Rest

Whenever I take a road trip, or get out of town for a while, those are the times when God helps me make final decisions about where I need to be going next. I'll elaborate more in a minute but For example:

July 2008--in Maryland for the summer and God makes it very clear that I will go back home and join CL staff.
November 2009--weekend in Wisconsin, driving and talking to a close friend helped me see that it was time to quit nursing school and I was soon after led to start at Grace to get my degree in Ministry.
October 2010--road tour of southern states/camping and another close friend of mine is used by God to give me a new perspective on Ministry. That it's not when I'm on the clock with ministry hours when I share God w people. It really is a life you choose to live. This is when I became focused on being real with students..and all people. Still a long way to go w this one.
May 2011--camping in Branson. After graduation and before 'real life' I realize there's a whole world out there that is ready to make Gods kingdom known in my heart. I want to pursue the world and who this God is that made it all and is taking it somewhere.
Nov-dec 2011--I fly 'around the world' to Perth and Hong Kong. I find out I don't need a lot of or nice things to really live. That there are people all over this world that think differently than americans, and they do things differently. They eat differently, communicate differently, and express their love differently. The beauty of it is that God is the author of who they are. And we each have the capacity to love those who are different than us in the world, even in our country and our hometowns. It was on this trip that God told me its time to leave my paid staff position at CL.

These revelations might seem less than moving. But these things, truths maybe, had been planted down into the depths of my heart where I believe they have forever changed me.

After a couple months being off paid staff, I have been released from the behind the scenes stuff and freed to devote my time entirely to building relationships with students/people. That's not the point of this blog, but it does help me paint the picture of where my thoughts are.

There's something about getting away and letting go of the life that you know, even just for a small amount of time. This ranges from sitting in your bed and meditating on Gods word and listening to Him, to driving to the country (to ramble, a new word I just learned). Or taking a trip overseas. I think God does it because how else could he get our attention enough for us to take what he's telling us seriously. By seriously, I mean put it into real life. And during this stage of my life I have been feeling like I have stepped back from life for a couple months now, on my way to something bigger. I came across this passage in my friend Cara's blog and it is what inspired me to finally write all these thoughts down. I need to get my hands on this book:

"Making progress in life is hard work. When we insist on moving forward as quickly as possible, we can wear ourselves out in a hurry. Sometimes when God makes us wait it's one of the most merciful things he can do. It doesn't mean we've inherently done something wrong. In fact, it can indicate just the opposite. That we're right between really big things God has for our lives. And we need to rest up." --Holley Gerth in You're Already Amazing.

More thoughts to come on this topic. Thank you Cara if you read this because your whole blog has inspired me. Mostly, thank you Jesus for being real, for allowing us to pursue being real, and for outlasting and outloving everything else.