Today, I was thinking about all of the things that have been going on inside of me through the past few weeks, with the pain that people can bring. For the past few weeks, I really feel that I have not let Christ live through me like He wants to. It has been a heavy burden that I have now give to God to handle completely. God is the most important aspect of anyone's life, if He is now apart of a person's life, they truly have not lived yet. You see, when God comes into a person's life, they are radically changed, they truly experience a love like no other, they experience the love of God. So with that said, He wants to cover every area of your life with His grace, and fill you completely with His Spirit. It is often very easy to get tied down and lose your focus in life, causing you to stumble and to not let the love of Christ shine through your life. I know, I've been there! So, let me tell you this....God is bigger than any pain you can ever bear, stronger than anything that you can imagine (imagine the strongest earthly thing you can think of, now multiply that times infinity, that doesn't even begin to describe how mighty our God is), He know everything that is happening and already knows the outcome. Just trust Him, He will carry all of the load that you are carrying, and provide you with a peace that surpasses all understanding! I love God, He loves us so!!! The world may cast you out, but remember they cast God out first! Jesus was God, in flesh. 100% God, 100% man....they rejected Him and beat Him to almost the point of death and nailed Him to a wooden cross.....He was buried in a borrowed tomb, and after three days He rose again!
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD! (Psalms 117:2)
May God Bless and Keep you!
8.22.2009
Through the Good times and through the Bad times!
As follower of the Author and Perfecter of all things, I lift my hands and say "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" because over the past two weeks I have been burdened with the heaviest burdens that I have ever had to go through, with many questions and thoughts. Why Me? What did I do? How can I make this situation right? God, You live in me, what is causing this to happen? Even to the point of doubting my purpose! Through much prayer, walking and talking to God I have been reminded time and time again of the faithfulness of God and of His love that surpasses all understanding. I have nothing to give, but my ALL. God's love will never change! The past two weeks have been spiritually depressing, even more so than going to Wales and seeing all of the churches falling to the wayside. People even at a Christian university can be very hurtful, by actions and words, but the bible explicitly says that in our lives as Christians that things are going to happen, we will suffer hardships and many temptations and various persecution. We were never promised and life filled with every good thing, but were promised eternal life through Jesus dieing on a cross. People are hard to understand...God is helping me with that, definitely!
God,
Worthy are You, Lord above all the Earth, I pray asking for your wisdom. Also, I ask for Your love to pour from my life, for patience and understanding. I thank you for the life and call you have place in my life! I love you greatly, work through me and make me to be a light shine on the campus at UM, that all may know that You are Lord of ALL! I praise you! Use me to be a mighty warrior and carry the Light of Your Word to a dark and dieing world! I ask that you would cause a great revival on the campus of the University of Mobile, one that has never been seen before. This is Your school, founded on the true inspiration of Your Word. Bless this school with a fire for You! Thank you for loving me so!
In Jesus' name,
Amen
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:28-31)
May God Bless and Keep you!
God,
Worthy are You, Lord above all the Earth, I pray asking for your wisdom. Also, I ask for Your love to pour from my life, for patience and understanding. I thank you for the life and call you have place in my life! I love you greatly, work through me and make me to be a light shine on the campus at UM, that all may know that You are Lord of ALL! I praise you! Use me to be a mighty warrior and carry the Light of Your Word to a dark and dieing world! I ask that you would cause a great revival on the campus of the University of Mobile, one that has never been seen before. This is Your school, founded on the true inspiration of Your Word. Bless this school with a fire for You! Thank you for loving me so!
In Jesus' name,
Amen
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:28-31)
May God Bless and Keep you!
8.09.2009
Week of Preparation!
This week has been amazing, preparing for the new students at UM. Yesterday, the all moved in and these are some amazing people and can't wait to get to know them all. Being away from home is hard, and if I can make the transition any better that is truly what I aim to do. God knows everything and He is in control of all things. We as believers in Christ sometimes limit what God can do, so don't limit God. God will carry you through!
May God Bless and Keep you!
May God Bless and Keep you!
8.01.2009
Incredible Week in Wales!!!!
