and we went into different classrooms to perform for them. In one classroom, I was interviewed by one of the leaders (while being translated) with questions like, “what was your home life like?”, “What were you doing before you came to Bodenseehof?”, “why did you come to Bodenseehof?”. Usually in those kinds of situations where all eyes are on you and the spotlight is only on you, my heart starts to race…but I just felt like God was feeding me every single word on a spoon. It was wonderful. My singteam performed in two classrooms; one class only had like 8 kids. The other one was about a more average/normal sized classroom filled with grade 9ers. As I was standing in front of them I had flashbacks of when I was in Grade 9…when my biggest concern was eyeliner and the boy sitting in front of me. I just felt like I knew exactly what was going through those teenage girls’ minds and I wanted so badly to scream it in their ears that there is so much more to life than that!! But all I could do at that point was to just pray a silent prayer that God would open up their hearts to what we came there to do.
On our singteam is a boy who is tall, blonde, fluent in German and English, and is American. So after we were done singing, you can only imagine how all the little teen girls FLOODED him and got his Facebook account out of him. It was funny to see.
Then a girl on my team and I bonded over our love of books, and she recommended 10 books to me: the Mark of the Lion series, The Three Musketeers, The Other Boleyn Girl, Jane Eyre, Tess of The Durbeville’s, Gone With The Wind, Wuthering Heights, Vanity Fair, Emma, Pride & Prejudice, The Help, and Inkheart. (I am so excited to spend all my summer reading these books!!)
We had free time that afternoon so I went over to my friend Katie’s host families house where she and I attempted to skype some friends back at school, but we eventually just had a really good talk while snuggling in bed. (cuddle puddle!)
At 4:30 we had a session with the Kids-Club, which was ages 9-13 (the funnest age!!) We played hilarious games and sang awesome kids songs. I don’t know why, but I really enjoy those kids songs with the actions…they make me feel young again…I guess…
After all the children left, our team got together for a time of talking and prayer. I was told that I’d be sharing my testimony tonight, and for some odd reason I just felt so disheartened and sick to my stomach. Maybe it’s because it felt like a big deal to me, since 3 people prayed for me right then and there. Maybe it was because I couldn’t find a grasp for my words and didn’t know how to prepare for it. Or maybe it’s just because I don’t have the easiest life story…and it’s hard to share it at times. My team members could definitely read the uneasiness on my face after that. I found myself upset at God for giving me this story, and I just wished that God would have given me just a boring and simple testimony. But then I was mad at myself because that’s such a selfish and disrespectful thing to wish for. I mean, my life story isn’t mine; it’s Gods, and I need to share it with the world so that I can honour Him with it. After having already shared my testimony last November with my school, and then again with my K-group at the beginning of this week…I have realized that only good things have come out of sharing my life story. With this story that God has given me, he has allowed for me to inspire and encourage others, and honestly, that’s all I want.
We proceeded to the other church in Wirsberg where we had our youth event, and I shared my testimony. It was an interesting experience, because I’d say a few lines, and then a leader from my team would translate into German. It’s good because while he was translating, then I could use that time to think of my next sentence! I really feel like God has made me into a new person because the first time I ever shared my testimony I was so nervous I could have thrown up right then and there! But God has really given me a whole new perspective on it all, and it’s like he pulled every nerve from my body…leaving me nerve…less. (ha) What I’ve learnt about testimonies is that you can’t just share that you grew up in a Christian home and then list all your tragedies, tears, struggles, and then leave it at that. It needs to end with encouragement and how God has been working in your life to get you where you are now.
As I sit here on my bed, I don’t know if my testimony did have an effect on anyone at that youth event tonight. I don’t know their hearts. But what I do know is that God knows their hearts and it’s not my job to work in them, it’s His job.
Dear God, I pray that you will give me the strength and the patience to live in the here and the now. And even though today was extremely long and exhausting, I thank you for it. I thank you for holding my hand while I shared my testimony, and I pray that tomorrow the people will see your light shining in us, and that through us, You will change their hearts.
