I'm probably my own worst critic. I can't help but analyze everything I do and wish I had done or said something differently. I can't help but wish I was more like so and so. More outgoing. More creative. More theological... In these times of self-analysis, it's so easy to fall into the trap of feeling worthless. "What do I have to offer? What's the point? There's definitely someone better for this job or activity."
I was journaling this morning and reflecting on the past few months I've been in Wales. It's been amazing and challenging at the same time. Like I've said in previous posts, I can be very task oriented and enjoy getting things done. I haven't had that many "things" to get done recently, and to a certain extent I've lost my identity in that. I'm the person that gets things done and I feel good about it... Now that I don't have lots of "things" to get done, where am I going to get my satisfaction from? My identity from?
It all has to come from Jesus. Simply living in the truth that God loves me beyond imagination. Why? Because I'm me. Paul John Cook. He made me a certain way, and there's no one else like me. I can bring a smile to Jesus' face in a way that no one else can... I'm sure some of you at this point may be thinking, "Geeze, this guy is really full of himself!" It certainly sounds that way, but the truth is God really does love each of us in this way. It's hard for me to accept this love, it's hard for me to be Ok with being me. There's so many things I'd like to change, but I'm realizing that I don't have to. It's Ok to be you, it's Ok to be me... It's Ok that I'm different than the average Joe. To be totally honest I have no interest in sports or video games, although about 99% of all other guys my age do. I'd rather take photos, or hop in a car and go for a road trip! I love being around people, but there's times when I have nothing to say and I'm kind of a sucky conversationalist. I don't know why, but it just happens that way. Sometimes I want to boss people around and be in charge, and other times I'd much rather be the one behind the scenes doing the things people don't see or think about doing.... All summed up, I'm weird. haha. But, that's the way God made me, and who am I to question that?
Now there's more to this, and here's what God showed me this morning. In those times when I'm analyzing myself, wishing I was different and feeling worthless it's doing harm not only to myself, but to God. We are God's creation, made in His image. So when we look at ourselves in disgust and long to be something different, we're essentially spitting in God's face and telling Him He's messed up big time. "What was He thinking making me this way? That's dumb."... We have no place to question God in this way, no place to criticize His creation. There's something holy about a life, about a person. Something we really can't quite grasp. To look at a life, your life and say it should be something more, something different, is wrong. We are the image bearers of God, His prized possession. We are mysterious and worthy because God is.
We are all born into sin, but because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, fulfilling the law, we are now blameless in God's sight... We aren't perfect, that's for sure. I definitely have plenty of things God is still working on in my life. And I do think it's important for us to strive to become better. To grow intellectually in our thinking. To challenge ourselves to step outside of our comfort zones. But, if you've accepted Christ as your savior, and you're seeking after Him with all that you are, then it's Ok to be you. It's Ok to not be perfect, it's Ok to be a little weird. God sees us at our full potential. He isn't bound by time like we are. Right now we may have a long way to go, but He sees us for all that we are capable of and all that we will become.
So if you find yourself, like I often do, in times of self-analysis and wishing for something different, stop. Just Stop. Rest in the peace and knowledge that God loves you just the way you are. Don't insult God by telling Him He messed up when He made us... I'm pretty sure He knows what He's doing, so let's not worry about that.
Worthless
To
Worthy
We are not worthless, but worthy because of Christ!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Yesterday
Yesterday was a really good day. It started out with a lot of time just being with Jesus, I'm thankful that my mornings are usually free for me to use for seeking after Him. I went over to the Starbucks on campus to eat lunch and talk with the staff at the Student Union. I've been going there since I've been here, 7 weeks now, and I feel like some legit friendships are starting to form.
