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| I am a missionary in a foreign country.......
Today I am living that country to go on a short term missions trip to another country.........
I'll be in Mozambique for a week and a half.......
I should post about it when I get back.......
Until then......
 Mir
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| Faith or ApathyHave you ever thought about how close the line between faith and apathy can be? Maybe I am the only one. But to me it seems like this line can be quite close sometimes. At the moment I wondering if I really havve faith sometimes or if I just don't want to do something and thus I stand back and wait for God to do. I also wonder where the line is between really waiting on God and just thinking I'm waiting but really I'm just being lazy, apathetic. Hmmm... I don't know if anyone else has ever thought this, but that's my thought at the moment.
What has spurred this at the moment (I've had this thought before) is that I really do need to be raising some more monthly support. But I battle between how much should I go chasing after people and when do I really stop and let God take care of things and believe that He will? Ahhhh.... it really is a frustrating line to me. And the fact that I am one of those people that feels the need to always be working and doing something doesn't help. But one thing God is still having to teach me is that He has done and will do all the work necessary. I just have to have faith and let Him take care of me. Yes there are still things I have to do, but overall He has taken care of everything and has all the plans and purposes.
So that is my main thought at the moment. There are others, but that is my main one. Hopefully I'll find more time next week to share more.
Until then.....
Mir | | |
| RandomOnce again, I've decided to post some more random photos. The first group is from a new restaurant I went to last week. The place is called 'Chicken Licken.' I had seen adverts for it on tv last year, but this was my first adventure there and it was well worth it. The food was okay, but the marketing and slogans were cracking me up. That alone was worth it. Here are some pictures from the fabulous adventure:
This is the packaging. The slogan is: "Chicken Licken - Soul Food"
They have normal size food too, but they also have the lil sandwiches like Crystal Burger in the States:
Even the salt made me laugh (the picture is a bit blurry, it says 'Salt with a lot of Soul':
I think this was my favorite part. It's a poster they had in the place advertising their 'Soulfire Sauce':
It really was an awesome experience. Seriously amusing.
This weekend was a nice fun and relaxing weekend as well. The Royal Show (like the State Fair) was in town and so a couple of my lifegroup girls and I went on Saturday night for a concert. There was a South African band called 'Freshly Ground' (http://www.freshlyground.com/ - check out their website and you can listen to some of the music too) that was playing. They're a really fun funky kinda band. Reminds me a bit of island style music on some songs. It was cool. Here's a picture form the concert:
After the show we wandered around the fair grounds and found the cows. We also found Glenn and his girlfriend who helped us find and pet a cow. Well really Glenn and I petted the cows while the others kinda pointed and laughed at us. Here's a picture of me petting the cow (that's Glenn behind me trying to pet the other cow):
After the cow adventure (and me washing my hands twice), the girls and I went to McDonald's for a snack before calling it a night. And of course being the mature adults we are, we had to play in the playground. Here's me standing in front of the really cool play center with my Wiley Coyote toy that came with my Happy Meal:
It really was a fun evening. A good weekend altogether. Our students finished classes like week and we closed out the semester with a large meeting on campus. So with all that excitement it was about a 50 hour or so work week. So the relaxing weekend with the lifegroup girls was a much welcomed break. Students are getting a chance to study this week and then exams start on Friday and will stretch out over the next two weeks. I am taking leave next week. (Yeah!!!) Two of my lifegroup girls and myself are going down to stay in a friends beach cottage and have a retreat with God. I'm very excited about getting away for some focused time with God. We'll leave on Sunday and come back on Thursday afternoon. It should be great. And we all know my love of the beach, so that makes it even better!! Yeah for the beach, leave time, and time with God!!!!
I'll try and snag some good pictures of the beach and post them when I'm back!
Until then.....
Mir
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| Mad SkillsSo I've realized that ministry requires many more skills than what meets the eye. Or at least it is very helpful to have many more skills than what you may think. Over the course of my 1.5 years in full time ministry so far, I have worn many many hats. And even while i was in student leadership at Tech I began to see how many different skills are helpful in ministry.
This thought dawned on me this morning as I was at the hardware store buying parts to fix sounds equipment. (and yes i was fixing it myself) As I was driving back from the hardware store I got to thinking of some of the many things I have done and skills I have needed over the past year and a half. Here are just a few:
-be a handy person - inevitably there is always something in need of fixing. Whether it is new handles on the stainless steel urn, pieces of sounds equipment, or replacing locks and handle on doors and cupboards, there is constantly a project in need of doing.
