No Passport? Not a problem for God

It was Sunday night June 16, around 6pm, as I was pulling into my garage when I came to the realization that I did not have my passport for Millcreek Community Church's missions trip to Cap Haitien, Haiti - and we are leaving next week. I had mailed my passport out to process my work visa for China. I will be in China all of August this summer. I mistakenly told the visa processing company that I did not need my passport back until the end of July before I headed off to China, completely forgetting I needed it for Haiti June 27 - July 6. I was a crying mess as I quickly grabbed my stuff from my car and ran inside my apartment. 

With tears streaming down my face I fumbled with my cellphone to text Pastor Brad the news. Brad said he and Jill would pray. I then navigated to the visa company's website only to find out their offices do not open until Monday morning at 8:30am. What was I to do?!? My anxiety was sky rocketing, thinking of the worst case scenarios. I called Katie, a wonderful woman of godly encouragement in my life, who is also going on the trip to Haiti. She answered and I told her the news. She assured me God's hand was on the situation and reminded me He is in control. She prayed for me over the phone and I could feel the tears slowing down. I also called Maggie, a dear sister in Christ whom I miss terribly, and she too assured me that nothing is out of God's control. I am so thankful the Lord has placed such strong Christian women in my life. 

After talking to Katie and Maggie, I laid on the floor of my living room, in complete submission to Christ. I knew there was nothing I could do between Sunday night and Monday morning - except rely on Christ. He will provide. The Lord has a plan and whatever is in His plan cannot be stopped (Job 42:2). I prayed fervently that God would relieve me of the anxieties of not having my passport for Haiti and that I would be able to sleep soundly, that I may bring Him glory on Monday. As I prayed I felt the Lord's presence as my tears stopped completely and my breathing slowed. I reached out to many of my friends and asked for their prayers as well. I was able to sleep soundly and I awoke refreshed Monday morning. 

I called the visa processing company and Monday morning they had just received my passport and visa from the Chinese embassy!! Hallelujah!! They said they could rush ship my passport back and I would have it by Wednesday this week. For the rest of the day I kept refreshing the UPS tracking site, waiting to see an update on when the package would ship. Late Monday night the information was updated and it showed that my passport would arrive Tuesday morning!! I worked from home this morning so that I could be here to sign for the package. At 10:30am our prayers were answered again, my passport was in my hands! The Lord is always at work in my life but sometimes I forget and He needs to remind me to continually rely on Him.

Job 42:2

"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."

Friendship, love and discipleship

Eight months ago, I didn't think I was ready to lead others along their journey toward Christ, yet God presented me with the opportunity to disciple two young woman. I was excited yet nervous. The two girls knew each other and went to the same school but were not close friends. I saw this as an opportunity for the 3 of us to grow closer to Christ together and in turn develop a close friendship. 

During our first few months of meeting, I opened and closed us in prayer at our local meeting spot of Panera Bread. I would lead us in a discussion on the Bible study, Multiply. But as the months passed, I saw each of them growing in their love of Christ and in turn The Lord was empowering and equipping each of them. Soon they would take turns closing us in prayer and engage in great discussions on our lessons. They had become great friends, meeting up outside of our scheduled Bible studies too. One night we swapped places and the girls taught me what they learned at the Secret Church event at MCC! 

Titus 3:2-5 (ESV)

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

God has placed several mature Christian women in my life who have guided me and continue to provide wisdom, guidance and love. I now see that God has given me a new life that I may share it with others.

Now, 8 months later I cannot imagine my life on this earth without Narissa and Charissa. I do not know if they will ever realize how much their friendship, love, and time spent together has impacted my life. Narissa is going to be a senior. Charissa is going off to college. Though her college is here in town, I know from experience she will be very busy. While I may meet with the girls one on one as our schedules conflict, I know God has blessed us with a friendship that will last for eternity. We are sisters in Christ. We will forever be united when we meet our Father in Heaven. 

Photo: Birthday dinner. The presents were copies of Francine Rivers' Redeeming Love, a Christian novel based on the book of Hosea. This summer we are studying Hosea then reading Francine's book!