This past weekend I went to a Human Trafficking Awareness conference in a city about 15 minutes away from Cardiff. I learned a lot at the conference and it was an eye opening experience, to say the least. It's been on my mind, so eventually the conversation I was having with the staff on campus lead to that topic. Some of the people were aware of the issues of trafficking globally and in the UK, others were fairly shocked at the facts. One of the organizations that they talked about at the conference is Stop the Traffik. They have a lot of free resources and information online to help raise awareness about trafficking. I had looked at the website and at the very least was wanting to put up some of their awareness posters. As I was talking with my friends, one of which works in the Student Union Office, the idea came to me about seeing if I could put up some of the Stop the Traffik posters in the Union. What you have to understand is that there is a ton of regulations on Campuses in the UK about what you can and cannot do, especially when it comes to advertizing things. I decided to go ahead and ask anyways. My friend said I would need to talk with the student body president. She then offered to call her, which she did right then. The president said it was fine, as long as it was approved by my friend. We went into my friends office to take a look at the posters online to see if they would be Ok to post around the Union. She said they were fine, and then... she told to just go ahead and use their printer to print off 30 of the posters! After that she went with me to a few places around the Union to post them.
It's been encouraging to see how the friendships I've formed over the past few weeks have opened up doors for things I wasn't even thinking about. Coming here I really wasn't thinking about advocating human trafficking awareness, but obviously God has different plans than I do.
I'm planning to go downtown sometime this week and asking businesses if they would be willing to let me put up some of the posters in their stores.
There's been times over the past few weeks when I've been at Starbucks wondering if this was really going to lead anyway, wondering if it was really making any kind of difference. I can see now that it has, and I'm sure there's much more to come.
The rest of my day went quite well. I met with the pastor, Bryan, I'm working with just to connect and talk, we had some great conversations. Talked about what we are doing in Cardiff and also about what I should pursue in my future. To be honest with you, my future in ministry is completely open. There are so many options, it's almost overwhelming in some ways!... Something I'm wanting to use my time in Wales for is to seek after God, and really ask Him to give me guidance in where He wants me to be in a more long-term ministry. It could be staying in Europe, it could be going back to Africa, I simply don't know at this point, but I'm content to trust in Him.
After talking for a while, Bryan and I walked back back his house with a quick stop at a Lebanese restaurant for some hummus, amazing!... I spent the evening hanging out with the Elliott family, and then was able to chat with some good friends back home later in the night.
So that was yesterday, a good day... Before I go, I do have some prayer requests for you:
Please pray for the awareness of human trafficking to be raised here in Wales. So many don't know, or choose to ignore the facts because they don't want to think about it. Also pray for this slavery to broken and for those in bondage to be set free! Ask God to show me and Capital City Church how we can play a part in raising awareness and fighting to end this.
Also pray that God would burden my heart for specific areas of ministry and would lead me into the right place.
Thanks and God bless!
This past weekend I went to a Human Trafficking Awareness conference in a city about 15 minutes away from Cardiff. I learned a lot at the conference and it was an eye opening experience, to say the least. It's been on my mind, so eventually the conversation I was having with the staff on campus lead to that topic. Some of the people were aware of the issues of trafficking globally and in the UK, others were fairly shocked at the facts. One of the organizations that they talked about at the conference is Stop the Traffik. They have a lot of free resources and information online to help raise awareness about trafficking. I had looked at the website and at the very least was wanting to put up some of their awareness posters. As I was talking with my friends, one of which works in the Student Union Office, the idea came to me about seeing if I could put up some of the Stop the Traffik posters in the Union. What you have to understand is that there is a ton of regulations on Campuses in the UK about what you can and cannot do, especially when it comes to advertizing things. I decided to go ahead and ask anyways. My friend said I would need to talk with the student body president. She then offered to call her, which she did right then. The president said it was fine, as long as it was approved by my friend. We went into my friends office to take a look at the posters online to see if they would be Ok to post around the Union. She said they were fine, and then... she told to just go ahead and use their printer to print off 30 of the posters! After that she went with me to a few places around the Union to post them.
It's been encouraging to see how the friendships I've formed over the past few weeks have opened up doors for things I wasn't even thinking about. Coming here I really wasn't thinking about advocating human trafficking awareness, but obviously God has different plans than I do.
I'm planning to go downtown sometime this week and asking businesses if they would be willing to let me put up some of the posters in their stores.