7.17.2009
Acts 15: 36-41
Paul is telling Barnabas that he should return to the people they had ministered to. Paul chose Silas and together they went out strengthening the churches. Today, we made our journey across the world, literary. We went from Mobile to Atlanta, Atlanta to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Cardiff. We are still on the Atlanta to Amsterdam flight as the day is ending. I met a missionary that was traveling to Romania and was on the Amsterdam flight with us, while I was in the restroom of all place. Great place to meet new people! The man was going to Romania to deliver 300 lbs. of clothes that he had collected for the people there. Going through security was an experience I will never forget. Mobile security took a bottle of shaving cream that I forgot you couldn’t take on the airplane. Nick Lynch and I laughed about them taking my shaving cream because he had a bottle and they let him through. God’s creation is so beautiful from the sky, and He created it all in only six days! How amazing is He!
7.18.2009
Colossians 4:7
Today, we arrive in Amsterdam and after a few hours of waiting leave for Cardiff, our final destination. The Amsterdam security frisked Jacob. We arrive in Cardiff and we all went to collect our luggage and everyone’s luggage was there except mine. The airline had lost my luggage. I filled out a claim and the told us that they would call us if the found it or anything. Well, I was excited at this point to be in Wales, even though my luggage was lost. The customs officer did not believe me when I told her why I was coming into Wales, so I had to get Dr. Younce to tell the lady why we were there. We met by some of the church members, Glenis and Len, to take us to our host homes. We were then separated in to houses; Jacob, Courtney, and Aaron were in the home of young lady named Julie and her husband. Nick and I were brought to Marilyn and Gerald Manners, two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Dr. Younce and Mrs. Alice stayed with Ms. Glenis. We were told that were should take a 2-hour nap, and then get up and do something with our host families. We took our nap and then woke up and went for a neighborhood walk and went to the nearby shopping mall. Mrs. Marilyn and Mr. Gerald are always asking if they can get us tea or coffee. We ate dinner that night with the Manners. Afterwards we went to bed early.
7.19.2009
John 10:10
Today we got up and we to church service at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the church that we were helping conduct a Holiday Bible Club. Pastor Rick spoke us to at the morning service. Jacob and Nick both gave their testimonies during the morning service. After morning church service we went to a nice sit down Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was nothing like the American-Chinese restaurants. The food was not as rick with sugary sauces, these were actually pretty healthy. The food was great; I had duck here for the first time, which was really good. The legal drinking age is 18 in Wales, so we were asked if we would like any beer or lager as it is in Wales. We later went for a 2-hour walk with the neighbor’s dogs on the beach and had a fabulous time. I had an oyster, which was an ice cream on top of a marshmallow in and cone oyster shell, it was really good. I was asked if I had ever had any candy floss by Mrs. Marilyn, I didn’t know what it was, so she bought us one to try. Turns out it was cotton candy. Tonight, Nick gave the evening message and Aaron, Courtney, and I gave our testimonies. After church, we ate at Haverty’s Pub & Grill and I had lamb for the first time. I am getting really excited about Wales! Today, I found out my luggage was lost in New York! Got on the wrong plane, oh well it will be alright.
7.20.2009
Psalm 16:11
Today was an exciting day, still no luggage but God is going to do mighty things this week, I can feel it. Today was the first day of the Holiday Bible Club. It amazed me that these children knew very little about Jesus. The most common answer that we got about who Jesus was that Jesus was a good man. The best answer that we got today was that Jesus sacrificed Himself for His friends. These children need Jesus and this week, I hope that God will reveal a small portion of Himself to these children. The children are where the future of the church lies. We also asked the children to day what loves means. One little boy blew us away by His answer, we didn’t expect him to say that, “Love is when a man and woman like each other so much that they do something and have children.” This was a little boy…needless to say we didn’t expect it. We ate at McDonalds; I had a BBQ Beef meal. McDonald’s meals in Wales do not come with a drink and the fries, or chips as they are called in Wales, have little salt, which is much better. We went to St. Frans castle and the Welsh Life Museum. Beautiful places, God has created so many beautiful things! What a mighty God we serve!! Later, we went to Burger King and I had some chili cheese snacks and some onion rings. Later, we went back to the church and had a Bible study and came back to our host family’s homes and went to sleep at about 10:30. It gets dark here at about 10:30pm and the sun rises at about 4:30am, which is very different from 8:30pm sunset and 6:30am sunrise that I am used to.
