Hello, friends! Happy and blessed New Year to everyone! It's hard to believe that it's already 2013, but I suppose I feel that way every time we reach another January 1st.
I apologize for my absence in writing as of recent. I have been very busy with my school life, and, honestly, nothing new has come up about Russia for several months! However, that has changed, and I have dates for my trip, I've started to write fundraising letters, and I'm back on the ball for trip number two!
This year, I will be traveling with Pastor John Reehl to the Saint Petersburg area, and we will also be visiting the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia). We leave on May 28th, and will be returning on June 12th.
Some people may be wondering why I want to go back, since it'll have been just a year when I return. At first, I wasn't sure that I was supposed to go back. Maybe I was just going back for myself, maybe it wasn't really God's plan to have me return. However, after prayer and consideration, I have decided to return, for many reasons.
First of all, I made many connections over there with so many different people. If I can actually learn a bit of the language before May, I hope to be able to deepen my conversations with these beloved individuals, maybe figure out correspondance, and, especially, strengthen my relationship with them in Christ.
Secondly, I'm considering full-time mission work in Russia. (That sounds scary to me, but at the same time, the scariness makes it seem more right, if that makes ANY sense.) If I'm going to be working in that culture and teaching the Word of God, I want to be more familiar with my possible future mission field. Last year was amazing, but I struggled to get past the initial culture shock and take everything in. I'm hoping that a second trip, especially one so close in date to the first one, will help me to gather more information, and to take in more fine details.
And third, if I'm going to be honest, I just really want to go back. My experience last year was fantastic! And if I have the opportunity to reach more people through a second trip, then I would very much like to use that opportunity to the best of God's glory.
That's about all I have that's new on the Russia trip. Prayers are always welcome, for successful fundraising, for open hearts and minds, for safe travels, for growing ministry, and for touched lives. Thank you, readers, for all you do for me, for reading my posts, for praying for me and the people who God will touch during these trips.
Just a final note, a request for your prayers: You may have heard that Putin, the president of Russia, recently signed a law that prohibits Americans from adopting children from the orphanages in Russia. Please pray for the kids over there! The conditions are already less than ideal, and as less children will be leaving the establishments, more will be packed in, or less will be taken in. Please, also pray that Putin stops there, and that we are continued to be allowed access into the orphanages on our trips.
Thank you so much, again, for all your prayers and support.
God bless you in all that you do!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Branching Out: Des Moines, Iowa
Looks like it's been a while since I've posted! I've gotten into the full swing of my sophomore year of college (I should say second year, because I'll be a junior by December!!) and between my full-load of credit hours, my extracurriculars, and my own crazy life, I just haven't been blogging too much!
However, this past Sunday was a really neat experience for me! First of all, it was a three-day weekend. Those are always fun!! More importantly, though, I was able to give a presentation at my dad's church in Des Moines, Iowa. The church there had supported me while I was on my trip, and I was really excited to be able to return to this small, loving family and share what God did in Russia!
First, as I was talking to a member's visiting parents, we were chatting about where they were from, where I went to school, what I was going into... Typical small talk with a college student! I was talking to the father, and he said that he and his wife sponsor an orphanage in Saint Petersburg! I got pretty excited and asked who they did that through, and he said Pastor Reehl! Oh man, I was excited! They were unable to stay for the presentation, but I was able to give them my contact information. Their church in Gretna, Nebraska is working on mission work out of their church, a new program. They said that Reehl has spoken, but they'd like me to come and speak some time! What an awesome outreach! After that, I gave my presentation to the Bible study group.
It was a difficult presentation, though not any different from my previous ones. As soon as I hit the spots where I talk about the special needs kids... I just lose it. I can't help it. That has become even more meaningful since my Special Education class this semester. I have yet to get through that section without choking up.
Afterwards, I learned that one of the parishioners had taken four years of Russian in high school. (I'm so jealous...) We talked to her a bit, and she said she'd love to go on the trip! I gave her Reehl's number, and she could potentially be going on this summer's trip!
The outreach that I was a part of this past Sunday blows me away. I was sharing with one of my friends, and she told me "Steph, God is using you in so many ways!"