There's been times over the past few weeks when I've been at Starbucks wondering if this was really going to lead anyway, wondering if it was really making any kind of difference. I can see now that it has, and I'm sure there's much more to come.
The rest of my day went quite well. I met with the pastor, Bryan, I'm working with just to connect and talk, we had some great conversations. Talked about what we are doing in Cardiff and also about what I should pursue in my future. To be honest with you, my future in ministry is completely open. There are so many options, it's almost overwhelming in some ways!... Something I'm wanting to use my time in Wales for is to seek after God, and really ask Him to give me guidance in where He wants me to be in a more long-term ministry. It could be staying in Europe, it could be going back to Africa, I simply don't know at this point, but I'm content to trust in Him.
After talking for a while, Bryan and I walked back back his house with a quick stop at a Lebanese restaurant for some hummus, amazing!... I spent the evening hanging out with the Elliott family, and then was able to chat with some good friends back home later in the night.
So that was yesterday, a good day... Before I go, I do have some prayer requests for you:
Please pray for the awareness of human trafficking to be raised here in Wales. So many don't know, or choose to ignore the facts because they don't want to think about it. Also pray for this slavery to broken and for those in bondage to be set free! Ask God to show me and Capital City Church how we can play a part in raising awareness and fighting to end this.
Also pray that God would burden my heart for specific areas of ministry and would lead me into the right place.
Thanks and God bless!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Give Up Your Life
"If any of you wants to be my followers, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it."-- Mark 8:34-35
I think I've heard that verse at least 100 times. We're told to not be selfish, take up a cross, follow Jesus, and give up our life... The past few years of doing missions work or fundraising for missions work it's been so easy to look at that verse and say, "Yup, I got that... I'm a missionary, duh." Although I've always known that there was something else there. Something I needed to give up, I just wasn't quite sure what it was.
Give up your life.
"I am giving up my life, or at least I think I am."... But what does "life" really mean?
As I was reading this in Mark last night it finally hit me in a new way. "My Life" isn't just where I live and the job I have, it's also my dreams and expectations of what I want my life to be... I live in Wales, I have the title of Assemblies of God World Missionary. So, I'm giving up my life, I'm living out the Great Commission. Wrong.... To a certain extent, I have given up my life. I am willing to go where God sends and leave behind family and the possibility of a better paying career. But, these are things I'm easily willing to do. I love to travel and see new places, so it's not asking much to move to Europe for year.
What I struggle with is giving up the expectations of the amazing life I will have overseas. I long for every moment to be exciting and to see tons of people come to know Jesus, and to come quickly! I want to hop off that plane and have everything ready for me to do. I long to be satisfied by the fruit of my labor. I long to live that "ideal" life. My dream life.... But Jesus asks us to give it up.
So that's where I am right now, on this day. I'm taking the day to seek after Jesus. To lay my burdens at His feet, to ask Him to help me. To find real satisfaction in simply doing nothing but spending a day with Him.... How can I try to tell people that Christianity is all about a relationship if I can't even take a day and find satisfaction in spending it with Jesus, and not crossing things off a to-do list?
What exactly should I be doing? Where do I belong? What's next?... I'm always plagued with these questions. It's a blessing and a curse I think.... For now, I don't know the answer to any of those questions..... I do know this: I belong in the presence of a King who loves me. Who sent His only Son to die for me. A King who is closer than a brother, who has a plan for my life-far beyond my imagination. A King who finds delight in me, who rejoices over me. A King that is desperate for me, for my love and obedience. A King who wants the best for me. A King who allows me to be a part of His army, even though I'm weak and fearful. A King who deserves my all, who deserves my life-all of it, even my silly dreams of what it should be.
I belong to Jesus, and if I accomplish nothing in this life other than getting to know Him even the slightest bit better, than I can leave this earth happy and fulfilled!
Is Jesus enough for you? Are you satisfied with Him, only Him?
Are you willing to give up your life? Your dreams? Your everything?
I think I've heard that verse at least 100 times. We're told to not be selfish, take up a cross, follow Jesus, and give up our life... The past few years of doing missions work or fundraising for missions work it's been so easy to look at that verse and say, "Yup, I got that... I'm a missionary, duh." Although I've always known that there was something else there. Something I needed to give up, I just wasn't quite sure what it was.
