"Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of."
UPDATE:
Hello all! I have been dying to write this next post because i have been so encouraged lately through you guys participation in everything. Wow is the only word that's coming to mind right now (probably due to the fact that I'm not the type to pull out a dramatic vocabulary word in a time like this).. but seriously! Through the "donation" link, I have received about $400 and that's just through the link. I have also received emails and Facebook messages from people wanting to participate by sending a good ol' fashioned letter. You all have encouraged me in this process verbally and nonverbally more than you realize. Also, those of you who have sent me a personal letter of encouragement, THANK YOU. It means the world. To fill you in, the support raising these past couple of weeks since my last post has been remarkable. More support from the first round of letters I sent out are coming back in the mail which is a thumb's up in my book plussss the online support that i've received equals a second THUMB'S UP. I am approximately 75% there goal-wise so two thumbs up right back at yall! Let's keep pressing on towards the final goal... almost there!
Since this journey began, I have experienced trials of all types and something I've been contemplating lately is how do you know if its Satan scheming or God working. If you look at the story of Job, God allowed Satan access to test his faithfulness to Him. Why would God allow such a thing? For God's glory. One thing that's become clear is that God is Sovereign and will receive glory in everything; that's just who He is! Well, the conclusion to the story of Job was that he was faithful all the way through. He lost everything, but in the end, God poured out blessings that tripled what he had before. The lesson to learn here is it's all in how we choose to respond to the trial at hand. God-given or Satan inflicted, glorify the LORD in your response to the particular trial and He WILL bless you. God's hand is in everything. Through trials, we are being refined into the men and women the Lord desires us to become.
Of course, I expected for my world to be rocked sooner or later due to the big trip coming up, but definitely not in the ways I've experienced. Some wise words were written to me recently: "When you embark on a journey of truly utilizing your life for the purpose of the Lord, SATAN SHOWS UP; to walk with you and attempt in every way to destroy your aim and your devotion." Honestly, he was successful for a little while, but praise be to our God and Father to rescue me from his snare and turn it into a life lesson for me to learn from.
James 1:2-4:
"Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
Count it all joy... Okay. Sounds so easy, but to actually put it into effect? Now, that's a challenge. When i think of the trials that I've come face-to-face with these last several months, I cringe at the thought to "count them all joy." How can someone find joy in such things as pain, heartache, suffering, and rejection? Well, Christ did 2,000 years ago. Before finding Christ myself, I would have thought someone to be a crazy freak if they had a smile on their face during one of the hardest times of their life. Just because Jesus Christ was God, he was man and walked with man and thought as a man. Yes, He lived a blameless life, but He did NOT have i easy. He experienced everything you and I face daily. Those days where everything seems to go wrong, He knows how you feel because He had many of those days Himself. Just because He walked on this earth ages ago doesn't mean he can't 'identify' with you. He created you! He knows how you tick and how you think; That thought that just passed through your mind- He knew it before you even thought it. Who would want to bypass a friend like that? If i remember correctly, most of our best friends in life are those who we feel 'understand' us? Hmm... I'll leave you to contemplate that.
So, recently, that has been what I've been learning... to count it all joy when it comes to trials in life. When I experience hurt from a dear friend, I count it all but joy. When i experience rejection, I count it all joy. When things don't go the way they should have, I will choose to count it all joy. Because of these trials, I am a stronger person and will be better suited for the battle that's headed my way in a couple months! Satan will not have any part in stealing my focus nor my devotion in life. God has a huge plan for me as well as He does you, so don't allow the obstacles Satan throws in your path to distract you from where you were walking in the first place. Every day will be a battle, but God is daily training us: "God often takes away our comforts and our privileges in order to make us better Christians. He trains His soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and using them to forced marches and hard service." Charles Spurgeon
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (MY LIFE VERSE):
"Be JOYFUL always; pray continually; and GIVE THANKS in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, for this is God's WILL for you in CHRIST JESUS."
Australian Interesting Fact:
People of Queensland in Australia are called “Banana Benders." Also, “Sand Gropers” is the name given to the people from Western Australia .
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
A Love Forgotten...
Update On Support:
SO! I would like to start off by acknowledging the Lord for his providence in my life these past couple of weeks. He has been so faithful to me in bringing in the financials for my trip. Yes, i am now closer to my goal but still have a little over half way to go. To be honest, when i was told the price of the trip, i told myself... "How in the world am i going to raise $6000 by myself?" Little did i know, the Lord was standing right beside me whispering..."Have you already forgotten about Me? Have faith, daughter." Thank you so much for all of you who have supported me so far. I cannot tell you how thankful i am for you joining me in this. Seeing how the Lord is providing and how He is going about it, I can tell you with a full heart that God is going to do some incredible things in Australia. For example, I have gotten emails and messages from people whom I am not very familiar with wanting to give and help me out. That is such a huge testimony to me.. so thank you form the bottom of my heart! Please check in next week for more updates! I will keep filling you guys in on all the details as they come in.. woo!
