Here We Go!

In about 24 hours from when I'm writing this I will be leaving the base to go to South Africa. After we arrive there I will have traveled to ever continent (excluding Antarctica) before the age of 19. Mind=blown.

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind of preparation for outreach while also having our regular schedule of lectures and evangelism. One week that was really thought provoking was Identity & Destiny. The leaders of my DTS were saying that our particular school has gotten more identity teaching than any other one they've witnessed because no matter the actual subject the speaker would inevitably focus on identity as well. This is actually quite a move of God throughout the church body of coming into our own as His children. I am convinced that if we would only fully grasp Who God is and who we are there is nothing that could stop us. 

The destiny bit was the part that caused me to move to action. Our speaker encouraged us to use every part of who we are and pull it together in order to get a big picture of what God has called us for. We were encouraged to write down at least 50 of our dreams, big or small, Christian or not, in no particular order. You can see mine as a page on the side bar of this blog under Dream Big! We were also encouraged to consider our past. What games did we enjoy as children? What were our dreams then? What have we struggled with? The last one might seem odd to you, but often times the enemy attacks areas that God wishes to use you powerfully in. We are also to take note of things like what our names mean and the results of personality and giftings tests.

And then the one that will take me the longest, to gather everything that has been spoken over us. Everything we can remember of any time someone prophesied over us or gave us a scripture, or God spoke directly to us about something. We are supposed to put everything in one place and go through and highlight reoccurring themes. This will take me a long time because my parents have been taking notes on this in multiple ways since before I was born, and once I became older I started keeping things but not in an organized way. I'm really looking forward to focusing on this once I get back to Colorado. 

Only a few more things: consider where your heart lies for ministry. It is also important to decide on specific values to focus on during your life. Then prayerfully take all of it to God and ask Him for a specific call or mandate for your life, to then make vision statements for. 

I'm not entirely sure if you will enjoy reading this on my blog, but it will help remind me when I'm stalking myself later. (overly honest? Is that a thing?) 

And now: randomness! Thanks to my brain.

*It's been hitting how when I am not at home it isn't just my life that changes. Everyone I am not with is also growing. I am missing a lot of major events of people who are really important to me, it's been really hard. I dislike being long distance to my loved ones. But I have to remind myself that Jesus is worthy. When I was talking to God about this dilemma He reminded me that even though all those people may not be here, He is here. This is where He has called me and this is where He is moving in my life. And there's no place I'd rather be than with Him.

*The production is coming together for outreach! Which is surprising how little time we've had to devote to it. We really have a great team. I'm in several group songs and dances and have the privilege of doing some more individual things. I will be performing a swing dance to Winter Wonderland with another girl here who I will teach to dance. (I"M SO EXCITED I HAVEN"T SWING DANCED IN SO LONG) And I have written a monologue telling the nativity story from Mary's perspective. While I am offstage talking into a microphone the rest of the cast will be miming what I am talking about, so that will be really cool. I'm sure we will find a way to video the whole thing, so hopefully you guys can see it eventually.

*Pray for us as we travel and minister. Pray against spiritual attack. Pray for safety as we are not even pretending that the area we are going into is safe. Pray for our leadership. Pray for South Africa. Pray for our individual growth and as a team. Thank you!

While in Africa I have no idea what my internet situation will be like. You may not hear from me again until late January. But I might randomly have internet and update, so stay tuned!