She's right, but what a humbling comment! I have to go back to my favorite quote from Kisses from Katie: "I am blown away that my God, who could do this all by Himself, would choose to let me be a little part of it!" Every day, whether or not we realize it, we affect someone's life. Whether it's our roommate, our best friend, or a random stranger who we smile at as we walk by. We have the power to change someone's life, for better or for worse.
Keep in mind, God's using you, too. Every day, every moment, you are His child, a witness of Jesus' ultimate love and sacrifice. With that in mind, God bless you as you go out and spread his joy, love, and peace with those around you.
God bless you in all that you do!
However, this past Sunday was a really neat experience for me! First of all, it was a three-day weekend. Those are always fun!! More importantly, though, I was able to give a presentation at my dad's church in Des Moines, Iowa. The church there had supported me while I was on my trip, and I was really excited to be able to return to this small, loving family and share what God did in Russia!
First, as I was talking to a member's visiting parents, we were chatting about where they were from, where I went to school, what I was going into... Typical small talk with a college student! I was talking to the father, and he said that he and his wife sponsor an orphanage in Saint Petersburg! I got pretty excited and asked who they did that through, and he said Pastor Reehl! Oh man, I was excited! They were unable to stay for the presentation, but I was able to give them my contact information. Their church in Gretna, Nebraska is working on mission work out of their church, a new program. They said that Reehl has spoken, but they'd like me to come and speak some time! What an awesome outreach! After that, I gave my presentation to the Bible study group.
It was a difficult presentation, though not any different from my previous ones. As soon as I hit the spots where I talk about the special needs kids... I just lose it. I can't help it. That has become even more meaningful since my Special Education class this semester. I have yet to get through that section without choking up.
Afterwards, I learned that one of the parishioners had taken four years of Russian in high school. (I'm so jealous...) We talked to her a bit, and she said she'd love to go on the trip! I gave her Reehl's number, and she could potentially be going on this summer's trip!
The outreach that I was a part of this past Sunday blows me away. I was sharing with one of my friends, and she told me "Steph, God is using you in so many ways!"
She's right, but what a humbling comment! I have to go back to my favorite quote from Kisses from Katie: "I am blown away that my God, who could do this all by Himself, would choose to let me be a little part of it!" Every day, whether or not we realize it, we affect someone's life. Whether it's our roommate, our best friend, or a random stranger who we smile at as we walk by. We have the power to change someone's life, for better or for worse.
Keep in mind, God's using you, too. Every day, every moment, you are His child, a witness of Jesus' ultimate love and sacrifice. With that in mind, God bless you as you go out and spread his joy, love, and peace with those around you.
God bless you in all that you do!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
When the Door Closes... And I'm on the Side Facing the Whole World
Often times, God puts our hearts at rest in ways that maybe we didn't see coming, or that we didn't want to come at all. Often times, questions plague us, distract us from daily work, from friendships, from family time, from homework, from anything that we should be doing besides thinking about our issues.
In my case, I was dealing with something that left me with a sense of insecurity, uncertainty, confusion, and many other feelings that, I'll be honest, I just did not need in the middle of my first week of sophomore year of college. I kept asking for an ultimatum, an end to the things that were rolling around in my brain, a sure answer to the questions that I kept asking of myself and sometimes other people.
Last night, by the grace of God, it came. Now, I've said that I strive to make this blog about my mission that has been given to me by God. This mission is often affected by other things life offers. Things like relationships. To keep things short, I just got out of a relationship that I thought would follow me to my mission in Russia, that I thought would be beside me for the rest of my life. But sometimes, even if you have your life planned out, God steps in, especially if He's not a big enough part of it. I see now that He was not in the center but on the outskirts of my first relationship, and I thank Him that He pulled me back to His side, though it was painful to have to be pulled way from my guy.
Any way, in favor of keeping things short, God finally gave me time to talk to this someone, this someone who is now a great friend of mine, who supports me, talks with me, seeks me out for advice, and is exactly what I would want in a great friend. Last night, I was shown just how great a friend that he is, and that he will continue to be. God put my wandering heart at rest, gave me peace in this newly established situation, and I am forever grateful.
Maybe it's not the outcome that I wanted. However, sometimes God shuts us out of "rooms", if you will, that we've gotten too used to. When we realize that door has been shut, we don't even take the time to look at the next room He's put us in. Instead, we turn around, too scared of the new section. We start banging on the door, crying and begging to be let back in to the "norm", the situations that we're so used to, that maybe we've fallen in love with.
