How do I even begin to write my feelings on this step I am about to take? There are so many emotions rocketing through my soul, that each day I feel is triumphant if I can just separate the "me" feelings from the "God" feelings. Every day is a little different in how I feel, but overall I know it will all be worth it because I am stepping out into my destiny.
When I was a little girl, my family went to many many churches. It seemed we always left each church in the midst of some sort of political split. I was saddened each time we had to leave, and did not understand how these adults just couldn't work things out amongst each other.
One day, we moved into a house on a street that ended in a culdesac (sp?). At the end of the circle, there were two churches. My dad wanted to try them both out. So, we ended up, first, in a church called "The Other Side". I sat in the chair at that church and listened to the pastor preach for a couple of weeks. I began to make friends at that church, and of course my parents began to get nit picky about things. My parents left, but since the church was so close to home I, at the age of 8, got myself up every Sunday and rode my bike to church. All I knew was that I was going to settle into a church and stay there as long as I could. I was tired of church hopping.
One Sunday morning I was listening to the Pastor's wife talk about a missions trip she had taken. She went to a country called Albania and was telling the story about how she became involved there. It seems her grandpa was Albanian and had told her stories about the tiny nation as she was growing up. She had a vision from God when she was 8 years old that she would start a ministry work in Albania. Sitting in that chair listening to her, I was hit by one single thought, "I am eight years old". If God called her at eight, maybe He could me too. After that I listened intently to every story they told about Albania, I was excited every time my pastors took a trip to Albania, and every time I even thought about Albania (even as just a child) something inside me screamed out that I COULD change the world.
I have had an intense passion for Albania and for missions since my Pastor's wife first told that story when I was eight years old. That passion only intensified when I got to go to Albania for the first time. I was 17 years old and I had been working at Chick Fil A in Ridgmar Mall for three years. I had save up almost two thousand dollars and I was more than excited to go. Amazing things happened on that trip, and when I came back I was blessed to be enrolled in Bible College, tuition paid. It forever changed my life.
Since then, I have been to Albania 6 or 7 times (I am beginning to lose count). I see the need of the people there and it pulls at my innermost being. I know I can make a difference there. On one of my trips a young lady in the church (about 16 years old) took me out for a coffee. We talked about what life expected of a young girl in Albania: marriage and children. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is so disheartening to see a young girl believe she has no other future than that. She seemed a little disappointed about it too. I told her that I was sure she would have those things one day and I was sure that they would make her happy. Then I began to suggest the idea that she could have something more.
I told her that it is hard to change a nation, but at some point someone has to stand up and do things differently. I told her that I really hate to see young people leave Albania to get better education in Greece, Italy or even the US and then never come back. I told her it was great to seek out the best education possible, but I suggested that maybe that awesome education could be used in her home country. We talked about how it is amazing that the USA is so successful. We also talked about the work that the early Americans put in to our great country to make it work. I told her it worked because our ancestors had no where to run to. We had no choice but to make it work. When it got hard, people didn't run away to some other, better developed nation. They stayed and worked at it. All paid a price, some gave their life. It was not an easy way to live, but look at what it produced.
A few months ago God gave me a plan. You can read about its specifics in one of my earlier blogs. Basically He gave me a plan on how to get to Albania and spend time there long term. He gave me a plan on how to reach the young people of Albania. It is my heart to instill a passion for God and a passion for hard work and integrity into them. I have an opportunity to effectively touch a generation who could literally turn a nation. What an honor. I do not take it lightly.
My head is spinning, and to be honest I am a little bit terrified of the unknown that lies ahead of me. I do not know what I am doing, but I know that God has given me a plan. Who am I to question Him?
Thanks for reading!
Julie
PS- If you are interested in giving towards the youth group that I am building, please go to Glory International's website or send me a message and I will send you my mailing address. We can change the world right now. Will you be a part of it?
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March 16, 2011
Tonight one of my youth told me that my car is not black, but that it is "African American". Hmmm. I love these kids.
Tonight I have been thinking about a word that is used in society a lot these days, especially in pop culture. That word is "ridiculous". We used this as an adjective and an adverb describing everything possible. Being around young people I hear it a lot: "Wow that was ridiculously cool!" or "Its ridiculous how much I want to go to the mall".