Give up your life.
"I am giving up my life, or at least I think I am."... But what does "life" really mean?
As I was reading this in Mark last night it finally hit me in a new way. "My Life" isn't just where I live and the job I have, it's also my dreams and expectations of what I want my life to be... I live in Wales, I have the title of Assemblies of God World Missionary. So, I'm giving up my life, I'm living out the Great Commission. Wrong.... To a certain extent, I have given up my life. I am willing to go where God sends and leave behind family and the possibility of a better paying career. But, these are things I'm easily willing to do. I love to travel and see new places, so it's not asking much to move to Europe for year.
What I struggle with is giving up the expectations of the amazing life I will have overseas. I long for every moment to be exciting and to see tons of people come to know Jesus, and to come quickly! I want to hop off that plane and have everything ready for me to do. I long to be satisfied by the fruit of my labor. I long to live that "ideal" life. My dream life.... But Jesus asks us to give it up.
So that's where I am right now, on this day. I'm taking the day to seek after Jesus. To lay my burdens at His feet, to ask Him to help me. To find real satisfaction in simply doing nothing but spending a day with Him.... How can I try to tell people that Christianity is all about a relationship if I can't even take a day and find satisfaction in spending it with Jesus, and not crossing things off a to-do list?
What exactly should I be doing? Where do I belong? What's next?... I'm always plagued with these questions. It's a blessing and a curse I think.... For now, I don't know the answer to any of those questions..... I do know this: I belong in the presence of a King who loves me. Who sent His only Son to die for me. A King who is closer than a brother, who has a plan for my life-far beyond my imagination. A King who finds delight in me, who rejoices over me. A King that is desperate for me, for my love and obedience. A King who wants the best for me. A King who allows me to be a part of His army, even though I'm weak and fearful. A King who deserves my all, who deserves my life-all of it, even my silly dreams of what it should be.
I belong to Jesus, and if I accomplish nothing in this life other than getting to know Him even the slightest bit better, than I can leave this earth happy and fulfilled!
Is Jesus enough for you? Are you satisfied with Him, only Him?
Are you willing to give up your life? Your dreams? Your everything?
Friday, February 24, 2012
Lessons from Loneliness
Finding yourself on the other side of the planet, and being able to count the number of people you know on your hands is challenging.
God created us in His image, in His likeness. He is all about relationships, thus we are wired to desire a relationship with Him and with each other. Friends and family are important, more so than we realize at times.
Being alone a lot the past few weeks has made me realize how important friendships are. Being lonely is horrible, in my opinion, but through the loneliness I've experienced the past few weeks I've learned a lot.
A Treasure... True friends really are a gift from God and should be treasured. I've come to have a new appreciation for the friendships I have.
Perspective... Through the times of being alone I believe I can now relate better to people who are alone for much of their time and also suffer from depression (not saying I'm depressed, I just feel like I can understand it better now). Most of my life I've been around people a lot and had at least a few friends around me for a good portion of each day. I'm realizing that a life without that is very challenging.
Provision... I've been praying for friends, and asking others to pray for this as well. To be honest, I really haven't made a close friend since I've been here. However, God has provided. There's been several times I was feeling very lonely and one of my friends from back home, or someone else who is serving overseas, will start chatting with me on Facebook, Gmail, or Skype. It's been incredible how the timing of it all has worked out.... I've really been praying that God would send me some good guy friends who I can hang out with. Guys just need to be around guys sometimes. It's funny because I have two really good guy friends who are both serving in Africa. One of them was a fellow intern from South Africa and another I met at Pre-field Orientation this past summer. The three of us are in similar situations, we're all lacking those guy friends in our lives. We haven't really found those friendships yet, but we've all had times to catch up with each other and/or other friends back home. It's not a person in your physical presence, but it's what we needed. It's what I've needed.
Priorities... Another blessing that has come out of this period is the time I've had to spend with Jesus. To be completely honest with you, I haven't been taking advantage of it like I should. There has been a lot of wasted time, but there's also been some great times of prayer and journaling. God's using this time to prepare me for something I think. I'm not sure what, but I know this is happening for a reason.