And God gives us time. He never pushes us faster than He thinks we can go. But slowly, gently, He wipes away the tears, puts His hands on our shoulders, and turns us around. That's when we see it: the world behind the door. What He shuts us out of is only a small portion of our lives, is only a room that we walked through. When we clear our heads and take a look at the new place that He's "shut us into", we see new people, new opportunities, new situations, new passions, new needs, new successes... The list is completely endless.
Take it from a girl who took two months to see that big, open world. If God has recently shut a door in your life, stop trying that locked handle. Stop pounding on the door. If it's meant to be reopened, God's got the key, and He knows when the best time to reopen will be. Trust in your heavenly Father. He will not ever lead you into a new "room" that He doesn't think you can handle, with His grace.
Blessings on all that you do!
P.S. - A shout-out to my overseas readers! Blogger lets me see where my audience is spaced out, and I have readers from the U.S. (obviously,) but I've also got some readers in China, Germany, and my strongest audience is in Russia!! So God bless you! Thanks for reading!! :)
In my case, I was dealing with something that left me with a sense of insecurity, uncertainty, confusion, and many other feelings that, I'll be honest, I just did not need in the middle of my first week of sophomore year of college. I kept asking for an ultimatum, an end to the things that were rolling around in my brain, a sure answer to the questions that I kept asking of myself and sometimes other people.
Last night, by the grace of God, it came. Now, I've said that I strive to make this blog about my mission that has been given to me by God. This mission is often affected by other things life offers. Things like relationships. To keep things short, I just got out of a relationship that I thought would follow me to my mission in Russia, that I thought would be beside me for the rest of my life. But sometimes, even if you have your life planned out, God steps in, especially if He's not a big enough part of it. I see now that He was not in the center but on the outskirts of my first relationship, and I thank Him that He pulled me back to His side, though it was painful to have to be pulled way from my guy.
Any way, in favor of keeping things short, God finally gave me time to talk to this someone, this someone who is now a great friend of mine, who supports me, talks with me, seeks me out for advice, and is exactly what I would want in a great friend. Last night, I was shown just how great a friend that he is, and that he will continue to be. God put my wandering heart at rest, gave me peace in this newly established situation, and I am forever grateful.
Maybe it's not the outcome that I wanted. However, sometimes God shuts us out of "rooms", if you will, that we've gotten too used to. When we realize that door has been shut, we don't even take the time to look at the next room He's put us in. Instead, we turn around, too scared of the new section. We start banging on the door, crying and begging to be let back in to the "norm", the situations that we're so used to, that maybe we've fallen in love with.
And God gives us time. He never pushes us faster than He thinks we can go. But slowly, gently, He wipes away the tears, puts His hands on our shoulders, and turns us around. That's when we see it: the world behind the door. What He shuts us out of is only a small portion of our lives, is only a room that we walked through. When we clear our heads and take a look at the new place that He's "shut us into", we see new people, new opportunities, new situations, new passions, new needs, new successes... The list is completely endless.
Take it from a girl who took two months to see that big, open world. If God has recently shut a door in your life, stop trying that locked handle. Stop pounding on the door. If it's meant to be reopened, God's got the key, and He knows when the best time to reopen will be. Trust in your heavenly Father. He will not ever lead you into a new "room" that He doesn't think you can handle, with His grace.
Blessings on all that you do!
P.S. - A shout-out to my overseas readers! Blogger lets me see where my audience is spaced out, and I have readers from the U.S. (obviously,) but I've also got some readers in China, Germany, and my strongest audience is in Russia!! So God bless you! Thanks for reading!! :)
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Blessed to be a Blessing
Life.
Never simple, never perfect, never crystal-clear. We never have everything we want, we never have all the people we love within hugging distance, we never have all the money we think we need.
And yet, through it all, there's God. God. My miraculous, loving, omnipresent Father, never leaves me, never deserts me, never walks away.
My God offers me tough times, times to fully rely on Him, times where I have no other choice but to lift my hands up to the stars and say "God, this has to be You, because there's no physical way I'll be able to do it on my own."
