Thursday, August 25, 2011

A life like that of Abram's.

"The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people & your father's household & go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation & I will bless you; I will make your name great, & you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, & whoever curses you I will curse; & all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.' So Abram left, as the Lord had told him. . ."

-Genesis 12:1-4

I miss Fort Collins & the people I have built deep relationships with there & the other night as I cried, my mom told me this story of Abram, so tonight I looked it up & this passage really stood out to me. Yes, God promises huge blessings upon Abram, but that's not what caught my attention. . .what took hold of my heart was the immediate obedience of Abram (which, at that time was his name). The Lord simply expresses His promises & 3 words later ("So Abram left. . ."), this guy was gone. This obedience is something to be motivated by & the Lord was not solely speaking to Abram here. He put this passage, these words in the Bible for us, the people of the 21st century, to be encouraged by; to know that in our obedience we will be blessed & because of that, others will be blessed through us. 

I pray, Lord, that You will teach us & that we learn how to live a life in obedience, one after Abram's example. 

NEW BLESSINGS: This upcoming Tuesday, I have an interview with our local paper in efforts to get out the story of the Lord's impact in my life & what God is doing in Japan, as well as a way to advertise an upcoming missions yard sale! I am a little overwhelmed with everything I have to do, but extremely excited! :) Thank you for your prayers & support! Let me know how I can be praying for you! Love you all.

I miss thee, epic roadtrip.



"I desire to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart."
-Psalm 40:8

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

come away with Me. . .

Alaska :)
they kept things interesting
I just got back to Colorado from an epic road trip, all the way from Alaska. If  you desire to know God a little more, I highly recommend road-tripping down the west coast from Alaska (one of many ways of going deeper with the Lord). My friend Spencer & I flew out to Anchorage to drive back with our awesome friend Mikey. What a huge blessing this trip was & I feel as if though I saw God in a whole new way on this trip; not only did I have the opportunity to get to see Spencer & Mikey's hearts for the Lord, but I also had the opportunity to see God's heart on a whole new level.

look at Him; He is so beautiful
long night of drivin' eh?
During our adventure we played Come Away With Me / Let Me In by Jesus Culture over & over & over again: epic song. This is my last week here, in what has been my home for the last year, & it is my last few months in the state I love, & honestly, it breaks my heart thinking of the day I have to leave. After listening to this song, the Lord overwhelmed my heart with peace & I found comfort in His words,


"I have a plan for you; it's gonna be wild, it's gonna be great, it's gonna be full of Me." 

going into canadaaa!
Vancouver; yea son
I wrote these words on my heart & every time I hear Him saying them to me, I fall even in more love with Him, I desire more of Him, & I realize, this adventure & journey I'm on with Him, is crazy & wild. . .which in all reality, is much more exciting, much more epic, & better than anything else I can imagine. My desire to be with Him above all else conquers the desire to stay here; I will do anything to be with Him. . .even if that means following Him to the wild corners of the world. It's not going to be easy, but it shall be worth it. Heck, it already is worth it!

British Columbia is now one of my favorite places
come stand in awe of Him in Seattle!
I miss riding in that lil' blue suzuki with Spence & Mikey (the time we spent & the moments we had in that car are priceless & I wouldn't trade them for the world); lots of high-fives over epic occurrences, singing at the top of our lungs to our favorite songs, frost heaves (nuff said), & many, many more, but I have to say my favorite moment was praying together. As we prayed, we gazed upon mountain after mountain covered in trees & the sun rolling over every hill & mountain top; I saw the Lord every where I turned my head & I couldn't believe He created all of it for us. While we were praying I could hear God's very words: "I did all of this for you; not to give Myself all the credit, but for you to hear Me whisper, 'I love you.'"

they took care of me :)
hello Oregon!
For example: I started driving around 1 a.m. while we were in British Columbia & before the sun began to rise, I was the only one awake singing worship music to avoid falling asleep, & all of a sudden I spotted a few falling stars. The last one I saw was huge & bright & for me, that was the Lord telling me how much He loved me. I could go on & on about how evident our Father was on this trip & how much more it opened my eyes up to His unfailing love for this world (it is so deep, unrelenting, passionate, faithful, & unconditional). I believe the Lord desired to use this trip to reawaken the passion He has placed inside of me for this world. He has a wild plan, full of Him for this world, for YOU & He is going to use you to achieve it. . .pursue it relentlessly & guard it with everything you have.

camped out on the beach
I wish I could tell you of every story, every sight, every beautiful moment with the Lord in great detail here, but you would be reading a novel if I were to do that (which isn't always a bad thing, but I feel like you would stop reading after awhile, ha ha & I don't blame ya)! Enjoy the photos! (:
where my heart resides.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

a little something forgotten. . .

"You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth & clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You & not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever."
-Psalm 30:11-12

I was making a thank you card for the wonderful family I have been staying with this week & as I was looking up a verse to use in the card, I stumbled upon this verse I had previously highlighted & very much underlined. I am very sad to admit that I sometimes forget that my God has done this for me & I allow my heart to be silent. Thank You, Lord for so graciously reminding me of why You are so beautiful & worthy of all gratefulness. I declare & pray that our hearts will no longer fall into silence.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011