I have even come to use the word quite a bit myself, and was called out by a friend the other day. She told me she stopped using the word because of its origins. If you break it down, for something to be ridiculous it is full of ridicule. Actually, Webster defines it as this: Ridiculous- : arousing or deserving ridicule.
My friend went on to describe to me how much she had realized she was using the word in a positive way, but in reality wasn't saying anything good at all. For example she would say to me, "The meeting was ridiculous tonight. It was amazing!". After she learned this word's true definition she began to watch how she used it, and after she told me this story, so did I.
Fast forward to tonight. I am driving home from church, my car full of youth, and I am thinking about how great they are. I mean I really have the best youth in the world. I am leaving for a long trip soon, and I have come to savor every moment with these young people. Tonight was truly special because a lot of them showed up and we had a great service followed by tons of fun at Chick-fil-a. I really enjoyed the night with them.
All this made me think about making my FB status about them. I was thinking I would simply say, "I love my youth". However, as I got closer to home the thought came to me to say, "The way I love these youth is ridiculous". Just meaning that I love them so much. Then I remembered my friends conversation. I thought maybe I shouldn't use that word. It was then that I began to think about the love of God.
You see, He loves us, His people, so much. He loved us enough to create us, knowing we were nothing but trouble. Then, after we proved our massive stupidity and disobedience to Him over and over and over again for generation after generation, He decided to send His only Son as a sacrifice to win us back.
I bet if people could have counseled God before He made this decision, they would have asked "why?". They would have wondered why the God of the universe, Who could snap His fingers and wipe everything out in an instant and start all over again, would make such a sacrifice for the very people Who are constantly spitting in His face. Not only that, but to send His ONLY Son to be criticized and beaten, emotionally and spiritually as well as physically... why? They may have even ridiculed the very God of all over His decision.
He did it anyway. Wow. What a ridiculous love.
John 3:16
Romans 10:9-10
Thanks for reading!
Julie
Tonight I have been thinking about a word that is used in society a lot these days, especially in pop culture. That word is "ridiculous". We used this as an adjective and an adverb describing everything possible. Being around young people I hear it a lot: "Wow that was ridiculously cool!" or "Its ridiculous how much I want to go to the mall".
I have even come to use the word quite a bit myself, and was called out by a friend the other day. She told me she stopped using the word because of its origins. If you break it down, for something to be ridiculous it is full of ridicule. Actually, Webster defines it as this: Ridiculous- : arousing or deserving ridicule.
My friend went on to describe to me how much she had realized she was using the word in a positive way, but in reality wasn't saying anything good at all. For example she would say to me, "The meeting was ridiculous tonight. It was amazing!". After she learned this word's true definition she began to watch how she used it, and after she told me this story, so did I.
Fast forward to tonight. I am driving home from church, my car full of youth, and I am thinking about how great they are. I mean I really have the best youth in the world. I am leaving for a long trip soon, and I have come to savor every moment with these young people. Tonight was truly special because a lot of them showed up and we had a great service followed by tons of fun at Chick-fil-a. I really enjoyed the night with them.
All this made me think about making my FB status about them. I was thinking I would simply say, "I love my youth". However, as I got closer to home the thought came to me to say, "The way I love these youth is ridiculous". Just meaning that I love them so much. Then I remembered my friends conversation. I thought maybe I shouldn't use that word. It was then that I began to think about the love of God.
You see, He loves us, His people, so much. He loved us enough to create us, knowing we were nothing but trouble. Then, after we proved our massive stupidity and disobedience to Him over and over and over again for generation after generation, He decided to send His only Son as a sacrifice to win us back.
I bet if people could have counseled God before He made this decision, they would have asked "why?". They would have wondered why the God of the universe, Who could snap His fingers and wipe everything out in an instant and start all over again, would make such a sacrifice for the very people Who are constantly spitting in His face. Not only that, but to send His ONLY Son to be criticized and beaten, emotionally and spiritually as well as physically... why? They may have even ridiculed the very God of all over His decision.
He did it anyway. Wow. What a ridiculous love.
John 3:16
Romans 10:9-10
Thanks for reading!