"Blessed to be a blessing." What a great theme for a school year! Here at Concordia, the focus, at least for the first three days, has been that quote. We've heard some wonderful speakers, one on her own mission trips this summer, one on how "genius" simply means helper, and that we can all be geniuses. But they all tie in: How blessed we are to be blessings.
That turned my thoughts to Russia immediately during the first two days of chapel. How blessed I was to be a blessing to the children and the patients who I reached out to! But tonight, I was reminded of my own belief in witnessing where you are, where God has put you.
So many people who I know and love have come to trust me with their issues, their ups and downs in life. How blessed I am, to be approached and trusted by friends who are struggling. As I prayed with a friend tonight, we finished up and did what any two confused and wandering girls would do: held each other and cried. Not necessarily totally out of sorrow, but maybe because when all the emotions in the world get mixed together, tears are the result.
When we had finished, she said "I'm sure that God has sent you tonight to help me." What a powerful, wonderful, and totally moving statement. That's when I remembered, "blessed to be a blessing." I am blown away by the number of times God uses me, as I said earlier in my Russia journals, to reach out, to be the hand at the end of His arm. All the glory to God! I praise Him and thank Him for the wonderful friends I have, not only to reach out to and to pray with, but who I know, in a heartbeat, would do the exact same things for me, when I need them.
God the Father has truly blessed me, continues to bless me, on a daily basis. I can not express, in words, how amazed I am at His constant love, His never-ending mercy, His compassion that extends further than I can ever understand. I look forward to the day when I can sing about His grace and love and wondrous might forever in heaven.
Blessings on all that you do!
(And may you be "blessed to be a blessing.")
Never simple, never perfect, never crystal-clear. We never have everything we want, we never have all the people we love within hugging distance, we never have all the money we think we need.
And yet, through it all, there's God. God. My miraculous, loving, omnipresent Father, never leaves me, never deserts me, never walks away.
My God offers me tough times, times to fully rely on Him, times where I have no other choice but to lift my hands up to the stars and say "God, this has to be You, because there's no physical way I'll be able to do it on my own."
"Blessed to be a blessing." What a great theme for a school year! Here at Concordia, the focus, at least for the first three days, has been that quote. We've heard some wonderful speakers, one on her own mission trips this summer, one on how "genius" simply means helper, and that we can all be geniuses. But they all tie in: How blessed we are to be blessings.
That turned my thoughts to Russia immediately during the first two days of chapel. How blessed I was to be a blessing to the children and the patients who I reached out to! But tonight, I was reminded of my own belief in witnessing where you are, where God has put you.
So many people who I know and love have come to trust me with their issues, their ups and downs in life. How blessed I am, to be approached and trusted by friends who are struggling. As I prayed with a friend tonight, we finished up and did what any two confused and wandering girls would do: held each other and cried. Not necessarily totally out of sorrow, but maybe because when all the emotions in the world get mixed together, tears are the result.
When we had finished, she said "I'm sure that God has sent you tonight to help me." What a powerful, wonderful, and totally moving statement. That's when I remembered, "blessed to be a blessing." I am blown away by the number of times God uses me, as I said earlier in my Russia journals, to reach out, to be the hand at the end of His arm. All the glory to God! I praise Him and thank Him for the wonderful friends I have, not only to reach out to and to pray with, but who I know, in a heartbeat, would do the exact same things for me, when I need them.
God the Father has truly blessed me, continues to bless me, on a daily basis. I can not express, in words, how amazed I am at His constant love, His never-ending mercy, His compassion that extends further than I can ever understand. I look forward to the day when I can sing about His grace and love and wondrous might forever in heaven.
Blessings on all that you do!
(And may you be "blessed to be a blessing.")
Saturday, August 25, 2012
So Much Junk
Every time that I pack, be it for a short vacation with my family, a week with my dad, a summer at camp, or a year at college, I always have to look at the things that I've piled together and say to myself, "Holy guacamole, I've got a lot of junk!"
For some reason, I always pack more than I need. Freshman year was a sad example of that... I moved into my first dorm ever and realized that I had brought childhood dolls, clothes for the wrong seasons, enough pairs of shoes to cover the British army's feet, and enough pillows to make another bed out of. I recanted my dolls and let my mom take them home to be stored away, but everything else I kept, mostly because "I just don't know when I'll need it!"