-catering skills - When dealing with students, skills don't necessarily have to follow the term catering, as long as it is eatable. I can't count the number of times I have had to cook for and plan food for large numbers of people
-event planning and coordinating - Ministry is a constant stream of events it seems like and thus planning and coordinating is a must. Whether it's a small group or expectations in the hundreds, it has to be done.
-budgeting - this too falls in with catering and event planning. Hmmmm, how to get the most food to feed 100 hungry students on a certain amount of money. This is definitely a needed skill.
-teaching - From lifegroup to leadership meetings to leadership and discipleship training. We are constantly teaching others.
-car packing skills - do you know how much talent is required when trying to transport massive amounts of things to a venue in a very limited amount of time?
-preaching - This may not necessarily be required in all aspects of ministry, but nice to be able to do it.
-public speaking - this too ties in with teaching and preaching, but goes beyond that when people are randomly like 'hey why don't you stand in front of this large crowd and tell us about Chi Alpha.'
-administrative, musical ability, organizing people, organizing trips and events, computer, email, advertising, graphic design, and so on and so on.
So while thinking of all of that this morning, I realized another thing that God started really showing me last year. This is the fact that everything in me is because of God and for no other reason. I am the way I am because of the plans and purposes that God has for my life. I have the ability to fix things, build stages, cook, sing, preach, organize, do administrative work, drive crazy long distances, and much more al because God put it there. Yes my parents taught me things along the way and influenced my life as well, but overall the things I can do and skills and talents I have are all because God knew I would need them one day.
Again as I was going to and from the hardware store I was thinking 'what would Glenn have done if they had sent him some girl who couldn't be the handy person in the ministry as well.' Not that Glenn can't do it, but it would just be more things for him to do. So it works better that I am able to do even those things instead of him having to do it. But still in that thought of what if it had been someone else, it made me realize God knows what He is doing. He knew what would be required of me during these two years and what He would need me to do and thus he put those things inside of me. Nothing in me or about me is by chance. But it has all come from God so that one day I can use it at the right time to do what He has asked me to do in order to glorify His Name more. So cool the way that works.
I think just for that reason God is an incredible God. He's so strategic and all-knowing. Talk about planning ahead and having it all together. God is like the ultimate planner-aheader-person, so cool!
So all of that to say, I am who I am because He made me that way. Every gift I have, every skill and talent within me came from Him because He knew I would need it someday. And for those very reasons I will forever take all that I am and all the talents and skills within me and serve Him. He put them there for His plans and purposes and thus I will use them for Him and His glory and Kingdom.
Until then.......
Mir | | |
| RandomJust to liven up things a bit, I figure I'd post a few pictures. These first two pictures pertain to McDonald's and my adventures there. Did you know that at McDonald's in certain countries they are now offering corn in a cup as a side item? It's true. I looked it up online to figure out when and where this started and couldn't seem to find a real answer. But it seems that they offer it in China, Singapore, and South Africa at least. Here are a few pictures I reccently took in McDonald's here.
In other random news, I think my left ear is clogged. It has felt this way for a while and finally a couple weeks ago I solicitated the help of a couple of lifegroup girls. I decided to try and see if an ear candle would do the trick. It did not. So we then poured peroxide in my ear in an attempt to clear it out. Afterwards we used another ear candle. It didn't fix the problem completely, but it did help a lot. The only issue now is that my ear itches a good bit. It's getting better too though. If the problem persist I will have to find a doctor though. But for now no worries.
So the picture I'll include now is from the ear candle. I first used an ear candle when I was still in Ruston. You can get them at drug stores and health stores. They apparently originated with the Native Americans. They are cylinder tubes made of wax, honey, and oils. You place one end in your ear and light the other end on fire. It is suppose to help draw out excess ear wax and also the oils from the candle are suppose to help soothe the ear and help with sinuses and other things. I'm not sure how much it worked, but it was definitely good fun.
One more random photo. In this photo of my hand, you can see a nice large tear-drop shaped blister just below my index finger. Let's just say when your room mate is cooking and you want to taste something and they say careful it will burn you, they probably aren't lying to you. My roommate was making this chocolate cookie stuff the other day and so I grabbed a spoon and decided to sample while she was cooking. She said get a plate and instead I stuck my hand under the spoon to catch the dripping boiling chocolate substance. Needless to say I now have a massive blister on my hand from the burning substance. The things we do for chocolate.... the things I do for chocolate!!!
(my lifegroup girls told me I now have to stop hurting myself for attention, guess no more burns and ear candles for a while)
Until then......
Mir | | |
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