Saturday, January 29th, 2011.
This morning I got to sleep in until 8:30! (Woohoo!!) And my host-parents 24 year old daughter came home for the weekend from University and her English is SO good. She is super sweet, and with her English to German language help, I was able to share a bit of my life story with my host-family. Their 22 year old son has a brain disorder and so I asked them if he was a Christian. And they really didn’t know; they’re not sure if his brain is able to ponder or reflect on stuff like that. I’ll admit that this kind of saddened me, but I know that he is in God’s hands, so I don’t need to be afraid.
I met with my singteam at the church for a nice long practice session. And we ended up writing a song and coming up with a melody together. It was so cool! I felt like I was part of a real band, like we we were on tour jamming in the tour bus. (In my head: so this is what Taylor Swift feels like everyday!) I’m just gonna say right now that I absolutely love my sing-team! They are so talented, and it’s such a blessing to be a part of it.
The pastor of the church insisted that we eat at a restaurant with an Austrian cook in Wirsberg, so that’s exactly what we did. We all packed into one booth and indulged in THEE most amazing hot chocolate in the world. It was literally like a cup of melted dark chocolate, extremely thick and creamy. (and because of my massive sweet tooth, I had to add sugar…) Then they served us this HUGE pot of what resembled chunks and pieces of sweet pancake/breaded stuff, which on top you pour warm blueberry sauce. It was PHENOMENAL!!
We then had another Kids-club session with little 7-9 year olds, and they were all so cute! I love singing German children songs!
After that, we headed back to the church in Neuenmarkt where we had time to just relax and chill. Thankful, I went upstairs into a super warm and cozy room with dim lighting and couches. As I journaled, my friend Bailey sang and played songs she’s written on the guitar, and then she’d tell me what each song meant. I was definitely in my happy place.
After another youth event ended that night, I stayed at the church that night until past 11:30 (thankfully my host-fam gave me a key to their house!), played soccer in the basement, drank milkshakes, gave hand massages (yes, it’s a new talent that I have discovered!), and then...my favorite part of the evening…doing aerobics to Taylor Swift. (Without a doubt I was in my element)
And well…God did it again. I’ll have to admit that before the youth event tonight, I just felt so exhausted and emotionally drained. The last thing I felt like doing was standing up in front of a crowd again, and singing the same songs AGAIN. So I was pretty convinced that tonight was gonna be a flop. But God is awesome and it turned out to be great, and my mood DID get better. I came home to a Alpenmich Rittersport chocolate bar on my bed with a note saying “We heard you liked German chocolate! :)” Yes, I may or may not have let it slip that I LOVE Germany for its chocolate. I am female…can you blame me? My host-mama also told me that she baked a chocolate cake for me that we’re gonna eat when I wake up tomorrow morning. I was excited beyond words! But at the same time, I felt absolutely awful because here they’re all so sweet giving me chocolate, feeding me breakfast, baking me cakes, driving me places, providing me with a warm and toasty bed, when I don’t have anything to give them in return. And the only time I see them is for half an hour at breakfast everyday! I really do wish I had more time with them.
I can’t believe that tonight is my last night here! Time flies! I’m very, very excited to get back to the school. It’s crazy how much you miss the people after just one measly little weekend.
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
Kaiser-Schmarrn! That is the name of that super yummy dish we ate yesterday at that Austrian restaurant! I can’t forget it, just in case my Mom wants to make it for me one day. :) (hee hee)
This morning I hate the chocolate cake with my host-fam, which was called Marmel-kuchen and it was delicious. (two pieces later…haha)
The drama team stayed upstairs and lead the kids program, while the sing team performed at the church service with the older audience. This church we performed in was super old, made completely out of stone, so it was freezing! I literally could see my breath at times! But it was an absolutely gorgeous church though, and the pews were packed too, which was great!
Before each of our sessions, our team is told to introduce ourselves. So today when I did my usual, “Hallo, ich bin Jenny! Ich komma aus Kanada, und ich bin zwanzig jahre alt!” (Hello my name is Jenny. I’m from Canada and I’m 20 years old.), my host-family cheered for me because they liked hearing my German. Haha.