7.21.2009
Jeremiah 31:3
Today, I got sick in the early morning hours, at about 4am. Mrs. Marilyn told me that I was to stay at home today and not go to the school for the Holiday Bible Club. She gave me some herbal remedy that had a little morphine in it. It made me feel much better. I was really upset that I couldn’t make and told Mrs. Alice that I probably could make it, but she told me that I should rest and not risk getting sicker. Satan is trying to hold me back from ministering to these children, but he has been defeated, I will get better, He cannot hold me back from doing what God sent me here to do. My luggage arrived today, damaged, but everything was in the bag, which was great! Not much else happened, I met Mr. Gerald and Mrs. Marilyn’s son and her grandson named Tom. I was in the bed asleep and Tom asked Mrs. Marilyn if she allowed Americans to come into her living room. She came and told me what he said and that he wanted to meet me because he had never met an American before. Feeling a lot better! ☺
7.22.2009
John 14:6
Today, I was able to go back and teach at the Holiday Bible Club. The kids all had to ask me what was wrong with me and how much they missed my bible stories. Today, I realized that we were like superstars to these children; they really look up to us. They asked us if we had ever met the Queen, President Obama, or Simon Cowell. We told them we hadn’t. We went later to the church where the famous Welsh Revival of 1904 started, Moriah Calvinistic Methodist Church. Evan Roberts started the revival movement. We went into the room where 12 men constantly prayed for revival and the over pouring of the Holy Spirit was poured throughout Wales. Later, we went back to the church where we had Fish & Chips and got to meet some of the pastors from the area. Then we went back to our homes and had ice cream and coffee, studied for the bible study, and went to sleep.
7.23.2009
Psalm 126:3
Today, went to the Bible Club and my stomach felt funny, but eventually everything was great. The week is winding down and I can’t believe how fast this week has gone by, I am going to miss this place greatly. I can always come back! God has shown me so much, through the children. What an amazing God are You God! I am blessed to be surrounded by loving and caring people. The children are learning so much about Jesus, the first of the week they could not answer questions about Jesus or sin or sinners, but now they can answer the questions with a great degree of accurateness. God is moving, seeds are being planted! God will provide the increase, in due time. We also went to Cardiff, the capital city. There we were able to spend about 2 hours shopping. Mrs. Shaun and Rhian went with us and we had a blast. Did I mention that I was learning a lot. Culture is different and there is so much to learn! Tonight, we showed Fireproof and children and their parents came to watch it at the Tabernacle. We had a good turn out for the movie.
7.24.2009
Isaiah 48:17
Today is the last day of the Holiday Bible Club, I will never see some of these children again. Sad! I will probably come back though…hopefully. I We hammered home today that the need for Jesus Christ to be you strength, power, and comforter/ healer and that He save the world from sin, and all who believe in Him will have eternal life. Many seeds were planted and now God will continue to water and harvest those one-day. We had the presentation night and the children recited scripture excellently and sung songs to Jesus. Amazing! These were kid who didn’t know who Jesus was before this week! God can truly work in amazing ways!
7.25.2009
John 8:12
Today is my dad’s birthday and I’m 8000 miles away. Happy Birthday, Dad! Today was a good day we were able to go to a small shopping town, called Brecon, and look in the various types of stores there. Brecon Cathedral is amazing; it is truly a sight to see. It has copies of some very famous painting such as the Madonna. We had some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted there, wonderful. We left and went to supper at the White Horse Pub and Grill and I had the lamb again, which was amazing, even better than the first lamb that I had. Later, we went back home to pack. Packing was really sad, we are actually leaving Wales in a matter of hours.
7.26.2009
1 John 3:16
We woke up at 2am and were being met by Mr. Ion at 3am. I got a shower and finished packing and we were off to the airport. I’m ready to get home to see everyone, but am going to miss Wales greatly. We arrive to the Cardiff airport and say our good-byes to Ion and his son. Ms. Glenis is coming back with us. We arrive to the airport and go through security and eventually head to Amsterdam. Stay in Amsterdam and have lunch at McDonald’s in the airport and then go back and wait to be checked by security again. Finally, we head back to the United States. After 9 hours we are back in the U.S. in Memphis. We eat dinner at Corky’s BBQ. Then at about 7:50pm leave Memphis and head to Mobile. Arrive back in Mobile at 9pm. I am extremely tired and fall asleep on the way home, after telling my mom and dad about my week. It has been a great week and I will never forget the people and look forward to going back again someday.
May God Bless and Keep you!