I have to look at this as some form of insecurity. Why is it that people, (mostly girls, for some reason,) can't seem to let go of worldly possessions? Girls like to shop as a past-time. (Guys, if you're out there and like to shop to kill time, I'm not judging. Just stereotyping.) We end up socializing with each other and coming home with way more than we can afford, let alone than we need. And yet, at least for me, I keep going back, keep shopping on the internet (which has really become too easy of a way to spend money, in my opinion,) and the "junk" that keeps getting boxed up every school year continues to grow.
This summer, God opened my eyes to so much need, in the eyes of Russian orphans, Santa Fe homeless people, RFKC children. These people have all been given a life, a chance. And either life's been more cruel to them than the average person, or they've thrown it away. No matter what the case may be, they're still needing, still worse of than I am.
Those faces all crossed my mind as I was packing up my things, as I was looking in dumb-struck awe at the number of boxes I had piled up, things that I was going to need to fit, with the help of a miracle, into my side of a dorm room. I tried to pick out things that I didn't need, didn't use, and that, let's be honest, would never probably leave their hangers again, at least while in my possession. Even after I cleaned out all these unnecessary things, here I am on pack-the-car day, and my mother's cross-over is packed with the "big things", and I'm in the process of filling my tiny Dodge Neon with what's left, praying it will all fit.
I'm not trying to look down on people who have materialistic things, because I know that many of us (including my own self!) not only have them, but treasure many of the things we have bought or been given. I simply mean to reflect on how much importance we place on things that, in reality, will mean nothing, absolutely nothing, once we are able to gaze upon the loving face of our Savior in heaven. Glory be to God, who gives us Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice so that we have something, something so incredibly precious, to look forward to other than boxes of clothes and Disney movies. ;)
Blessings on all that you do!
For some reason, I always pack more than I need. Freshman year was a sad example of that... I moved into my first dorm ever and realized that I had brought childhood dolls, clothes for the wrong seasons, enough pairs of shoes to cover the British army's feet, and enough pillows to make another bed out of. I recanted my dolls and let my mom take them home to be stored away, but everything else I kept, mostly because "I just don't know when I'll need it!"
I have to look at this as some form of insecurity. Why is it that people, (mostly girls, for some reason,) can't seem to let go of worldly possessions? Girls like to shop as a past-time. (Guys, if you're out there and like to shop to kill time, I'm not judging. Just stereotyping.) We end up socializing with each other and coming home with way more than we can afford, let alone than we need. And yet, at least for me, I keep going back, keep shopping on the internet (which has really become too easy of a way to spend money, in my opinion,) and the "junk" that keeps getting boxed up every school year continues to grow.
This summer, God opened my eyes to so much need, in the eyes of Russian orphans, Santa Fe homeless people, RFKC children. These people have all been given a life, a chance. And either life's been more cruel to them than the average person, or they've thrown it away. No matter what the case may be, they're still needing, still worse of than I am.
Those faces all crossed my mind as I was packing up my things, as I was looking in dumb-struck awe at the number of boxes I had piled up, things that I was going to need to fit, with the help of a miracle, into my side of a dorm room. I tried to pick out things that I didn't need, didn't use, and that, let's be honest, would never probably leave their hangers again, at least while in my possession. Even after I cleaned out all these unnecessary things, here I am on pack-the-car day, and my mother's cross-over is packed with the "big things", and I'm in the process of filling my tiny Dodge Neon with what's left, praying it will all fit.
I'm not trying to look down on people who have materialistic things, because I know that many of us (including my own self!) not only have them, but treasure many of the things we have bought or been given. I simply mean to reflect on how much importance we place on things that, in reality, will mean nothing, absolutely nothing, once we are able to gaze upon the loving face of our Savior in heaven. Glory be to God, who gives us Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice so that we have something, something so incredibly precious, to look forward to other than boxes of clothes and Disney movies. ;)
Blessings on all that you do!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Talking To My Shadows
Today has been an awesome reminder of how blessed I am, how much God has given me! Today, I was reminded of the awesome support group that I have at home. Not only do I have friends and family who are with me to comfort me through every trial, to laugh with me through every high point, and to just sit and talk during the "normal" moments, but I've got a great church family, a collection of teachers still looking out for me, and a community that prays for me and checks up on me.
