Ask or Imagine....
My life has been interesting lately. I am able to write to you because someone out there or many of you prayed about my computer and it has been working non-stop the last few days.
A pure miracle friends! God is good!
Let me update you on what is going on with me. I honestly have NOT been myself since I got my wisdom teeth out. I was on pain meds for a week and a half, started school, Amy got married and then students came to school.
Like 3 weeks of my life I can hardly remember. I have a hard time concentrating and my brain is pure mush by the end of the school day (totally normal for teachers at the start of a new year ha). Half of that time (3 weeks) I could sit with the Lord during my quiet time and listen to him with some praying. The other half I have been able to study a little more but.... until just this week.... have felt more normal in my daily life and with my relationship with the Lord. Weird I know. But think I just needed a break from things.
And last week I was ready to write and the computer stopped. So more rest was granted.
I spent the weekend at my parent's house celebrating my birthday late. We had such a great time of just chilling! I mean, every weekend is good when there is ice cream cake to eat ha! Friday we enjoyed the cool weather on the back porch and ate my dad's amazing hamburgs. Saturday we had a slow morning then headed to the Movie Tavern where I had the best fried pickles EVER!!!! sweet and sour all at the same time! sweet mercy it was good!
Sunday was church and my dad taught such a good Sunday school lesson! Had my mind ticking all afternoon about things he said! We ate, napped, and then I headed home.
Side note-------My twitter friends know this but I might not have told you. My mom has been is severe pain in her should for over a week now. So much so she was taken to the E.R. They now think she has a "frozen shoulder" which sounds funny but bless her heart....for a while there she could not move it at all. She has been put on the drugs and has been such a source of laughter to me! She is doing kinda better now. I have made up funny nicknames for her. She and I are so similar.....we DO NOT like not being able to be ourselves. It is so hard for us to be on meds that alter our personalities. Not fun! Anyway, keep her healing in your prayers!
Another thing that has consumed my prayer time and thought life is the following.....
no...i'm really not. Lets see how many people that will not read this post and just look at the pictures and believe what the above pic says ha! I bet I'll get some emails hahaha! Oh so funny. No friends...i'm not engaged but what I am about to share is so WAY BETTER!
This is Dr. Steve and Ashley below. I told you about them in the wedding post. During the reception they waved me over to talk and catch up. Somewhere during the conversation they shared that they were going to Israel and Jordan over the Christmas break and that Dr. Steve would be teaching as they went. They are going with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They invited me to go. I instantly thought I was going to pass out because
1. they had no idea that i planned to go to Israel for my 30th b-day and had been saving for the trip but not sure it would ever happen!
2. I have wanted to go to the Holy Lands for MOST of my adult life!
But they told be the total cost and I realized that it was 8 months early in my money saving plan. There just wasn't going to be a way.
But my mind was going 90 miles an hour with the idea and then this picture was taken. I was having a great time dancing but my face was from being really excited about the news I had just heard!
I told people about the trip and asked for them to pray that God would make a way. I prayed knowing that if He said no to Dec/Jan that I could go in July. In fact, I don't vacation without the vacation being payed off first. Otherwise it isn't really a vacation for me. I personally was more comfortable with going to Israel in July.
But my parents and bff Laura kept telling me that they had true peace about me going with the Sem group. Yall do not even know how much thinking, praying, number crunching I have done in the last 2 1/2 weeks.
My parents wanted me to go with Dr. Steve because they knew I would be safe with them. If I waited till July I was going to go alone and just join up with a random group. It didn't bother me to do that because I just wanted to be in Israel.
because the truth is.....
A pure miracle friends! God is good!
Let me update you on what is going on with me. I honestly have NOT been myself since I got my wisdom teeth out. I was on pain meds for a week and a half, started school, Amy got married and then students came to school.
Like 3 weeks of my life I can hardly remember. I have a hard time concentrating and my brain is pure mush by the end of the school day (totally normal for teachers at the start of a new year ha). Half of that time (3 weeks) I could sit with the Lord during my quiet time and listen to him with some praying. The other half I have been able to study a little more but.... until just this week.... have felt more normal in my daily life and with my relationship with the Lord. Weird I know. But think I just needed a break from things.
And last week I was ready to write and the computer stopped. So more rest was granted.
I spent the weekend at my parent's house celebrating my birthday late. We had such a great time of just chilling! I mean, every weekend is good when there is ice cream cake to eat ha! Friday we enjoyed the cool weather on the back porch and ate my dad's amazing hamburgs. Saturday we had a slow morning then headed to the Movie Tavern where I had the best fried pickles EVER!!!! sweet and sour all at the same time! sweet mercy it was good!
Sunday was church and my dad taught such a good Sunday school lesson! Had my mind ticking all afternoon about things he said! We ate, napped, and then I headed home.