Acts 15: 36-41
Paul is telling Barnabas that he should return to the people they had ministered to. Paul chose Silas and together they went out strengthening the churches. Today, we made our journey across the world, literary. We went from Mobile to Atlanta, Atlanta to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Cardiff. We are still on the Atlanta to Amsterdam flight as the day is ending. I met a missionary that was traveling to Romania and was on the Amsterdam flight with us, while I was in the restroom of all place. Great place to meet new people! The man was going to Romania to deliver 300 lbs. of clothes that he had collected for the people there. Going through security was an experience I will never forget. Mobile security took a bottle of shaving cream that I forgot you couldn’t take on the airplane. Nick Lynch and I laughed about them taking my shaving cream because he had a bottle and they let him through. God’s creation is so beautiful from the sky, and He created it all in only six days! How amazing is He!
7.18.2009
Colossians 4:7
Today, we arrive in Amsterdam and after a few hours of waiting leave for Cardiff, our final destination. The Amsterdam security frisked Jacob. We arrive in Cardiff and we all went to collect our luggage and everyone’s luggage was there except mine. The airline had lost my luggage. I filled out a claim and the told us that they would call us if the found it or anything. Well, I was excited at this point to be in Wales, even though my luggage was lost. The customs officer did not believe me when I told her why I was coming into Wales, so I had to get Dr. Younce to tell the lady why we were there. We met by some of the church members, Glenis and Len, to take us to our host homes. We were then separated in to houses; Jacob, Courtney, and Aaron were in the home of young lady named Julie and her husband. Nick and I were brought to Marilyn and Gerald Manners, two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Dr. Younce and Mrs. Alice stayed with Ms. Glenis. We were told that were should take a 2-hour nap, and then get up and do something with our host families. We took our nap and then woke up and went for a neighborhood walk and went to the nearby shopping mall. Mrs. Marilyn and Mr. Gerald are always asking if they can get us tea or coffee. We ate dinner that night with the Manners. Afterwards we went to bed early.
7.19.2009
John 10:10
Today we got up and we to church service at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the church that we were helping conduct a Holiday Bible Club. Pastor Rick spoke us to at the morning service. Jacob and Nick both gave their testimonies during the morning service. After morning church service we went to a nice sit down Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was nothing like the American-Chinese restaurants. The food was not as rick with sugary sauces, these were actually pretty healthy. The food was great; I had duck here for the first time, which was really good. The legal drinking age is 18 in Wales, so we were asked if we would like any beer or lager as it is in Wales. We later went for a 2-hour walk with the neighbor’s dogs on the beach and had a fabulous time. I had an oyster, which was an ice cream on top of a marshmallow in and cone oyster shell, it was really good. I was asked if I had ever had any candy floss by Mrs. Marilyn, I didn’t know what it was, so she bought us one to try. Turns out it was cotton candy. Tonight, Nick gave the evening message and Aaron, Courtney, and I gave our testimonies. After church, we ate at Haverty’s Pub & Grill and I had lamb for the first time. I am getting really excited about Wales! Today, I found out my luggage was lost in New York! Got on the wrong plane, oh well it will be alright.
7.20.2009
Psalm 16:11
Today was an exciting day, still no luggage but God is going to do mighty things this week, I can feel it. Today was the first day of the Holiday Bible Club. It amazed me that these children knew very little about Jesus. The most common answer that we got about who Jesus was that Jesus was a good man. The best answer that we got today was that Jesus sacrificed Himself for His friends. These children need Jesus and this week, I hope that God will reveal a small portion of Himself to these children. The children are where the future of the church lies. We also asked the children to day what loves means. One little boy blew us away by His answer, we didn’t expect him to say that, “Love is when a man and woman like each other so much that they do something and have children.” This was a little boy…needless to say we didn’t expect it. We ate at McDonalds; I had a BBQ Beef meal. McDonald’s meals in Wales do not come with a drink and the fries, or chips as they are called in Wales, have little salt, which is much better. We went to St. Frans castle and the Welsh Life Museum. Beautiful places, God has created so many beautiful things! What a mighty God we serve!! Later, we went to Burger King and I had some chili cheese snacks and some onion rings. Later, we went back to the church and had a Bible study and came back to our host family’s homes and went to sleep at about 10:30. It gets dark here at about 10:30pm and the sun rises at about 4:30am, which is very different from 8:30pm sunset and 6:30am sunrise that I am used to.
