Eph 2:10
"For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]."
spain.
romania.
i can't believe it. it feels like i am walking steps in someone else's life. i have to keep reminding myself that it is going to be ME on a plane in 6 days to Spain, and it is going to be ME on June 30th on a plane to Romania--all by myself...i'm not a travel agent planning this trip for one of my clients. nope. its me.
crazy.
..so if anyone tells you that studying abroad is simply signing a few papers and jumping on a plane. don't listen to them!
"For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]."
spain.
romania.
i can't believe it. it feels like i am walking steps in someone else's life. i have to keep reminding myself that it is going to be ME on a plane in 6 days to Spain, and it is going to be ME on June 30th on a plane to Romania--all by myself...i'm not a travel agent planning this trip for one of my clients. nope. its me.
crazy.
..so if anyone tells you that studying abroad is simply signing a few papers and jumping on a plane. don't listen to them!
i feel like everyday i wake up and say multiple times.."oh yeah that, umm yea i need to do that sometime..um before next tues and i leave the country!"
i am i bit overwhelmed. but God is faithful to be my peace.
i am i bit overwhelmed. but God is faithful to be my peace.
i have been reading in mark lately about Jesus :) about him and the boat and the storm.
...its funny to read it while thinking about studying abroad and flying overseas. I know that God is in control of not just this little trip but my entire life--and i'm pretty sure he is sleeping on a big cushion while i'm running around like crazy wondering about what in the world He has planned for this summer~
God IS faithful. i had no idea how i was going to pay for study abroad, i just knew that this was something i was supposed to do...so blindly, without knowing anything, i filled out the papers and applied for 2 scholarship.
a few weeks later i had 3 scholarships and 2 grants--all was paid for--and they threw me a wad of cash to stuff in my pocket for anything else i could possibly need.
crazy.
my God is crazy. faithful. outlandish. unchangeable. big. BIG God.
and i LOVE that he knows what He has planned before I do.
most of the time he asks me to do things that i have no idea what he is doing. he teaches me to have faith. he teaches me to trust Him, he teaches me what it means to walk without sight...and then...when i least expect it, its as if he simply wispers to me and reveals to me what he has been planning all along. i know without a doubt that me going to Romania was part of his "path for me that he has prepared ahead of time". jenn and i were lost. we had no idea at all as to why God choose to use us.
never would i have guessed that He would have allowed us to become friends with orphans our age.
never would i have imagined that He would make a way for us to continue building our friendship this semester over the internet.
never would i have thought that He would begin to soften their hearts, that He would begin to pursue them, that He would begin to pour over them LOVE everlasting.
and never never never would i guess that i would be on a plane back to see my dear sisters on June 30th.
crazy.
and now...now that i look back in restropect He begin to reveal His plan to me.
...its funny to read it while thinking about studying abroad and flying overseas. I know that God is in control of not just this little trip but my entire life--and i'm pretty sure he is sleeping on a big cushion while i'm running around like crazy wondering about what in the world He has planned for this summer~
God IS faithful. i had no idea how i was going to pay for study abroad, i just knew that this was something i was supposed to do...so blindly, without knowing anything, i filled out the papers and applied for 2 scholarship.
a few weeks later i had 3 scholarships and 2 grants--all was paid for--and they threw me a wad of cash to stuff in my pocket for anything else i could possibly need.
crazy.
my God is crazy. faithful. outlandish. unchangeable. big. BIG God.
and i LOVE that he knows what He has planned before I do.
most of the time he asks me to do things that i have no idea what he is doing. he teaches me to have faith. he teaches me to trust Him, he teaches me what it means to walk without sight...and then...when i least expect it, its as if he simply wispers to me and reveals to me what he has been planning all along. i know without a doubt that me going to Romania was part of his "path for me that he has prepared ahead of time". jenn and i were lost. we had no idea at all as to why God choose to use us.
never would i have guessed that He would have allowed us to become friends with orphans our age.
never would i have imagined that He would make a way for us to continue building our friendship this semester over the internet.
never would i have thought that He would begin to soften their hearts, that He would begin to pursue them, that He would begin to pour over them LOVE everlasting.
