I will serve You as I'm waiting

I just got back from Spring Break. Instead of going home like I have every other year I ended up signing up for one of our college's service trips. This in itself is a God thing, because I NEVER wanted to go on this trip before. I didn't hold anything against it, thought it was a great opportunity, but always just wanted to go home. It was the only break the whole semester and I loved going home where I was surrounded by people I love doing tons of farm work in moderately nice weather. Which is why I'm convinced that it was completely a God thing that I ended up going on this trip. People kept bringing it up, and after talking with my parents I decided, why not? And then, even though I've never gone on this trip before I signed up to be a leader. Is this normal behavior for me? No. Looking back can I see God's fingerprints all over it? Definitely.

I can say with no hesitation that this trip was my favorite spring break of all time. First of all because Mississippi had GREAT weather this past week. It was in the 70s and 80s, everything was green and I got a great tan. Secondly, I still got to do farm work! We worked out at this farm that is supposed to raise money for the ministry we were working for. I ended everyday there feeling completely exhausted, but so happy. There's something about doing physically demanding labor that causes great satisfaction. Thirdly, the people on this trip were amazing. We bonded together in a way I certainly didn't expect, and even now are still getting together everyday. Most of these people had some farm background and all were incredibly hard workers. I've been taught to work hard from a young age, but the members of my team amazed me as they went above and beyond on the tasks asked of them again and again. We'd ask them to clean one section of a pig pen, and they'd clean out all three and the nasty slop in the corner that had been sitting there for who knows how long. We'd be waiting for supper to cook, and they'd start cleaning up the other teams dishes that were overtaking the sink. It was inspiring! And got me thinking...shouldn't Christians always live there life like that? Going above and beyond what's required? I think it's a question of who we're really living our lives for. Is it for ourselves or the people around us? If yes, then why not just do enough to satisfy the barest requirement for what's asked? It's what most people do. But, I'm living for God. In the end it doesn't matter what those around me think of the job I've done, it's God's opinion that counts. And if I'm living my life for Him, shouldn't I be going above and beyond in everything I do? In homework. In relationships. In serving those around me even when I'm not asked. I think yes. 

And so, even in the most basic tasks I learned super valuable lessons. It didn't stop there either! I can't say I was exactly nervous about being a leader, but had a few hesitations. I'm not the most outgoing person and many times wonder if my sort of leadership works. I'm more of a hesitant leader, gently pushing people from behind rather than running ahead. But I think even in this trip I grew in that area. I don't think that I really thought I was leading that much while on the trip. The last day of the trip we all wrote each other notes on a piece of paper. Reading mine after I got back was eye opening. These people saw me as a leader, and a good one! Reading those notes was SO encouraging, and once again a reminder that God has blessed me with leadership qualities that I need to use. 

That's another thing I learned - the power of encouragement. It's so easy to see someone doing something good and pass over it. Maybe what they're doing is a pretty typical occurrence, maybe you figure they already have enough praise, maybe you just don't think you have time to stop...but I think these are all pretty terrible excuses especially when you think how much power encouragement has. Just reading those notes, where members of my team told me how great of a job they thought I did, made me want to lead even more. If I hadn't got that encouragement, I'm not sure how I'd feel about leading anymore. My own doubts about my abilities may have had enough sway to stop any further attempts. Which makes sense if you think about it. Satan doesn't want us to succeed. He doesn't want us to further God's kingdom. So, he'll put these doubts in our head to make us stop doing what God created us to do. And that's why we need the encouragement of fellow believers - encouragement to pursue our passions, to step our of our comfort zone, to continue to do the thing we love even if it's not necessarily 'popular'. Often it's easy to think that it's parents jobs to encourage or teachers or coaches. But if we're all part of Christ's body - forming one body together, doesn't it make sense to encourage another body party to do the best if possibly can so that the whole body works together better?

Ok, I feel as if this has been mostly rambling and don't really know if it makes much sense, but I just really wanted to write down a bit of what I learned from this experience. I'm still blown away by how God worked through all of this - but I shouldn't be. He always does. :)

True Productivity

Sometimes it's simply crazy how God works. 

Back in January I made a pact with this girl to read a Psalm a day for 30 days and then write down something I learned from it. The point was to help her get into God's word everyday and hopefully give her some stability in her life. I'm not sure it had much impact on her life, but it sure has done great things for mine. Before this I knew spending time with God was important. I did devos nearly everyday, but honestly it was more of a chore than something I truly wanted to do. Recently, I've started reading through past prayer journals and often there would be days when I wouldn't write anything, because I had skipped doing devos that day. 

Starting this whole reading a Psalm a day thing has changed things. I was extremely motivated to find time to spend a good quality amount of time with God and as I went through this process I began to love it. Rather than something I had to fit into my schedule it became a time I looked forward to. It was a time of refreshment. And slowly, I began to realize that spending time with God was the most productive part of my day. Hands down. It was here that I could lay my problems down, knowing they were heard. It was here where I found way cool truths in the Bible that completely blew my mind. It was here that I discovered a love for me far beyond anything I could imagine. I'm not saying that I've never experienced this before, just never in day to day quantities. And I love it!

The 30 days has long passed now, and I can honestly say I haven't missed a day where I take some time to spend with God. Not because I feel like I have to, but because I WANT to. God is AWESOME...way beyond any of my puny attempts to describe Him. The fact that He loves me, and desires this intimate relationship with me, blows me away. This past summer I attended a camp where the main speaker compared spending time with God to running. He said that running at first sucks, it's hard and not a lot of fun. But slowly, over time you learn to love it and soon you can barely go a day without doing it. He said that spending time with God was the same way. You don't have to start out 'running a mile'. But forcing yourself to spend just a little bit of time with God each day, causes your desire to do this grow more and more. Soon, five minutes isn't enough time...soon it's not asking how long is long enough, it's being disappointed when time runs out. 

So yeah...life's been really good this year so far. Not because everything is going perfectly, but because I'm becoming more deeply rooted in the One who makes me content in all things. :)