Julie
Monday, March 14, 2011
March14, 2011
Greatness comes not when things always go good for you. But greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. ~Richard M. Nixon
When tragedy strikes, many people ask the question "Why did God do this to us" or "Why does God allow bad things to happen?". Tragedy surrounds us every day in the world today. All we have to do is turn on the news for just a moment to hear about a death of some sort. A life ended too soon, for one reason or another. Our simple question is, why?
First of all, let me say that I do not believe that God causes tragedy in any way. You see, we live in an imperfect world, dominated by sin and bad things because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Jesus Christ shed blood on the cross and bought back what was important to him. His people.
We have been given a choice to allow God into our lives, but we still live in a place that will always be full of people who choose not to allow God in. There will always be happenings that we cannot explain, other than to say the earth was not bought by Christ's blood, only the people. Thank God, if something were to happen to me, I do not worry about where I will be for eternity. However, as long as I am living on this earth, I will still have questions regarding tragedy.
Today, the question was posed to me, "Does grief make us stronger?". I have to say that I think it could make us stronger, but it is definitely a process. I do, however, believe without a doubt in my mind that no matter what the circumstances, God will prove Himself through the tragedy time and time again. Even though He does not cause tragedy by His own hand, He has always shown himself true to me in my time of grief.
I have so many examples of this, but I will point only to one that is probably relateable to all. I remember the craziness of September 11, 2001. I was getting ready to go into work and heard all the news unfolding as it happened on my car radio. Obviously it was a week or so full of tragedy, loss and tears. About a week afterwards, there was a movement among Christians (which everyone seemed to be at that moment) to pray. So, a friend and I got all the people in our neighborhood together, and we formed a prayer circle in the middle of our street. We prayed unashamed and out loud. It was quite a moment. As much as it might have felt like a hypocritical situation to see people who never attended church suddenly calling themselves Christian and even praying, I was very happy to see God show Himself as Lord over America. Even though I still believe God does not cause tragedy, I know that it will always bring us closer to Him. What an amazing thing to see an entire nation turn to God, even if for only a week or so. Now I know where their hearts stand, and it makes it even easier for me to reach out to people.
In my life I seen my fair share (possibly even more) of tragedy, on a global and personal scale. It is these experiences that enables me to answer the questions my brain forms when the unexpected occurs.
Two things I know:
1. Tragedy and grief will occur.
2. God will always use it to bring good.
When the distractions and sadness surrounding us are bigger than ever, may we keep our eyes fixed on Him, the only Hope we ever needed.
~2 Corinthians 1:4 - Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Thanks for reading!
Julie
When tragedy strikes, many people ask the question "Why did God do this to us" or "Why does God allow bad things to happen?". Tragedy surrounds us every day in the world today. All we have to do is turn on the news for just a moment to hear about a death of some sort. A life ended too soon, for one reason or another. Our simple question is, why?
First of all, let me say that I do not believe that God causes tragedy in any way. You see, we live in an imperfect world, dominated by sin and bad things because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Jesus Christ shed blood on the cross and bought back what was important to him. His people.
We have been given a choice to allow God into our lives, but we still live in a place that will always be full of people who choose not to allow God in. There will always be happenings that we cannot explain, other than to say the earth was not bought by Christ's blood, only the people. Thank God, if something were to happen to me, I do not worry about where I will be for eternity. However, as long as I am living on this earth, I will still have questions regarding tragedy.
Today, the question was posed to me, "Does grief make us stronger?". I have to say that I think it could make us stronger, but it is definitely a process. I do, however, believe without a doubt in my mind that no matter what the circumstances, God will prove Himself through the tragedy time and time again. Even though He does not cause tragedy by His own hand, He has always shown himself true to me in my time of grief.
I have so many examples of this, but I will point only to one that is probably relateable to all. I remember the craziness of September 11, 2001. I was getting ready to go into work and heard all the news unfolding as it happened on my car radio. Obviously it was a week or so full of tragedy, loss and tears. About a week afterwards, there was a movement among Christians (which everyone seemed to be at that moment) to pray. So, a friend and I got all the people in our neighborhood together, and we formed a prayer circle in the middle of our street. We prayed unashamed and out loud. It was quite a moment. As much as it might have felt like a hypocritical situation to see people who never attended church suddenly calling themselves Christian and even praying, I was very happy to see God show Himself as Lord over America. Even though I still believe God does not cause tragedy, I know that it will always bring us closer to Him. What an amazing thing to see an entire nation turn to God, even if for only a week or so. Now I know where their hearts stand, and it makes it even easier for me to reach out to people.