and never never never would i guess that i would be on a plane back to see my dear sisters on June 30th.
crazy.
and now...now that i look back in restropect He begin to reveal His plan to me.
please pray. because I feel like i'm in the same place as when i went this Christmas. I don't know exactly why i'm going. i don't have any clue what my God has planned. but pray that i will be faithful to the works he will call me to. pray that i will choose to surrender to Him daily.
and i LOVE that he calls me His handiwork.
handiwork is defined as "the characteristic quality of a particular doer or maker".
wow i am His characteristic. I possess a quality of Him, of my God. i am able to look and act like Him only because i have been recreated in Jesus Christ. God is so crazy! He gives us the ability to look and act like HIM. not only that but the scriptures calls us to BE Him to those around us. we are to BE His hands, BE His feet, BE His mouth. we are His little *copies*, we are 'products' of His handiwork, i mean I call myself a CHRIST-ian.
Matt 25:31-40
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
this is my purpose. this is my job. this is my desire. and i am thrilled that God uses his people to BE Him to those around us. pray that i will dig into His word to find out what love means, how to love people, how to show them Jesus.one thing i will never forget from my class at church, 'Her Hands' is that we never get a vacation from being a believer. we never get to just be lazy. we never get to stop serving, stop loving, stop being unselfish--not even for a minute. never. ever. and that is crazy to me--please pray for me about that, because I have definitely been looking at this trip as much more of a vacation than a purposeful and intentional opportunity with the people I will be around to show them Christ. i mean i've definitely thought that i could possibly influence someone but at the front of my mind is a vacation. pray for me that i would not think that way. i know that every moment every activity every thing i will ever do will either exemplify Christ or not. there really is no in between. i want to focus and concentrate on the way i live these next 6 weeks. i hope that no one on the trip with me will ever guess if I am a believer--but they will know without a doubt simply by the way i love and serve them. --i want the way i treat them to scream so loudly-- *Jesus*. I hope that i look like an alien to them and i pray that i don't shy away from being different and simply try to fit in.
i am excited to see what God has planned for this summer
now i have to get back to deciding if i could possibly fit one more sundress into my suitcase...:)
and i LOVE that he calls me His handiwork.
handiwork is defined as "the characteristic quality of a particular doer or maker".
wow i am His characteristic. I possess a quality of Him, of my God. i am able to look and act like Him only because i have been recreated in Jesus Christ. God is so crazy! He gives us the ability to look and act like HIM. not only that but the scriptures calls us to BE Him to those around us. we are to BE His hands, BE His feet, BE His mouth. we are His little *copies*, we are 'products' of His handiwork, i mean I call myself a CHRIST-ian.
Matt 25:31-40
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
this is my purpose. this is my job. this is my desire. and i am thrilled that God uses his people to BE Him to those around us. pray that i will dig into His word to find out what love means, how to love people, how to show them Jesus.one thing i will never forget from my class at church, 'Her Hands' is that we never get a vacation from being a believer. we never get to just be lazy. we never get to stop serving, stop loving, stop being unselfish--not even for a minute. never. ever. and that is crazy to me--please pray for me about that, because I have definitely been looking at this trip as much more of a vacation than a purposeful and intentional opportunity with the people I will be around to show them Christ. i mean i've definitely thought that i could possibly influence someone but at the front of my mind is a vacation. pray for me that i would not think that way. i know that every moment every activity every thing i will ever do will either exemplify Christ or not. there really is no in between. i want to focus and concentrate on the way i live these next 6 weeks. i hope that no one on the trip with me will ever guess if I am a believer--but they will know without a doubt simply by the way i love and serve them. --i want the way i treat them to scream so loudly-- *Jesus*. I hope that i look like an alien to them and i pray that i don't shy away from being different and simply try to fit in.
i am excited to see what God has planned for this summer
now i have to get back to deciding if i could possibly fit one more sundress into my suitcase...:)
2 comments:
Ok, it's official. I'm a blog stalker.
But, man, Emily, the more I get to know you, the more EXCITED I am to know you more.
I can't wait to hear about Spain & Romania.
put that sundress in that suitcase!
:)
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