7.21.2009
Jeremiah 31:3
Today, I got sick in the early morning hours, at about 4am. Mrs. Marilyn told me that I was to stay at home today and not go to the school for the Holiday Bible Club. She gave me some herbal remedy that had a little morphine in it. It made me feel much better. I was really upset that I couldn’t make and told Mrs. Alice that I probably could make it, but she told me that I should rest and not risk getting sicker. Satan is trying to hold me back from ministering to these children, but he has been defeated, I will get better, He cannot hold me back from doing what God sent me here to do. My luggage arrived today, damaged, but everything was in the bag, which was great! Not much else happened, I met Mr. Gerald and Mrs. Marilyn’s son and her grandson named Tom. I was in the bed asleep and Tom asked Mrs. Marilyn if she allowed Americans to come into her living room. She came and told me what he said and that he wanted to meet me because he had never met an American before. Feeling a lot better! ☺
7.22.2009
John 14:6
Today, I was able to go back and teach at the Holiday Bible Club. The kids all had to ask me what was wrong with me and how much they missed my bible stories. Today, I realized that we were like superstars to these children; they really look up to us. They asked us if we had ever met the Queen, President Obama, or Simon Cowell. We told them we hadn’t. We went later to the church where the famous Welsh Revival of 1904 started, Moriah Calvinistic Methodist Church. Evan Roberts started the revival movement. We went into the room where 12 men constantly prayed for revival and the over pouring of the Holy Spirit was poured throughout Wales. Later, we went back to the church where we had Fish & Chips and got to meet some of the pastors from the area. Then we went back to our homes and had ice cream and coffee, studied for the bible study, and went to sleep.
7.23.2009
Psalm 126:3
Today, went to the Bible Club and my stomach felt funny, but eventually everything was great. The week is winding down and I can’t believe how fast this week has gone by, I am going to miss this place greatly. I can always come back! God has shown me so much, through the children. What an amazing God are You God! I am blessed to be surrounded by loving and caring people. The children are learning so much about Jesus, the first of the week they could not answer questions about Jesus or sin or sinners, but now they can answer the questions with a great degree of accurateness. God is moving, seeds are being planted! God will provide the increase, in due time. We also went to Cardiff, the capital city. There we were able to spend about 2 hours shopping. Mrs. Shaun and Rhian went with us and we had a blast. Did I mention that I was learning a lot. Culture is different and there is so much to learn! Tonight, we showed Fireproof and children and their parents came to watch it at the Tabernacle. We had a good turn out for the movie.
7.24.2009
Isaiah 48:17
Today is the last day of the Holiday Bible Club, I will never see some of these children again. Sad! I will probably come back though…hopefully. I We hammered home today that the need for Jesus Christ to be you strength, power, and comforter/ healer and that He save the world from sin, and all who believe in Him will have eternal life. Many seeds were planted and now God will continue to water and harvest those one-day. We had the presentation night and the children recited scripture excellently and sung songs to Jesus. Amazing! These were kid who didn’t know who Jesus was before this week! God can truly work in amazing ways!
7.25.2009
John 8:12
Today is my dad’s birthday and I’m 8000 miles away. Happy Birthday, Dad! Today was a good day we were able to go to a small shopping town, called Brecon, and look in the various types of stores there. Brecon Cathedral is amazing; it is truly a sight to see. It has copies of some very famous painting such as the Madonna. We had some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted there, wonderful. We left and went to supper at the White Horse Pub and Grill and I had the lamb again, which was amazing, even better than the first lamb that I had. Later, we went back home to pack. Packing was really sad, we are actually leaving Wales in a matter of hours.
7.26.2009
1 John 3:16
We woke up at 2am and were being met by Mr. Ion at 3am. I got a shower and finished packing and we were off to the airport. I’m ready to get home to see everyone, but am going to miss Wales greatly. We arrive to the Cardiff airport and say our good-byes to Ion and his son. Ms. Glenis is coming back with us. We arrive to the airport and go through security and eventually head to Amsterdam. Stay in Amsterdam and have lunch at McDonald’s in the airport and then go back and wait to be checked by security again. Finally, we head back to the United States. After 9 hours we are back in the U.S. in Memphis. We eat dinner at Corky’s BBQ. Then at about 7:50pm leave Memphis and head to Mobile. Arrive back in Mobile at 9pm. I am extremely tired and fall asleep on the way home, after telling my mom and dad about my week. It has been a great week and I will never forget the people and look forward to going back again someday.
May God Bless and Keep you!
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