In my life I seen my fair share (possibly even more) of tragedy, on a global and personal scale. It is these experiences that enables me to answer the questions my brain forms when the unexpected occurs.
Two things I know:
1. Tragedy and grief will occur.
2. God will always use it to bring good.
When the distractions and sadness surrounding us are bigger than ever, may we keep our eyes fixed on Him, the only Hope we ever needed.
~2 Corinthians 1:4 - Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Thanks for reading!
Julie
Sunday, March 13, 2011
March 13, 2011
Quotes From Mother Teresa (Did I mention she was Albanian?)
Mother Teresa was a loving and giving person who did a lot to try and stop the suffering throughout the world. You can read more about this glorious human being and the good deeds that she become famous for here.
"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters."
"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do...but how much love we put in that action."
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise"
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."
"I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I do know that when we die and it comes tiem for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?"
"One of the greatest disease is to be nobody to anybody."
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world."
"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
"We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."
"There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those."
"It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start."
"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."
Mother Teresa was a loving and giving person who did a lot to try and stop the suffering throughout the world. You can read more about this glorious human being and the good deeds that she become famous for here.
"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters."
"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do...but how much love we put in that action."
"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."
"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."
"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise"
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."
"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."
"I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I do know that when we die and it comes tiem for God to judge us, he will NOT ask, How many good things have you done in your life?, rather he will ask, How much LOVE did you put into what you did?"
"One of the greatest disease is to be nobody to anybody."
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world."
"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
"We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."
"There are no great things, only small things with great love. Happy are those."
"It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start."
"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."
Sunday, March 6, 2011
March 6, 2011
So many times we think we are walking this walk alone, only to look down and realize that we are not walking at all, but being carried by Him. ~J
I am such a control freak. Seriously. I spend a good part of my day analyzing things and trying to figure out how to best do things, to assure they work. Failure is embarrassing, and if I hold on tight, I can probably minimalize the damage. I have seen great success in my life, partially because of this. However, there is a big problem in living life this way. You see, hard as I may try, I honestly cannot guarantee myself anything at all. So then, how do I find true, unbridled success? How do I assure my ventures will turn out the way I planned?
I can't. You see, that's just the thing: it's MY plan.
In the last quarter of 2010, I took a weekend off, spent a couple nights in a ritzy hotel searching for the heart of God. I wanted to see Him face to Face. I wanted to hear from Heaven, here on earth. I read my Bible and listened to old messages from Metroplex Family Church. It was in that time, that I heard a plan from God for my life.
You might be wondering how I knew it was God. Well, first of all, that's what I set out to do: hear from God. Secondly, I am not the kind of person who likes plans. I am very spontaneous, and I love the "romanticism" of something great happening, even without a plan. It just makes things seem even more exciting when you know that they were not planned. At least for me. So, I knew when I came up with a great plan for my life, it was NOT from me. There is a third reason I know it was God, and I will go into that a little later...
For now, I want to give praise and glory to God for all He has done for me in the past six months. My life is literally not recognizable compared to where I was this time last year. It is all due to this awesome plan He gave me.
You may have seen me reference "The Plan" on FB or in other venues in recent months. This is exactly the thing I am talking about today. So what is this plan? God guided me in quite specific directions, that I would not have taken on my own. For example, I was not making enough money to accomplish my ministry goal of spending time in Albania. So, the first step in "the plan" was to get a Pharmacy Tech license. It took me about a month or so, but I did it. The next step was the big one. I work for a HUGE company and I had a very detailed and important job. This was great, except for the fact that they didn't want to let me transfer. I needed to be able to switch jobs to utilize the RX Tech license I had gotten so that I could produce more income for the ministry. My bosses did not want me to go, and I was scared... mostly because the store manager I had to get approval from was, well, scary.