Truth be told, I like to be busy and have lots of work to do, but in this season it's not the case... Before I came to Wales I really thought about why I was coming and I came to the conclusion that the ultimate reason I was going is that God wanted me to come on an adventure with Him so we could fall more in love. It's not about the number of people that will come to our church, the help I can offer the missionaries I work with, or even the people who will get saved. Ultimately, God wants me here so I can know Him more. I know this sounds selfish in a lot of ways, but God is jealous for us. He wants us! And maybe I just need a slap in the face at times to realize that. God has called us to do good works and to serve, but that comes after the relationship with Him. He is my priority and my everything.
I may have days where I honestly don't have anything that I have to get done, but if I simply spend the day walking around taking in God's beauty and talking with Him, that's all He could ask of me for that day. I have to get my mind around the fact that my worth simply comes from the fact that Jesus loves me, and I can do nothing to earn that love or make it stop.
Even though I absolutely hate not having much to do, and I hate being lonely, I'm very thankful for the past few weeks. God is teaching me things, most of them I'm probably not even aware of!
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you find yourself in a similar situation I hope you can gain something from this post.
God bless!
God created us in His image, in His likeness. He is all about relationships, thus we are wired to desire a relationship with Him and with each other. Friends and family are important, more so than we realize at times.
Being alone a lot the past few weeks has made me realize how important friendships are. Being lonely is horrible, in my opinion, but through the loneliness I've experienced the past few weeks I've learned a lot.
A Treasure... True friends really are a gift from God and should be treasured. I've come to have a new appreciation for the friendships I have.
Perspective... Through the times of being alone I believe I can now relate better to people who are alone for much of their time and also suffer from depression (not saying I'm depressed, I just feel like I can understand it better now). Most of my life I've been around people a lot and had at least a few friends around me for a good portion of each day. I'm realizing that a life without that is very challenging.
Provision... I've been praying for friends, and asking others to pray for this as well. To be honest, I really haven't made a close friend since I've been here. However, God has provided. There's been several times I was feeling very lonely and one of my friends from back home, or someone else who is serving overseas, will start chatting with me on Facebook, Gmail, or Skype. It's been incredible how the timing of it all has worked out.... I've really been praying that God would send me some good guy friends who I can hang out with. Guys just need to be around guys sometimes. It's funny because I have two really good guy friends who are both serving in Africa. One of them was a fellow intern from South Africa and another I met at Pre-field Orientation this past summer. The three of us are in similar situations, we're all lacking those guy friends in our lives. We haven't really found those friendships yet, but we've all had times to catch up with each other and/or other friends back home. It's not a person in your physical presence, but it's what we needed. It's what I've needed.
Priorities... Another blessing that has come out of this period is the time I've had to spend with Jesus. To be completely honest with you, I haven't been taking advantage of it like I should. There has been a lot of wasted time, but there's also been some great times of prayer and journaling. God's using this time to prepare me for something I think. I'm not sure what, but I know this is happening for a reason.
Truth be told, I like to be busy and have lots of work to do, but in this season it's not the case... Before I came to Wales I really thought about why I was coming and I came to the conclusion that the ultimate reason I was going is that God wanted me to come on an adventure with Him so we could fall more in love. It's not about the number of people that will come to our church, the help I can offer the missionaries I work with, or even the people who will get saved. Ultimately, God wants me here so I can know Him more. I know this sounds selfish in a lot of ways, but God is jealous for us. He wants us! And maybe I just need a slap in the face at times to realize that. God has called us to do good works and to serve, but that comes after the relationship with Him. He is my priority and my everything.
I may have days where I honestly don't have anything that I have to get done, but if I simply spend the day walking around taking in God's beauty and talking with Him, that's all He could ask of me for that day. I have to get my mind around the fact that my worth simply comes from the fact that Jesus loves me, and I can do nothing to earn that love or make it stop.