As you can see, the title of this blog is "A Love Forgotten..." Why did I name it what i did... Well... For your information, Feb. 14th is just around the corner and I am sure that you have all either thought about it, already made plans with your significant other (whomever it may be), or have planned a Anti-Valentine's Day Party with a bunch of your friends and have already burned copies of your"angry girl mix" on iTunes for all the girls attending. Whatever your status may be, single or taken, we all have the desire to love someone as well as love someone in return. I know that's the case with myself and I'm sure it's the same way with you. How depressing would it be to love someone with all of your being and never receive the same affection back..? Yeah, PAINFUL.
For an example: If any of you know Peggy (my oldest sister) and her boyfriend, Matt Bean... you KNOW that those two are madly in love. I mean, It's all over my Twitter page, Newsfeed on Facebook, texts messages from Peggy, etc... Basically, It was my Christmas vacation- ask any of the Pursell children-I was pretty much stuck in a minivan with Peggy for a full week while i heard "click click click" from her iPhone. You knew when she received an email from him because she giggled uncontrollably and made the "Peggy face". Due to the fact Matt was already in Guatemala for work reasons, emailing was their only form of communication. So, we as a family took turns leading distracted Peggy around by the arm while she typed her emails back to him.. we didn't want her to run into a pole or anything.
With all that to say, I hope you picked up on the level of LOVE I'm talking about. This brings me to my point. Since taking my job, I have moments where I'm alone in the cafe and think about stuff like this. I find myself getting caught up in the "If Only's" or "I Wish I Had's".. like, if i would have done something this way, i would have this or that. That's just not the way it works. The Lord's plan is perfect for my life as well as it is for yours. God gave his most precious gift to us which was his Son, Jesus Christ, so that we may experience life to the fullest. As John 10:10 puts it, "The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it ABUNDANTLY." What exactly does abundance mean? Abundance means- "an extremely plentiful or oversufficient quantity or supply." The Lord loved us so much that he sent his SON to die for US.. really... what did i ever do to deserve such a love? And I love the fact that this love never changes.. its constant, unconditional, perfect, beautiful, patient, kind, not self-seeking, never easily angered, keeping no record of wrongs. WOW. Can we just focus on that really fast? We are completely sinful and there is a perfect God who wants to be loved by us.. He wants a relationship with US!
"He was despised and rejected by man (you and me), a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).
We so often forget about this Love, Jesus Christ. He has offered everything so that we may be able to have fellowship with him one day in Paradise. He traded in his righteousness for ALL of our unrighteousness.. We rejected him, shamed him, made a mockery of him, crucified him, yet He in return, gave us life and a love that we will never be able to show him back. What a love we have forgotten... He wants to be where you find that satisfaction and contentment. Let us not get so caught up in our 'misery of singleness' attitude or what we feel like we're lacking, that we forget about HIS love. Trust me, I am a pro at this and it gets you NO WHERE. Let the most amazing Eligible Bachelor, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, love you... and in return, love him back with all that you have. That is the least we can do for him considering all that He has done for us..
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19
AUSTRALIAN INTERESTING FACT: There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, and only some 20 million people.
SO! I would like to start off by acknowledging the Lord for his providence in my life these past couple of weeks. He has been so faithful to me in bringing in the financials for my trip. Yes, i am now closer to my goal but still have a little over half way to go. To be honest, when i was told the price of the trip, i told myself... "How in the world am i going to raise $6000 by myself?" Little did i know, the Lord was standing right beside me whispering..."Have you already forgotten about Me? Have faith, daughter." Thank you so much for all of you who have supported me so far. I cannot tell you how thankful i am for you joining me in this. Seeing how the Lord is providing and how He is going about it, I can tell you with a full heart that God is going to do some incredible things in Australia. For example, I have gotten emails and messages from people whom I am not very familiar with wanting to give and help me out. That is such a huge testimony to me.. so thank you form the bottom of my heart! Please check in next week for more updates! I will keep filling you guys in on all the details as they come in.. woo!
As you can see, the title of this blog is "A Love Forgotten..." Why did I name it what i did... Well... For your information, Feb. 14th is just around the corner and I am sure that you have all either thought about it, already made plans with your significant other (whomever it may be), or have planned a Anti-Valentine's Day Party with a bunch of your friends and have already burned copies of your"angry girl mix" on iTunes for all the girls attending. Whatever your status may be, single or taken, we all have the desire to love someone as well as love someone in return. I know that's the case with myself and I'm sure it's the same way with you. How depressing would it be to love someone with all of your being and never receive the same affection back..? Yeah, PAINFUL.
For an example: If any of you know Peggy (my oldest sister) and her boyfriend, Matt Bean... you KNOW that those two are madly in love. I mean, It's all over my Twitter page, Newsfeed on Facebook, texts messages from Peggy, etc... Basically, It was my Christmas vacation- ask any of the Pursell children-I was pretty much stuck in a minivan with Peggy for a full week while i heard "click click click" from her iPhone. You knew when she received an email from him because she giggled uncontrollably and made the "Peggy face". Due to the fact Matt was already in Guatemala for work reasons, emailing was their only form of communication. So, we as a family took turns leading distracted Peggy around by the arm while she typed her emails back to him.. we didn't want her to run into a pole or anything.
