community

what is my community? this is what i'm thinking about tonight. what does it consist of? it consists of work, people i meet at work (patients), people in the community in which i live, friends, family, church family, and reaching out outside of my comfort zone. i also see my community as a place where i see God in the midst of trying times. i see it as everyone bringing in and acknowledging brokenness and encouraging one another and pointing one another to the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ. i pondered those things today sitting in our lunch book study at our office.
last night, my Bible study had the opportunity and privilege of seeing what the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home is about. we were planning on doing the prayer walking tour, but instead ended up getting a tour by one of the house parents and then just seeing her cottage and meeting her husband and two small children. we asked question after question about this ministry, just trying to learn more about the situation there. what baffled me the whole time is how close in proximity this place is to my work, church, and where i live. i mean, i drive by it every morning, not even knowing it has been there! what it consists of is 8-9 cottages with "house parents" who take in students and children that they are "assigned" that they basically care for and love on. there is so much more than that that takes place on campus, but that is it in a nutshell. what an eye opening thing, though, to see this ministry at work literally in my backyard. it blew me away that one of the set of "house parents" has been there 27 years. amazing.
so my prayer is for the Lord to keep my eyes and heart open to my "community"- my family, friends, coworkers, and the world around me.

thankful day 5?

so, i missed a couple of days last week...i guess weekends are not included in my thankful days. i just finished some schoolwork and am headed to the gym. today and all weekend i am thankful for the people around me who encourage me and walk through life with me. God has truly blessed me with amazing parents, brother, friends, extended family, and last but not least, co-workers. I have realized the day to day can be a struggle...but the amazing staff i have to walk through the day to day keeps me encouraged and lifts my spirits! i am thankful for my parents who are more than supportive of everything and have taught me so much about life. i am thankful for friends that i can call (kiersten, i have to mention your name) while i'm walking and i can tell her all of the ways i have been encouraged after she asks me how my week was after being back from korea. i am just as encouraged by her life and what God is doing...i am thankful for church friends, Bible study friends that help me write notecards to every single child on the "Sponsor a Child" site at the Isaac Home in Seoul...God has grown my heart to have a desire to love on those children in hard ways since i am miles away, but He has blessed me with the hearts of 3 other people who are coming alongside me to bless those children. The excitement my friends have for the isaac home leaves me speechless. i am thankful for friends that pray over me and with me and for me through the struggles. i am thankful for friends i can confide in and who are just living life with me in pursuit of something greater. thankful thankful thankful!
continuing to pray for ways for fund-raising for the isaac home...how to raise awareness. i am trying to spread the word any way that i can and ideas are always welcome. happy monday!

thankful day 4

today I'm thankful for a few things but 2 in particular in my mind. hope and the sovereignty of God. hope because I am fallen and he's given me hope in eternal life by his grace! sovereignty because I know he has every detail in my life in his hand and has been faithful in leading me. Lord help me trust.
today and the past few days I have been thinking about a verse that was shared on a blog talking about faith as big as a mustard seed yet even that small we can have faith enough to say to a mountain "move" and have faith God can do it. my faith has been tried and tested lately and as small as or smaller than a mustard seed, yet he can still use me and He continues to work in my sinful heart through His Spirit. I am praying for wisdom & guidance on how to raise funds and awareness for the Isaac home in south Korea. my heart has become attached to the hearts of those precious children!!!

thankful day 3

today I'm thankful for the Word of God. not only in guiding terms where He leads us through "words" but His Word in Scripture. I have read so many people's faith stories and how important the Living Word is in our spiritual growth. it is renewing and reviving and refreshing to my heart and soul. as distracted as I am from reading His Word, I am reminded when I do how much I need it...daily! Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Psalm 119: 11 Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him. Proverbs 30: 5 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. Hebrews 4: 12 Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law. Psalm 119: 18 I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law]. Psalm 119: 15 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action). 2 Timothy 3: 16 But what does it say? The Word (God's message in Christ) is near you, on your lips and in your heart; that is, the Word of faith which we preach. Romans 10: 8 Sky and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Matthew 24: 35 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119: 105

thankful day 2

today I'm thankful for prayer. I am thankful for being able to talk with the Lord and give him my day and I am reminded the past coupe of days the importance of staying my mind on him throughout the day every second and moment I need to talk to him about and trust him with. to me, this doesn't come easily. my mind is consumed by the checklists and what I have to do...so it takes me intentionally making the prayers come out. speaking of intentionality...this is something I realized is an act of love and kindness and adds meaning and joy to your day. today i noticed how dr kemp asked us how we were doing, how our days were going, and if we were happy today...I think everyone including myself had to process what he asked. it almost stopped my brain from working because I am not asked that often! when patients ask me how I'm doing it makes me stop what im doing! but what a difference that makes in my day and can make in anyone's day if we stop and take 2 seconds to ask those questions! it brings joy and depth. so does continual prayer!

thankful day 1

today I'm thankful for life and new mercies. I'm thankful for Gods grace that covers me in spite of what and who I am. no matter my condition He is FULL of grace and new mercies and life. yesterday mikes preaching was on do we more than just memorize the truth- do we really know it and how really knowing could change our lives. even though I am sinful and selfish do I truly know Jesus accepts me and really died for me? I think I memorize and think I "know" sometimes, but I think if I did, my life on a daily basis would look different. thank you Lord for your new mercies... I long for your Spirit to change me and I long to see people's lives changed through that! loving the lyrics to this song by Aaron shust: my hope is in you Lord all the day long I wont be shaken by drought or storm the peace that passes understanding is my song. and another song by fee: glory to God forever...take my life and let it be all for you and for YOUR glory take my life and let it be yours.  each day this week I am posting something I am grateful for. so much I take for granted!

i am missing those faces already. jet lag has gotten the best of me the past couple of days. i find myself in a struggle between gratefulness and sadness and unsurety in how to "help" those babies and the holt agency and orphanos with the resources i have been given, and how to help when i am so many miles away. praying how the Lord can use me. i see so much of my story in those babies' faces. i can't count how many times i have looked at those pictures and thought about how my life could have turned out, but those thoughts turn to what to do next in serving Christ and loving His people- people not just in korea but people i encounter daily. how many opportunities do we pass up and miss daily to love someone because we are too consumed with our own lives. last night i started writing the letter to my birthmom and attaching pictures--all to send to holt to have them put in my file...and i started to cry while writing it...1)i felt as though i was introducing myself to a stranger and 2)all i wanted to say over and over again was "thank you"...and this overwhelming sense of gratefulness has come over me, and i told her in the letter how i just wanted to hug her and thank her for choosing life and giving me life. it has been an emotional past week or so, but excited to see how the Lord continues to hold my life in His hands, every detail, every way He will use me- however that may be- i am overjoyed!