May your will be done, Lord.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Philippians 2:3

As Christians, we are each called to the mission field. People are important to God. People should be important to us as well. There are homeless people longing for somebody to just listen to them. There are little kiddos who need you to just embrace them and to love on them. There are people who can't do the home improvement projects to their homes due to age or health. And I am not talking about just people here in the states but all around the world. I know majority of you are capable of sparing time, you know that time you set aside to watch your favorite tv show. So my question to you and me is this... 

What are you doing with your life? Are you wasting it? 

I know for me I don't want to waste my life. Life is too short. Carpe diem or I guess these days it's called YOLO. Haha. But really. Are you going to leave a legacy for Christ and surrender your plans to the point of radical abandonment or you just gonna sit around allowing time to pass? I want to live a life all for Christ. No matter the cost. Why? Because I don't want to live with what ifs or regrets. 

Where are these thoughts coming from? Well God has been doing some pretty incredible things in my life these days. And I want to share with you...

God is good. He is so stinkin' good. As I write this post, I am in awe of his greatness. He cares. He listens. He knows my heart. And the only thing I can think to say at the moment is thank you, Father.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Psalm 108:3,4

Alright, so you are probably wondering where all of this awe is coming from. I hope you have time because it's story time...

Each year Ecola provides students with the opportunity to go on a missions trip over spring break. Only a certain amount of students are able to go on these trips. 

7 to Philippines

15 to Haiti

20 to Portland

I thought and still think each trip is filled with it's own unique characteristics. The trip to Haiti intrigued me because you work with lil' kiddos. And if you know me, I love kids. The trip to the Philippines stuck out to me because of the challenges. You work with blind students and do work projects as well. The trip to Portland also intrigued me because you have the opportunity to love on the homeless in the city. I knew the Philippines was where I wanted to go but the cost and challenges honestly scared me. Plus, what are the chances I would make it on that team. Only seven get to go. So, I thought about going to Haiti and making it my first choice. After talking to my RA (who is an incredible gal who loves the Lord oh so much) who went to the Philippines last year, I decided to make the Philippines my first choice. The fear of it all wasn't going to stop me. After I turned my application in, I just gave it to God. Knowing He was in control. He knew if I was going to get chosen or not. He knew which trip I would be going on. 

Okay can I just say this. That feeling of uneasiness is marvelous. Because it is in that moment that you must surrender. You must have the faith. This feeling came to me yesterday. I spent the past week not really thinking about the missions trips. Yesterday we had our weekly missions meeting. This was the day we would find out who made the teams. The amount of anxiety in the room was rough. You could hear a pin drop. It was that silent. Ha, so it is no wonder that I had begun to get excited. The thoughts began to flood my mind. Did I make it onto a team? Oh man. Where would I be going? After they talked for about 10 minutes, the moment came. They put up the list of teams. I anxiously scanned each list. And... there it was under the Philippines. My name. I looked over the list time and time again thinking I was just imagining my name was there. Nope. It was really my name. The only things that came to my mind were... Shut up. God is this real? Wow. God is good. 

I am honestly still in awe. God is good. He is the one who receives all of the praises and honor and glory. I am speechless. He chose me. And I want you to understand this is not at all about me. I am just a normal gal who struggles with many things. I just know that this life I live is not about me, it is all for the glory of Christ. I am excited. 

I need you guys though. I need your prayers. Not only for me but for my team as well. And prayers for the other teams, too. Because, I know each trip people will be challenged and God is going to stretch each person in more ways than we will ever know. He has divinely orchestrated each team. Pray that God would just begin to prepare our hearts for what's to come. Pray also for each person that God will just provide the finances for everyone. We still have quite a few months to go before these trips happens. But it is never too early to start praying. Prayer is powerful and I know it will be the only way any of these trips happen. So when you think about it, please pray. I greatly appreciate it.

Sorry, this post is so stinkin' long. [Congrats to you few who made it to the end! :)] I wanted to share. I will definitely continue to update you all on this exciting new adventure. And feel free to contact me if you would like more personal updates. God is good and this is all for him.

Here we stand our hearts are yours.

Not our will but yours be done, Lord.

Wake Up | All Sons and Daughters