With all that to say, I hope you picked up on the level of LOVE I'm talking about. This brings me to my point. Since taking my job, I have moments where I'm alone in the cafe and think about stuff like this. I find myself getting caught up in the "If Only's" or "I Wish I Had's".. like, if i would have done something this way, i would have this or that. That's just not the way it works. The Lord's plan is perfect for my life as well as it is for yours. God gave his most precious gift to us which was his Son, Jesus Christ, so that we may experience life to the fullest. As John 10:10 puts it, "The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it ABUNDANTLY." What exactly does abundance mean? Abundance means- "an extremely plentiful or oversufficient quantity or supply." The Lord loved us so much that he sent his SON to die for US.. really... what did i ever do to deserve such a love? And I love the fact that this love never changes.. its constant, unconditional, perfect, beautiful, patient, kind, not self-seeking, never easily angered, keeping no record of wrongs. WOW. Can we just focus on that really fast? We are completely sinful and there is a perfect God who wants to be loved by us.. He wants a relationship with US!
"He was despised and rejected by man (you and me), a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3).
We so often forget about this Love, Jesus Christ. He has offered everything so that we may be able to have fellowship with him one day in Paradise. He traded in his righteousness for ALL of our unrighteousness.. We rejected him, shamed him, made a mockery of him, crucified him, yet He in return, gave us life and a love that we will never be able to show him back. What a love we have forgotten... He wants to be where you find that satisfaction and contentment. Let us not get so caught up in our 'misery of singleness' attitude or what we feel like we're lacking, that we forget about HIS love. Trust me, I am a pro at this and it gets you NO WHERE. Let the most amazing Eligible Bachelor, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, love you... and in return, love him back with all that you have. That is the least we can do for him considering all that He has done for us..
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19
AUSTRALIAN INTERESTING FACT: There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, and only some 20 million people.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
And We're Off...
Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. -Hab. 1:5
Wow.. its already another week which begins Week 2 in my support raising process. So far, the Lord has been so gracious to me.. to think it's only been one week! Praise Him. Of course i am still very far off from reaching my end goal of $6000, but I know my God can meet my needs if He chooses to or not. He will receive the glory either way. I can't even express how the Lord is already working in my heart.. that will be saved for a later post!
I started my job at Pottery Cafe about three weeks ago! First, can i say how awesome it was that i actually found a job during a very critical state of our nation..? Well, I still sit back and can't believe it. Anyways, i've been working the past couple of Saturdays and a couple Thursdays so far and have loved it! My job entails me working the coffee bar as well as helping out customers with their ceramics, getting their paint set up, brushes, etc. If you ever need something to do in Auburn, you definitely need to stop by! It's off Glenn by Fitness for Women. This is my project I'm currently working on: a dinner platter with Samford Hall sketched and ready to paint!
Today, I was sitting in the Student Union on campus completely stalking the country of Australia, looking up sites about ministry opportunities there and such, when i came up with an awesome idea! I would absolutely love to start communicating with an Australian missionary who's already there working with either high school students or college students before I leave in May. By doing this, I can get a feel for the work I will be doing and begin praying for the country.
Thank you,again, for following the blog! My email and number are listed in the post below if you need to get in contact with me about anything. I would love to answer any questions you might have for me as well...
There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. - Richard Sibbes
INTERESTING AUSTRALIAN FACT: In Australia, it is illegal to walk on the right hand side of a footpath.
Wow.. its already another week which begins Week 2 in my support raising process. So far, the Lord has been so gracious to me.. to think it's only been one week! Praise Him. Of course i am still very far off from reaching my end goal of $6000, but I know my God can meet my needs if He chooses to or not. He will receive the glory either way. I can't even express how the Lord is already working in my heart.. that will be saved for a later post!
I started my job at Pottery Cafe about three weeks ago! First, can i say how awesome it was that i actually found a job during a very critical state of our nation..? Well, I still sit back and can't believe it. Anyways, i've been working the past couple of Saturdays and a couple Thursdays so far and have loved it! My job entails me working the coffee bar as well as helping out customers with their ceramics, getting their paint set up, brushes, etc. If you ever need something to do in Auburn, you definitely need to stop by! It's off Glenn by Fitness for Women. This is my project I'm currently working on: a dinner platter with Samford Hall sketched and ready to paint!
Today, I was sitting in the Student Union on campus completely stalking the country of Australia, looking up sites about ministry opportunities there and such, when i came up with an awesome idea! I would absolutely love to start communicating with an Australian missionary who's already there working with either high school students or college students before I leave in May. By doing this, I can get a feel for the work I will be doing and begin praying for the country.
Thank you,again, for following the blog! My email and number are listed in the post below if you need to get in contact with me about anything. I would love to answer any questions you might have for me as well...
There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. - Richard Sibbes
INTERESTING AUSTRALIAN FACT: In Australia, it is illegal to walk on the right hand side of a footpath.
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