2014 in Review: July

July was quite the month...I wrote a LOT... :)

4~Thank You for friends that pray, for rain, for cool breezes, early morning runs, a family that loves me, and especially for Your Word!

When the Young Adults prayed over me, their hands held me up.  I was surrounded and upheld by their support, their words, and they prayed God would remind them to hold the rope...they prayed for God to allow me to see the truths of His Word as a young child, they prayed for team unity, they prayed for the gospel to go forward through us, for us not to psych ourselves out over the time change, for God to give us the words to speak...oh Lord, praise You for these friends, their prayers.  That sense of upholding when they all had their hands on me, it is what their prayers will do for me throughout this trip!  Praise God!

5~Thank You for giving me things to pray for today to keep my mind from getting too centered on me and this trip coming up!

6~Today is the day, Jesus!  We're about to go off on an adventure together!

7~Arrived in Dar...in the airport a security guy asked me how I was...I was exhausted so I replied, “tired!”  He said, “I'm sorry for that, buy you're here now...so welcome.”  It was sweet!  Helped me feel unthreatened!

8~As we were getting off the plane in Dar, Isaiah 40 and Psalm 121 were running through my mind and of my tongue...how awesome that we have a God who never sleeps, yet never gets tired!

“Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing.  Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God?” ~Isaiah 40:26-27
Such powerful verses to put right next to each other...to marvel at God's power and personal nature all at once.  He is at once both supremely powerful and completely personal.  He holds everything in place, and yet He knows each of us by name, for goodness sake, He even knows the stars by name!

9~Today has been stressful?  I felt like a lot was piling up on my shoulders...had to remember that it all needs to just go on God's shoulders, not mine.  His are capable, mine are not.  Thank You that You come through in my weakness, Lord!

10~My Hope is in the gospel!  Jesus, thank You!  And may that hope and joy I have in You be contagious today...Lord, let these kiddos see the joy there is to be found in meeting up with You!

12~I feel like I've been flying, flying all over the place...our schedule has been very crazy.  Grant energy and strength to keep going today.
“And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me.” ~Matthew 18:5

13~Lord, You know how hard it is  for me to think about going to the mission field without a family support system around me!  Help me know how to rightly handle those struggles and think rightly about it all!

15~I tend to be slow in processing things...it was emotional saying goodbye today, but its like the emotion is all trapped inside.  At some point I'm sure the tears will come, but its not now.  The plane? :/
Lord, bless and keep these children I've grown to love.  These adults I've grown to love!  Remind them always of Your unfailing love.

17~Jesus, here I am.  There's a time and place today for me to be alone with You!  I've missed that.

19~I need to be dependent on You to guide me through the complications of loving other people!  It's hard and messy sometimes.  Teach me to love, teach me to pray!

20~ “The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is through the expulsive power of a new one.” ~Thomas Chalmers
Fill my lungs with air, my heart with joy, my life with You

23~I am completely human, Lord, and prone to falling into sin.  Thank You for being the solution to my struggle!  Lord, letting anxiety bring me to the point that I'm struggling to breathe is wrong.  You've called me to be anxious about nothing!

24~When truth is twisted slightly sometimes its hard to read between the lines.

I hear it.  See it.
Vulnerability lauded.
People saying,
“I'm a mess,
“I make no apology.
“This is me.”

Let's be open,
Honest.
That brings healing.
Does it?
Exposing our mess?
But leaving it messy?

I'll be frank,
I'm a mess.
But I don't want
To stay a mess.
My mess?
It breaks me.
And on my knees I cry,
JESUS!
Right. Restore. Heal.
Change me.
Make my mess into perfection,
Because I'm far from there.
Don't want to live...
Arrogant.
Don't want to be...
Fake.
Just want to live...
Holy.
Just want to be...
Changed.

26~ Lord how have You shown me your glory this week?

• In forgiveness when I've chosen sin.
• In the beauty of Your creation: a sunset, sunshine, blue sky, fields, flowers
• A friend blessing me with flowers and peaches
• A Changed heart (D)
• Rest when I desperately needed it.

Thank You, Lord, my God, for showing me glory in these ways!

28~ She asked me with earnest eyes today, “does it help to think of yourself as a Cinderella?”
In the midst of the mundane and repetitive, knowing you are a Princess...a daughter of the King of kings.  For today He's called you here, and He is working beautiful things.
Good things.
So in the midst of the mundane, the gossip, the mistakes, remind me that I am the King's daughter.
“The King's daughter is all glorious within...” ~Psalm 45:13