Even though I absolutely hate not having much to do, and I hate being lonely, I'm very thankful for the past few weeks. God is teaching me things, most of them I'm probably not even aware of!
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you find yourself in a similar situation I hope you can gain something from this post.
God bless!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Hopeful
Patience: an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.
That's one of the definitions dictionary.com provided. There are some key words in there that are applying to my life right now. Suppress, restlessness, and delay are some of the big ones.
I've been in Cardiff for about two and half weeks, not that long to be honest. However, in my mind, I would like to be good friends with at least 10 people by now and have a University Ministry plan already underway. In reality, I'm no where near that point!
Patience has always been an issue with me. I'm very proactive in getting things done, if I can do it now why wait? If there's a decision to be made, well let's hurry up and decide!... That's how my mind works.... However, at this time God has placed me in a very slow-paced environment, which is challenging for me to say the least! Our church has literally JUST begun. We're in the infant stages of this community, and it takes time to grow-up in a healthy way. A part of me really just wants to be busy, and be validated by the amount of work I get done and the fruit that is produced by that labor. Right now, I'm honestly not that busy. It's not because I'm avoiding things that need to get done, it just takes time to get acclimated and get plans in place.
Even though this is challenging for me, I'm thankful for this phase of the journey. It's taking a lot of faith and a lot of patience (which we all know I'm not very good at!) to keep going. It's very easy to question whether or not things are happening like they should. I was reading in Psalms the other day and I came across this verse, "For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation" Psalm 100:5. That's what I'm holding onto. God is good, He is love, and He is faithful... He told me to come and paved the way to make it possible. I need to continue to trust Him through each stage of the journey, even the slow ones!
With all this said, I'm hopeful for the months to come, and I have made some friends with the staff at Starbucks in the Student Union of Cardiff Metropolitan University. These two ladies have questioned me about everything from the weather to prayer to sin to Jesus Himself! We had a great conversation a few days ago, and when I stopped in yesterday they fixed me my chi tea latte and gave to me for free!
Progress has been made with ministry plans for the campus. I finally found out who I need to talk to about doing things on campus, and tomorrow I meet with someone from a student group called the Christian Union. We're going to discuss ministry ideas and a possible partnership. We are also having an open house this Saturday at the Elliotts home, our temporary meeting place for the church. We've been going around the neighborhood stuffing flyers in everyone's mailboxes, I think we're getting close to about 1,000 flyers passed out! We have several more "getting to know people" events planned for the next few weeks as well.
Progress is being made and I'm learning to have some patience. I keep reminding myself that God is good, He is loving, and He is faithful.... I know God is teaching me patience, but I believe He is also teaching me to remain faithful, even when it feels like I'm not doing much at all. My value and self-worth needs to stem from who I am in Christ, not how much busy work I get done, or how many lives I see changed. I'm here to be a witness for Jesus, that's it. He's doing the rest.
God is good.
God is loving.
God is faithful.
And I... am hopeful.
That's one of the definitions dictionary.com provided. There are some key words in there that are applying to my life right now. Suppress, restlessness, and delay are some of the big ones.
I've been in Cardiff for about two and half weeks, not that long to be honest. However, in my mind, I would like to be good friends with at least 10 people by now and have a University Ministry plan already underway. In reality, I'm no where near that point!
Patience has always been an issue with me. I'm very proactive in getting things done, if I can do it now why wait? If there's a decision to be made, well let's hurry up and decide!... That's how my mind works.... However, at this time God has placed me in a very slow-paced environment, which is challenging for me to say the least! Our church has literally JUST begun. We're in the infant stages of this community, and it takes time to grow-up in a healthy way. A part of me really just wants to be busy, and be validated by the amount of work I get done and the fruit that is produced by that labor. Right now, I'm honestly not that busy. It's not because I'm avoiding things that need to get done, it just takes time to get acclimated and get plans in place.
Even though this is challenging for me, I'm thankful for this phase of the journey. It's taking a lot of faith and a lot of patience (which we all know I'm not very good at!) to keep going. It's very easy to question whether or not things are happening like they should. I was reading in Psalms the other day and I came across this verse, "For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation" Psalm 100:5. That's what I'm holding onto. God is good, He is love, and He is faithful... He told me to come and paved the way to make it possible. I need to continue to trust Him through each stage of the journey, even the slow ones!