I finally secured a position within the company, and the only thing left to do was to get approval from Scary Manager. So, I prayed (and prayed and prayed) and I made an appointment to sit down with her and discuss the situation. As it turned out, I had huge favor with this manager (she was very happy with the work I had done in my department) and she gladly gave me permission to transfer. Step 2 complete.
Step three was to work for no more than six months in the Pharmacy and then go to Albania for an extended stay. This was the part where it got a little more difficult. I had to learn a new trade all while not revealing my plan to leave the company within a few months.
Needless to say, there have been bumps along the way, but all has worked out well. Amazingly well, in fact. I have been at this job for almost 4 months now, and this Friday is my last day. After that I take two weeks off to focus on ministry and fund raising, and after that, I leave for my 3 month extended stay in Albania. I will be building a youth group in the church I work in there.
The third reason I know the plan was from God? It worked.
If you have a dream that you feel like is impossible to accomplish, all I have to say to you is BUT GOD.
Nothing is impossible.
To prove that point even more, I will tell you another story. I have been wanting to go to the Hillsong United concert in Dallas for months, but they have been sold out for a long time. At one point I found tickets for $200 each and I decided to honor God and "the plan" He gave me, and just to save that amount of money for my trip. It was a huge sacrifice, but I didn't throw in the towel. Last week, sitting in my car before church service, I prayed to God. It went something like this, "God, I want to go to this concert so bad, but I need to go for free. Give me wisdom and make a way".
On Wednesday night, March 2, I got an email. An email from HILLSONG UNITED! Some time ago I had written a submission asking to be a part of their street team when they come to Dallas. I was one of six people that they chose to come help sell their merchandise. I worked the table for about 45 minutes total, and got to see almost the WHOLE show... for free. =)
God makes me smile. Some may say its a coincidence, but I know my God doesn't work that way, and I won't let anyone insult what He has done for me by calling it that.
I feel so immersed in God right now, and the concert only gave a huge boost to that. I am amped for Him, and I am ready to take that to the youth of Albania.
22 days till I leave.
Thanks for reading!
J
I am such a control freak. Seriously. I spend a good part of my day analyzing things and trying to figure out how to best do things, to assure they work. Failure is embarrassing, and if I hold on tight, I can probably minimalize the damage. I have seen great success in my life, partially because of this. However, there is a big problem in living life this way. You see, hard as I may try, I honestly cannot guarantee myself anything at all. So then, how do I find true, unbridled success? How do I assure my ventures will turn out the way I planned?
I can't. You see, that's just the thing: it's MY plan.
In the last quarter of 2010, I took a weekend off, spent a couple nights in a ritzy hotel searching for the heart of God. I wanted to see Him face to Face. I wanted to hear from Heaven, here on earth. I read my Bible and listened to old messages from Metroplex Family Church. It was in that time, that I heard a plan from God for my life.
You might be wondering how I knew it was God. Well, first of all, that's what I set out to do: hear from God. Secondly, I am not the kind of person who likes plans. I am very spontaneous, and I love the "romanticism" of something great happening, even without a plan. It just makes things seem even more exciting when you know that they were not planned. At least for me. So, I knew when I came up with a great plan for my life, it was NOT from me. There is a third reason I know it was God, and I will go into that a little later...
For now, I want to give praise and glory to God for all He has done for me in the past six months. My life is literally not recognizable compared to where I was this time last year. It is all due to this awesome plan He gave me.
You may have seen me reference "The Plan" on FB or in other venues in recent months. This is exactly the thing I am talking about today. So what is this plan? God guided me in quite specific directions, that I would not have taken on my own. For example, I was not making enough money to accomplish my ministry goal of spending time in Albania. So, the first step in "the plan" was to get a Pharmacy Tech license. It took me about a month or so, but I did it. The next step was the big one. I work for a HUGE company and I had a very detailed and important job. This was great, except for the fact that they didn't want to let me transfer. I needed to be able to switch jobs to utilize the RX Tech license I had gotten so that I could produce more income for the ministry. My bosses did not want me to go, and I was scared... mostly because the store manager I had to get approval from was, well, scary.