Life lessons from burnt sauce and learning to listen to The still small voice

This past Sunday seemed like a normal weekend afternoon, one full of cooking. I had a lot on my mind, with things going on in my life but I thought some cooking would lighten my mood. Though this time I decided I was going to make homemade granola, roasted almond, cocoa roasted almonds, more sugar syrup, and a huge pot of marinara sauce (heavy on the garlic). I know that I can multitask, but I must say that was quite the undertaking. As I'm wizzing around the kitchen stirring this and chopping that, I'm not thinking about much really. My thoughts were centered around "I must get all this cooking done now!". 

I successfully made some delicious maple, raisin, walnut granola and some sweet and salty roasted almonds. A few hours into cooking my sauce I realized something smelled awful. I tentatively walked closer to the stove and almost shouted with frustration. I had burned an entire large pot of sauce! I thought, "How did that happen!? I never burn anything!". I guess there's always a first time for everything. The entire bottom of the pot had charred which made the burn taste permeate the entire sauce. I couldn't save any of it, it tasted so bad. 

After cleaning up the mess and accepting defeat in the kitchen, I retired to comfy chair. I began to think - something I had been suppressing the whole afternoon. I began to talk to God and realized that instead of dealing with the problems on my heart, I pushed them down by being busy. That is something I struggle with, being busy. I am constantly on the go. It's how I'm wired and also because I love doing so many things; cooking, reading, meeting with friends, cooking, baking, searching for recipes ... you get the idea. While talking with God, I realized that there is a difference between have a busy day and making myself busy. 

Busyness has become and idol in my life at times. 

God opened my eyes on Sunday evening. I need to listen to His "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12) and come to Him with my problems, not drown myself in busyness. It was after the incident of burning my sauce that I heard God's voice. 

Today I am thankful that I burned my sauce, for it was after that "fire" that I heard what God was trying to tell me.

1 Kings 19:12 (NKJV)

"and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."

Encouragement at Panera

Every Monday night I meet with two high school girls, Charissa and Narissa. We have been meeting since last Fall and our Bible study is focused around Francis Chan and David Platt's book titled Multiply. Learning how being a disciple of God means we are to make disciples.

When we were first getting ready to meet I wasn't sure where I wanted to get together with the girls. I had never held a Bible study in a public setting before. Even in college we tended to have a room to meet in or even went to someone's apartment. But I talked with the girls and we decided to meet at Panera Bread. It was a courageous step for all of us, taken in faith, to show those around us that we are not ashamed to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior in public.

Each time we meet, I open our study in prayer asking God to bless our time together. I know that our bowed heads, closed eyes and me praying out loud may draw attention, but I continued to ask God to use our Bible studies at Panera as a witness to those around us.

A few months ago, a group of women was sitting next to us. After one of the girls closed our study in prayer, one of the women turned to us and asked what we were studying. I excitedly shared Multiply and the Bible. They attended another church nearby. We chatted for a bit before they left. It was great encouragement to meet others interested in learning more about Jesus Christ!

But where God is building His people up, the Devil is ready to strike. Not shortly after that night of encouragement did we have a night of discouragement. A neighboring table over heard our talk of Jesus and began to say some mocking words. I instantly heard them though the girls didn't notice until after a few minutes. I smiled at the girls and we continued on with the Holy Spirit guiding us through Scripture. It was hard for me to refocus because I felt discouraged. I was being tempted to doubt my Bible study in a public setting.

What should I do in a situation like this? Pray! God reminded me that we WILL be persecuted for following Him but we will also have eternity in Heaven with Him! We continued to have our Bible studies at Panera.

Tonight we were discussing how we can trust that God is always working in our lives. We trust in Him with our faith. When we come to Him in prayer, He always answers, though we may not always see His answer right away. I remembered that I must surrender my live to Christ, asking for His will to be done, not mine (Mark 14:36). I have been praying that God would continue to use our Bible study to encourage those around us.

Tonight God boldly answered my prayers! Not once, but TWICE, two women stopped by our table to say we were such an encouragement. Each woman had a huge smile on their face. We exchanged a few words before they moved on. God worked through those two women to show me that yes, He is listening to prayers and He getting the glory!