With all this said, I'm hopeful for the months to come, and I have made some friends with the staff at Starbucks in the Student Union of Cardiff Metropolitan University. These two ladies have questioned me about everything from the weather to prayer to sin to Jesus Himself! We had a great conversation a few days ago, and when I stopped in yesterday they fixed me my chi tea latte and gave to me for free!
Progress has been made with ministry plans for the campus. I finally found out who I need to talk to about doing things on campus, and tomorrow I meet with someone from a student group called the Christian Union. We're going to discuss ministry ideas and a possible partnership. We are also having an open house this Saturday at the Elliotts home, our temporary meeting place for the church. We've been going around the neighborhood stuffing flyers in everyone's mailboxes, I think we're getting close to about 1,000 flyers passed out! We have several more "getting to know people" events planned for the next few weeks as well.
Progress is being made and I'm learning to have some patience. I keep reminding myself that God is good, He is loving, and He is faithful.... I know God is teaching me patience, but I believe He is also teaching me to remain faithful, even when it feels like I'm not doing much at all. My value and self-worth needs to stem from who I am in Christ, not how much busy work I get done, or how many lives I see changed. I'm here to be a witness for Jesus, that's it. He's doing the rest.
God is good.
God is loving.
God is faithful.
And I... am hopeful.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Settled
I've been in Wales for one week today! It feels like I just got here, but it also feels like I've been here longer.
Pretty much all of my time has been spent getting settled into my house and learning the city. The flights over here went well, no major delays or missed flights. Not a huge fan of flying, but I already knew that. The first few days I stayed with the Elliotts. They showed me around town and took me to get supplies and whatnot. I moved into my house on Wednesday evening and have been getting things organized. It's a big 3 story Victorian house. Right now I live with 6 other people and I think there are still some open rooms in the house. I'm on the 3rd floor in a small room, but it's nice. The heater currently is not working, but I think they are coming to fix it today, hopefully :) My house is in a great location. It's walking distance to the Elliotts house, a supermarket, and just down the road form a University Campus. There's also a bus stop and park just across the street.
I've discovered that the weather in Wales is just as and maybe more bipolar than it is in Kansas. It can go from blinding sunshine, to freak hailstorm, to raining, and then back to sunny in a matter of minutes! I like it though. I was afraid it was going to be raining 24/7 but there have definitely been some sunny parts of the day.
In some ways I feel like I haven't done anything yet, but honestly getting settled and adjusting to the time and cultural differences takes time. The Elliotts and another missionary from the States have encouraged me to take it easy this first week, and assured me that what I've gotten done this week is good for someone who's only been here for a few days.
A lot of what I will be doing is trying to meet people and get them involved in our church, Capital City Church. It's not because we just want to look big and have more people at our meetings. We're aiming to get people involved so they can discover who Jesus is and fall in love with Him. I will also be helping with pretty much anything we do, such as Sunday School, the Alpha Course we are doing on Tuesday nights, and various outreaches we have planned. I also have a few projects that will be given to me that I can work on. I'm planning on spending some time at the University as well to develop relationships with the students and staff so it can be an open door for ministry.
God is good. There's challenges, fears, and doubts along the way, but I'm glad I have Christ as my foundation to turn to. Being on the other side of the planet doesn't seem quite so daunting when I know I have Jesus with me, as well as other Christians on a similar journey.
Please continue to pray for me as I begin to start working towards meeting more people and doing projects for the church. I need Him to do this, because if I don't have the power of the Holy Spirit with me and if I don't keep Christ first, than this is simply a waste of time.
Thank you so much for everything!
