How He Loves Us So
Hello all!
Sadly this is my first post of 2012! Some beautiful things have been happening in my life and I want to share them with you.
In January, I adopted a wonderful puppy from a great rescue organization called Eleventh Hour Rescue. His name is Cody and we got him at 9 weeks old. He is now almost 10 months. He has brought our family so much joy. It's also a test of patience, discipline and taking care of another life (food, medical, grooming, etc).
Great practice for motherhood, I suppose! He has been such a blessing.
I decided to start a music ministry and have written about 10 songs (lyrics & melodies). After I did this, I got connected with DSousa Entertainment, which is an artist development LLC founded by one of my high school peers, Diana. We have been working together for a few months now and she has given me wonderful guidance to determine the direction of my ministry.
I have also been studying a lot on God's design of marriage. I am finding such beautiful and interesting results. I have realized that when God shows me the man He has for me, He will make it so clear. The ball is in His court. I am so thankful for this, otherwise I would certainly miss the boat!
Recently I have been struggling with a few things. I just spent this past week at Camp of the Woods which has been so encouraging to my faith.
On the drive up there I was praying and asking for the Lord to just hold me and show me what He has for me. I know He has forgiven me for who I was and what I did before, but I was struggling to forgive myself. The week's speaker, Charles Price, put it into great perspective. He emphasized that it's not how much faith we have that counts, it's the object in which we put our faith. One could have a great amount of faith in a pencil and it could not do much for them. However, one could have mustard seed-sized faith in God and He will do wonders with that. And I would say I have way more than a mustard seed size faith in God. If I have this faith in Him that He has forgiven me, who am I not to forgive me?
One of the Camp's missionaries, John Bechtel also spoke to us as he does each year. He was born on the mission field in China and has worked as a missionary for China for over 40 years. He explained the story of their efforts to purchase an old orphanage to start a Christian youth camp. He was trying to raise money and the only thing he got was $1 from a little girl who had donated her week's worth of ice cream money. The letter enclosed told him to "use it to buy the orphanage." At first thought, he assumed they may need come up with another way to get the funds. However his wife emphasized the little girl's orders. He went to the owners of the property and told them he had $1 to purchase the land. The man asked John what it was for and he explained, and let him read the letter from the little girl. Then the man said "So you want to use this land to serve God?" and led him to his father. The family explained to John that the land had been in their family for years and they had been praying that it could be used to further God's Kingdom somehow. So they gave them the property for $1 to set up the camp. Thousands (if not millions at this point) of believers have accepted Christ through that camp. It's called Suen Doh.
I would be like John in this story. I would have assumed $1 isn't going to get us anywhere. But that wasn't God's plan. God's plan was to connect John with this family since they both had the same goal: to serve God. In what ways is God trying to provide for me that I am missing? I don't think I would have had the insight to think "Wow, maybe God wants me to try to buy this property with $1." Then I have to remember, God is not this world. He does not function like this world. And we are not of this world either, but of God. So I need to rely on God more and not what I would assume to be the logical sequence of events. Because God has a funny way of doing things that are unusual for this world, like showing up in a manger for example.
God tries to provide for us all the time. He loves us so much that He just wants all of us completely: heart, soul & mind. He tries to provide for us but we are too busy with our eyes on other things than Him. We are so fortunate that He won't relent or give up on us.
Lord, please give me eyes to see and ears to hear what you have for me. The hardest thing to do is to submit to your plan, but I know it is the only one that works, and I do trust you. I pray for my readers, that they get from this post what you gave to me this past week.
Amen.
Christina
Sadly this is my first post of 2012! Some beautiful things have been happening in my life and I want to share them with you.
In January, I adopted a wonderful puppy from a great rescue organization called Eleventh Hour Rescue. His name is Cody and we got him at 9 weeks old. He is now almost 10 months. He has brought our family so much joy. It's also a test of patience, discipline and taking care of another life (food, medical, grooming, etc).
Great practice for motherhood, I suppose! He has been such a blessing.
I decided to start a music ministry and have written about 10 songs (lyrics & melodies). After I did this, I got connected with DSousa Entertainment, which is an artist development LLC founded by one of my high school peers, Diana. We have been working together for a few months now and she has given me wonderful guidance to determine the direction of my ministry.
I have also been studying a lot on God's design of marriage. I am finding such beautiful and interesting results. I have realized that when God shows me the man He has for me, He will make it so clear. The ball is in His court. I am so thankful for this, otherwise I would certainly miss the boat!
Recently I have been struggling with a few things. I just spent this past week at Camp of the Woods which has been so encouraging to my faith.
On the drive up there I was praying and asking for the Lord to just hold me and show me what He has for me. I know He has forgiven me for who I was and what I did before, but I was struggling to forgive myself. The week's speaker, Charles Price, put it into great perspective. He emphasized that it's not how much faith we have that counts, it's the object in which we put our faith. One could have a great amount of faith in a pencil and it could not do much for them. However, one could have mustard seed-sized faith in God and He will do wonders with that. And I would say I have way more than a mustard seed size faith in God. If I have this faith in Him that He has forgiven me, who am I not to forgive me?
One of the Camp's missionaries, John Bechtel also spoke to us as he does each year. He was born on the mission field in China and has worked as a missionary for China for over 40 years. He explained the story of their efforts to purchase an old orphanage to start a Christian youth camp. He was trying to raise money and the only thing he got was $1 from a little girl who had donated her week's worth of ice cream money. The letter enclosed told him to "use it to buy the orphanage." At first thought, he assumed they may need come up with another way to get the funds. However his wife emphasized the little girl's orders. He went to the owners of the property and told them he had $1 to purchase the land. The man asked John what it was for and he explained, and let him read the letter from the little girl. Then the man said "So you want to use this land to serve God?" and led him to his father. The family explained to John that the land had been in their family for years and they had been praying that it could be used to further God's Kingdom somehow. So they gave them the property for $1 to set up the camp. Thousands (if not millions at this point) of believers have accepted Christ through that camp. It's called Suen Doh.
I would be like John in this story. I would have assumed $1 isn't going to get us anywhere. But that wasn't God's plan. God's plan was to connect John with this family since they both had the same goal: to serve God. In what ways is God trying to provide for me that I am missing? I don't think I would have had the insight to think "Wow, maybe God wants me to try to buy this property with $1." Then I have to remember, God is not this world. He does not function like this world. And we are not of this world either, but of God. So I need to rely on God more and not what I would assume to be the logical sequence of events. Because God has a funny way of doing things that are unusual for this world, like showing up in a manger for example.
God tries to provide for us all the time. He loves us so much that He just wants all of us completely: heart, soul & mind. He tries to provide for us but we are too busy with our eyes on other things than Him. We are so fortunate that He won't relent or give up on us.
Lord, please give me eyes to see and ears to hear what you have for me. The hardest thing to do is to submit to your plan, but I know it is the only one that works, and I do trust you. I pray for my readers, that they get from this post what you gave to me this past week.
Amen.
Christina