Side note-------My twitter friends know this but I might not have told you. My mom has been is severe pain in her should for over a week now. So much so she was taken to the E.R. They now think she has a "frozen shoulder" which sounds funny but bless her heart....for a while there she could not move it at all. She has been put on the drugs and has been such a source of laughter to me! She is doing kinda better now. I have made up funny nicknames for her. She and I are so similar.....we DO NOT like not being able to be ourselves. It is so hard for us to be on meds that alter our personalities. Not fun! Anyway, keep her healing in your prayers!
Another thing that has consumed my prayer time and thought life is the following.....
no...i'm really not. Lets see how many people that will not read this post and just look at the pictures and believe what the above pic says ha! I bet I'll get some emails hahaha! Oh so funny. No friends...i'm not engaged but what I am about to share is so WAY BETTER!
This is Dr. Steve and Ashley below. I told you about them in the wedding post. During the reception they waved me over to talk and catch up. Somewhere during the conversation they shared that they were going to Israel and Jordan over the Christmas break and that Dr. Steve would be teaching as they went. They are going with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They invited me to go. I instantly thought I was going to pass out because
1. they had no idea that i planned to go to Israel for my 30th b-day and had been saving for the trip but not sure it would ever happen!
2. I have wanted to go to the Holy Lands for MOST of my adult life!
But they told be the total cost and I realized that it was 8 months early in my money saving plan. There just wasn't going to be a way.
But my mind was going 90 miles an hour with the idea and then this picture was taken. I was having a great time dancing but my face was from being really excited about the news I had just heard!
I told people about the trip and asked for them to pray that God would make a way. I prayed knowing that if He said no to Dec/Jan that I could go in July. In fact, I don't vacation without the vacation being payed off first. Otherwise it isn't really a vacation for me. I personally was more comfortable with going to Israel in July.
But my parents and bff Laura kept telling me that they had true peace about me going with the Sem group. Yall do not even know how much thinking, praying, number crunching I have done in the last 2 1/2 weeks.
My parents wanted me to go with Dr. Steve because they knew I would be safe with them. If I waited till July I was going to go alone and just join up with a random group. It didn't bother me to do that because I just wanted to be in Israel.
because the truth is.....
to be here...
to see this...
to go in this...
to go in this...
to swim in this..
and to walk where Jesus walked!
I could not blog this till I had an answer set in stone. I talked a little about it on twitter but I didn't want to share until I knew God had given me the "go". I got that answer yesterday afternoon.
So it is with GREAT JOY and HONOR and PRAISE to GOD to let you know that He made a way and I will be spend 15 days between the countries of....
So it is with GREAT JOY and HONOR and PRAISE to GOD to let you know that He made a way and I will be spend 15 days between the countries of....
and
December 26, 2010 - January 9, 2011
SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that?????
I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MY J-O-Y!!!!!
yall should have seen me yesterday afternoon.....when the final number added up to what I needed I stood up, ran into the living room, started screaming as loud as I could, then I totally did a high kick followed by a rather impressive hurkey!!!!! Then I clapped really loud over and over while I just praised the Lord for making a way for me! Then I cried. Of course I did!
I don't think I could ever express to you how much I need this trip. There is nothing that fills my soul more then learning and studying the Word of God. Hands down. I teach art to pay the bills but my joy and fulfillment comes from growing in the Lord and getting to write about it. Pure Joy for me.
I have dreamed about going to the Holy Lands for such a long time. Not only will i get to learn from the trip guide but Dr. Steve will also be teaching about the Parables of Jesus as we travel as south as the Red Sea and as North as the border of Lebanon.
I am still shocked. After a weird time in my life, God has used this trip (and even the idea of this trip) to really light a fire in my quiet time and bible study time. This past week my hunger has been renewed. I am so grateful for a new desire, a different desire and a new hunger in a new area of the bible.
For me this is not only a trip of a lifetime but the next step in my growth. Everyone returns saying that once you have been where Jesus once was and once you have seen the places you have studied that you never read the bible the same way. That the Word of God jumps off the page and becomes even more alive to you.
I want to experience that. I want to learn with the others training to be future preachers and teachers and I want God to use it all for His glory.
Because the truth is.....this trip will never really be for just me. I know that. I knew that before Amy's wedding when I had the dream of going. I know God will use it for this blog, for those I get to minister to, will be a big part of my future and God will use it in ways I can't currently imagine. He has given me the desire of my heart but I know I now have to turn and give it back so that He gets every bit of Glory He deserves!
Amen and Amen.
Only you, Lord, could do this. Yes, I will be broke the next 3 months and yes, i will have to miss a whole week of school but you have open up the door and nothing could keep me from walking through it. i am so unworthy of this gift and I thank you for trusting me enough to go and to open up an entirely different part of my heart to an area that is so dear to you. Thank you Lord. I am so pumped that I could scream this second! Give me knowledge and understand and insight as you prepare me to go! Thank you, thank you for giving me this great desire of my heart! This is way more than I could ask or imagine! Amen!
Love you friends....now that I got to finally share that secret I should be back to normal blogging. I love you and I am so grateful that you are apart of my life. I will talk to you soon!
ps- i did not read back over this post and have no idea if it made sense and did not spell check. i'm tired so forgive mistakes! ha