P.S. If you want to see some photos check out my facebook page :)
Pretty much all of my time has been spent getting settled into my house and learning the city. The flights over here went well, no major delays or missed flights. Not a huge fan of flying, but I already knew that. The first few days I stayed with the Elliotts. They showed me around town and took me to get supplies and whatnot. I moved into my house on Wednesday evening and have been getting things organized. It's a big 3 story Victorian house. Right now I live with 6 other people and I think there are still some open rooms in the house. I'm on the 3rd floor in a small room, but it's nice. The heater currently is not working, but I think they are coming to fix it today, hopefully :) My house is in a great location. It's walking distance to the Elliotts house, a supermarket, and just down the road form a University Campus. There's also a bus stop and park just across the street.
I've discovered that the weather in Wales is just as and maybe more bipolar than it is in Kansas. It can go from blinding sunshine, to freak hailstorm, to raining, and then back to sunny in a matter of minutes! I like it though. I was afraid it was going to be raining 24/7 but there have definitely been some sunny parts of the day.
In some ways I feel like I haven't done anything yet, but honestly getting settled and adjusting to the time and cultural differences takes time. The Elliotts and another missionary from the States have encouraged me to take it easy this first week, and assured me that what I've gotten done this week is good for someone who's only been here for a few days.
A lot of what I will be doing is trying to meet people and get them involved in our church, Capital City Church. It's not because we just want to look big and have more people at our meetings. We're aiming to get people involved so they can discover who Jesus is and fall in love with Him. I will also be helping with pretty much anything we do, such as Sunday School, the Alpha Course we are doing on Tuesday nights, and various outreaches we have planned. I also have a few projects that will be given to me that I can work on. I'm planning on spending some time at the University as well to develop relationships with the students and staff so it can be an open door for ministry.
God is good. There's challenges, fears, and doubts along the way, but I'm glad I have Christ as my foundation to turn to. Being on the other side of the planet doesn't seem quite so daunting when I know I have Jesus with me, as well as other Christians on a similar journey.
Please continue to pray for me as I begin to start working towards meeting more people and doing projects for the church. I need Him to do this, because if I don't have the power of the Holy Spirit with me and if I don't keep Christ first, than this is simply a waste of time.
Thank you so much for everything!
P.S. If you want to see some photos check out my facebook page :)
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Really?
Am I really moving halfway across the planet tomorrow?!?!?
That's definitely what I'm feeling right now. All the work of fund-raising, getting a visa, finding a place to live, and packing a years worth of clothes into two suitcases has all come down to this. I'll be leaving my house and heading for the airport in less than 12 hrs. By 4am on Saturday our time I'll be arriving in Cardiff... It's a mixture of very excited and and very freaked out at the same time!
Looking back, I'm amazed at how God has worked everything out. Everything has fallen into place just in time. God is good.
I'm so thankful for the part you are playing in this journey. All the prayers, all the words of encouragement, and all the money you have blessed me with has made it possible. Thank you so much!
I ask that you would keep me in your prayers as I travel, and as I start in the ministry God has planned for me. I NEED Jesus to do this, I need to hear the Holy Spirit and be obedient! Please pray that God would use me as He sees fit. Please pray for the boldness I need and that God would bring me joy and peace in the work I'll be doing.
The journey is finally beginning! It's been a long time coming, but I'm glad it's happening in Gods timing, which is, as always, perfect :)
That's definitely what I'm feeling right now. All the work of fund-raising, getting a visa, finding a place to live, and packing a years worth of clothes into two suitcases has all come down to this. I'll be leaving my house and heading for the airport in less than 12 hrs. By 4am on Saturday our time I'll be arriving in Cardiff... It's a mixture of very excited and and very freaked out at the same time!
Looking back, I'm amazed at how God has worked everything out. Everything has fallen into place just in time. God is good.
I'm so thankful for the part you are playing in this journey. All the prayers, all the words of encouragement, and all the money you have blessed me with has made it possible. Thank you so much!
I ask that you would keep me in your prayers as I travel, and as I start in the ministry God has planned for me. I NEED Jesus to do this, I need to hear the Holy Spirit and be obedient! Please pray that God would use me as He sees fit. Please pray for the boldness I need and that God would bring me joy and peace in the work I'll be doing.
The journey is finally beginning! It's been a long time coming, but I'm glad it's happening in Gods timing, which is, as always, perfect :)
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