Being on outreach is such a good thing, because it reminds me that I’m actually living in Germany. At my school, you easily forget this because practically all the students are either American or Canadian, so you just feel like you’re in North America. And all of the German/Swiss/Australian/Ethiopian/Korean/and Indian students feel like they’re living North America. It’s funny actually… so living with my host family in a cute little German town really brought me back down to earth.
After the church service, the pastor gave us all gifts (amazing German chocolate!), and we just took tons of photos: photos with our host families, photos with the kids, and photos with our outreach team. While saying goodbye to my host family, I got their address because I want to send them a little gift in the mail. I don’t want to forget about them and I want to somehow thank them for everything they have provided me with this weekend! I’m so very grateful!
Then we all hopped into our cars and headed back to the school. We also ate at McDonalds which was OH SO GOOD, and not to mention, paid for by our school.
To reflect on this weekend, it was an absolutely amazing experience! I never in a million years would have pictured myself to be the singer on a sing team, performing in front of German kids in German towns in GERMANY, spreading the love of Christ! It’s also amazing to really feel like I no longer have confidence in myself, but I have confidence in God who strengthens me. As I said before, it’s like He’s taken all the nerves from my body and he filled me with his Holy Spirit completely. Anyway, I really do pray that we made a difference in their hearts. And even if it was just one person, then that’s good enough, because God is in control!
And when I returned back to school, I was welcomed with many loving hugs and empty drawers (Sarah and Jessica took ALL of my clothes and hid them all over the school with riddles and clues attached to each article of clothing.) And then my K-group got together around the fire for some stick-bread! (Dough wrapped around a stick, placed over a fire, then after baked, it’s removed from the stick and FILLED with Nutella that oozes out and drips all over your clothes) What a fantastic weekend!! :)
Thank you so much for reading, and please feel free to comment or ask questions on anything you’ve read here!
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” –Matthew 5:16
February 1, 2011
Excuses.
For every time I insecurely say, “Jesus, I am not…”; He says to me, “So what! I AM.” So the next time you think you have an excuse as to why God cannot use you, think of these:
Noah got drunk.
Abraham was too old.
Sarah had stopped ovulating.
Isaac was a day dreamer.
Jacob was a liar.
Leah was ugly.
Judah committed incest.
Joseph was abused.
Moses murdered (So did David and Paul)
Moses stuttered, tended sheep, and died too young.
Barak was a wimp.
Deborah was a woman.
Gideon was afraid.
Samson had long hair.
Jephthah’s mother was a prostitute.
Hoseah’s wife was a prostitute.
Rahab was a prostitute.
David was too young (so were Jeremiah and Timothy)
David had a nervous breakdown and an affair.
The ravens were unclean.
The book Cherith ran dry.
The widow at Zerephath was dying.
Elijah was suicidal.
Elisha was bald.
The axe-head was sunk.
Jeremiah was depressive.
Isaiah had a foul mouth and preached in the nude.
Daniel was locked in with lions.
Jonah ran away.
Naomi was a widow.
Job lost his children, his health, and his wealth.
John the Baptist ate bugs.
Peter had a bad temper, a big mouth and broke his promise.
John was self-righteous.
The disciples fell asleep.
Matthew was a thief.
Thomas doubted.
Simon was fanatical.
Nathanael was cynical.
Martha was a worry wart.
Mary was lazy.
Mary Magdalene was demon-possessed.
The little boy only had 5 loaves and 2 fish.
The woman had Sychar had been sleeping around.
Zaccheus was too short.
The colt that Jesus rode was a Jackass (and some of His disciples are too)
Simon was just a by-passer
Paul was single, a prisoner, and a poor speaker.
Philip disappeared.
Mark quit.
Timothy had ulcers.
And Lazarus was dead.
So…what’s your excuse?
God does not use us because of who we are, but in spite of who we are! “That no man should boast before God.” 1 Corinthians 1:29