I finally secured a position within the company, and the only thing left to do was to get approval from Scary Manager. So, I prayed (and prayed and prayed) and I made an appointment to sit down with her and discuss the situation. As it turned out, I had huge favor with this manager (she was very happy with the work I had done in my department) and she gladly gave me permission to transfer. Step 2 complete.
Step three was to work for no more than six months in the Pharmacy and then go to Albania for an extended stay. This was the part where it got a little more difficult. I had to learn a new trade all while not revealing my plan to leave the company within a few months.
Needless to say, there have been bumps along the way, but all has worked out well. Amazingly well, in fact. I have been at this job for almost 4 months now, and this Friday is my last day. After that I take two weeks off to focus on ministry and fund raising, and after that, I leave for my 3 month extended stay in Albania. I will be building a youth group in the church I work in there.
The third reason I know the plan was from God? It worked.
If you have a dream that you feel like is impossible to accomplish, all I have to say to you is BUT GOD.
Nothing is impossible.
To prove that point even more, I will tell you another story. I have been wanting to go to the Hillsong United concert in Dallas for months, but they have been sold out for a long time. At one point I found tickets for $200 each and I decided to honor God and "the plan" He gave me, and just to save that amount of money for my trip. It was a huge sacrifice, but I didn't throw in the towel. Last week, sitting in my car before church service, I prayed to God. It went something like this, "God, I want to go to this concert so bad, but I need to go for free. Give me wisdom and make a way".
On Wednesday night, March 2, I got an email. An email from HILLSONG UNITED! Some time ago I had written a submission asking to be a part of their street team when they come to Dallas. I was one of six people that they chose to come help sell their merchandise. I worked the table for about 45 minutes total, and got to see almost the WHOLE show... for free. =)
God makes me smile. Some may say its a coincidence, but I know my God doesn't work that way, and I won't let anyone insult what He has done for me by calling it that.
I feel so immersed in God right now, and the concert only gave a huge boost to that. I am amped for Him, and I am ready to take that to the youth of Albania.
22 days till I leave.
Thanks for reading!
J
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
March 1, 2011
“When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that One of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”
~Patrick Overton
As I sit here writing this, I have come to the full and real realization that I have 10 days of work left, and only 27 days till I leave on a journey that may very well change my entire life. You see, I have decided to take a trip of unknown length to Albania. My ticket says that I come back the end of June, but the goal is to stay longer. I have put in my notice at a job that I love and I worked very hard to get, and I admittedly feel like everything I am doing is just a little bit crazy. I am sure there are quite a few people out there who have looked at my decisions, and quietly agree with me. So, today I want to tell you why I do what I do.
This blog is not about convincing you that I am doing the right thing. I have no desire to have anyone's approval. I know that God gave me a plan and if you know me, you KNOW that if it is a plan it HAS to be God. =) I, myself, am quite spontaneous and hate planning to an extent. However, God gave me a plan so perfect that every little detail has worked out to the exact date He gave me in the beginning. Who am I to question that?
So why do I do what I do? Why do I spend more than I bring in on a non profit organization directed at a nation so random as Albania?
Reason #1:
I know I am called.
As arrogant as it may sound to you, it is a resounding truth in my life. I have chased a lot of different career paths trying to be successful. I have studied things from pharmaceutics to law hoping to be able to buy that BMW AND have a little non profit on the side that I can afford to support myself. Every single time, my endeavors have failed or just not worked, and I end up right back in the same place: staring eternity in the eye and asking myself why I haven't accomplished anything yet.
I always wanted to be a young success. Someone who changed the world at a ridiculously young age. I look at myself now and see that opportunity slipping away, except when I look at the work I have done in Albania. I went there the first time when I was just barely 17 years old and this year's trip will be my 9th year and I think it is my 8th trip, but I am honestly beginning to lose count. I have seen (literally) demons cast out, churches built, families livelihood restored, and so many more amazing things. I turn the glory around for all this and give it straight back to God.
Reason #2:
The Mother Teresa Orphanage
There are so many lovely children at the orphanage I work at in Elbasan, Albania, but I want to update you on one I have told you about before. Little Lucia.
She is currently spending a year in Italy to have several procedures done to make her more able to live life as a normal little girl. I am honored to say that through one of my best friends in Albania, and through the generosity of my brother's church, I had a hand in this little beauty's miracle. I will post updated pics when she returns to Albania. I am so excited to see what God has done for her.
Reason #3:
The Toska Family
I have known Irfan, Vera and Fabjola Toska for only a short time, but they have been doing an awesome, selfless work in their nation for about 20 years. I have seen them time and time again go with out food and other things just to make sure that the people and children especially of their church have everything they need. What a great God example. Why would I not want to associate with people like this? I am telling you, every American should do it at least once. It will change the way you look at life forever. That kind of life lesson is one you can ONLY learn by personal experience. Do not rob yourself of that in this lifetime.
I have many other reasons, but do I need to list them all? I don't think I need to defend my decisions. I know they are of God and I know where I am going. even if it is a step of faith into a place where I can't really see the end of the journey, I will go. It is truly walking by faith.
I go to honor the missionaries who have gone before me. I go because there is NOTHING I would rather do. I go because God has asked me to. I go.
Dedicated to Beverly Shook and Wil Ramsey. To the ones who went before me.
~Patrick Overton
As I sit here writing this, I have come to the full and real realization that I have 10 days of work left, and only 27 days till I leave on a journey that may very well change my entire life. You see, I have decided to take a trip of unknown length to Albania. My ticket says that I come back the end of June, but the goal is to stay longer. I have put in my notice at a job that I love and I worked very hard to get, and I admittedly feel like everything I am doing is just a little bit crazy. I am sure there are quite a few people out there who have looked at my decisions, and quietly agree with me. So, today I want to tell you why I do what I do.
This blog is not about convincing you that I am doing the right thing. I have no desire to have anyone's approval. I know that God gave me a plan and if you know me, you KNOW that if it is a plan it HAS to be God. =) I, myself, am quite spontaneous and hate planning to an extent. However, God gave me a plan so perfect that every little detail has worked out to the exact date He gave me in the beginning. Who am I to question that?
So why do I do what I do? Why do I spend more than I bring in on a non profit organization directed at a nation so random as Albania?
Reason #1:
I know I am called.
As arrogant as it may sound to you, it is a resounding truth in my life. I have chased a lot of different career paths trying to be successful. I have studied things from pharmaceutics to law hoping to be able to buy that BMW AND have a little non profit on the side that I can afford to support myself. Every single time, my endeavors have failed or just not worked, and I end up right back in the same place: staring eternity in the eye and asking myself why I haven't accomplished anything yet.
I always wanted to be a young success. Someone who changed the world at a ridiculously young age. I look at myself now and see that opportunity slipping away, except when I look at the work I have done in Albania. I went there the first time when I was just barely 17 years old and this year's trip will be my 9th year and I think it is my 8th trip, but I am honestly beginning to lose count. I have seen (literally) demons cast out, churches built, families livelihood restored, and so many more amazing things. I turn the glory around for all this and give it straight back to God.
Reason #2:
The Mother Teresa Orphanage
There are so many lovely children at the orphanage I work at in Elbasan, Albania, but I want to update you on one I have told you about before. Little Lucia.
She is currently spending a year in Italy to have several procedures done to make her more able to live life as a normal little girl. I am honored to say that through one of my best friends in Albania, and through the generosity of my brother's church, I had a hand in this little beauty's miracle. I will post updated pics when she returns to Albania. I am so excited to see what God has done for her.
Reason #3:
The Toska Family
I have known Irfan, Vera and Fabjola Toska for only a short time, but they have been doing an awesome, selfless work in their nation for about 20 years. I have seen them time and time again go with out food and other things just to make sure that the people and children especially of their church have everything they need. What a great God example. Why would I not want to associate with people like this? I am telling you, every American should do it at least once. It will change the way you look at life forever. That kind of life lesson is one you can ONLY learn by personal experience. Do not rob yourself of that in this lifetime.
I have many other reasons, but do I need to list them all? I don't think I need to defend my decisions. I know they are of God and I know where I am going. even if it is a step of faith into a place where I can't really see the end of the journey, I will go. It is truly walking by faith.
I go to honor the missionaries who have gone before me. I go because there is NOTHING I would rather do. I go because God has asked me to. I go.
Dedicated to Beverly Shook and Wil Ramsey. To the ones who went before me.
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