This morning, I had the extreme pleasure of hearing my interview with My Bridge Radio aired! I had taken off work for a presentation (more on that in a minute,) so I was able to be home for it! I'm going to be honest, I like hearing myself talk. Honestly, I think we all do, to a degree. It's probably a great downfall of mine... None the less, though, I really enjoyed hearing my radio conversation from everyone else's perspective, not just my own. Stan and Gordon, the morning radio hosts, were so much fun to talk to, and they really made me think about why I went on the trip, why I'm going again, and what impact these trips are serving for both me and the people who I meet! My mom was listening with me, and commented on how my 2012 trip quite possibly will never stop impacting people. She said "What if someone knows Pastor Reehl, and never thought they could go on the trip until they heard your interview??" All the glory to God, should someone be able to go on the trip after being inspired by my interview! It is my Father in heaven who gives me the words I speak, the experiences I share, the stories I write and tell.
(By the way, here's the link to the interview, if you'd like to listen:
Steph's Interview with My Bridge Radio)
Following the radio show, I began to prepare myself for possibly my most challenging presentation thus far: going back to my own K-8 Lutheran school to share my experiences with the students in chapel. It's one thing to talk to adults about where I've been and what I've done, how much the special-needs orphanages impacted me, how angry the Russian government made me when I walked into Hospital 8. However, it's a completely different "game", if you will, to talk to kids as young as 5 and as old as 13 or 14. I was really nervous about the whole thing, the new presentation, talking to kids who I've watched grow up (tell you what, if you ever need to feel old, just watch the babies you rocked to sleep file into the chapel with their kindergarten class...)
However, when I got there, the Holy Spirit did His thing, as always. I was able to share with the kids a few pictures from the orphanages that really impacted me, some of the Russian orphans who left their handprints on my heart, and some of the moments that will never leave me. My audience was very respectful, and I believe that God helped me get my message across!
The coolest thing, though, about getting to talk to the kids was knowing the whole reason behind my being invited there. They are planning on giving their first-semester chapel offerings to help a program that buys Sunday School materials for kids in Russia! Isn't that amazing?? God blows my mind, pretty much on a daily basis, but today's just been kind of full of explosions... First, My Bridge Radio picks THIS summer to do a theme on "Reaching Out to the Ends of the Earth", and I'm able to contact them and share with them about my mission trip! Then, my old school chooses to send their offerings over to Russia, and I'm able to share my experiences with kids who are the age that I was when I first decided I wanted to go to Russia on my first missions trip!
God reaches out, in so many ways, ways that I think often go unnoticed by us mere human beings. But the times when we do notice, I think those are the gifts that are meant to be kept, treasured. Watching the kids react at the pictures of Hospital 8, or seeing the curiosity grow as I shared about the lives of Russian kids, just makes me wonder, if somewhere in my audience today, was there a little girl, say maybe 9 or 10, who thought to herself "...Gee, I wonder if I could go to Russia some day..."
Blessings on all that you do. :)
This morning, I had the extreme pleasure of hearing my interview with My Bridge Radio aired! I had taken off work for a presentation (more on that in a minute,) so I was able to be home for it! I'm going to be honest, I like hearing myself talk. Honestly, I think we all do, to a degree. It's probably a great downfall of mine... None the less, though, I really enjoyed hearing my radio conversation from everyone else's perspective, not just my own. Stan and Gordon, the morning radio hosts, were so much fun to talk to, and they really made me think about why I went on the trip, why I'm going again, and what impact these trips are serving for both me and the people who I meet! My mom was listening with me, and commented on how my 2012 trip quite possibly will never stop impacting people. She said "What if someone knows Pastor Reehl, and never thought they could go on the trip until they heard your interview??" All the glory to God, should someone be able to go on the trip after being inspired by my interview! It is my Father in heaven who gives me the words I speak, the experiences I share, the stories I write and tell.
(By the way, here's the link to the interview, if you'd like to listen:
Steph's Interview with My Bridge Radio)
Following the radio show, I began to prepare myself for possibly my most challenging presentation thus far: going back to my own K-8 Lutheran school to share my experiences with the students in chapel. It's one thing to talk to adults about where I've been and what I've done, how much the special-needs orphanages impacted me, how angry the Russian government made me when I walked into Hospital 8. However, it's a completely different "game", if you will, to talk to kids as young as 5 and as old as 13 or 14. I was really nervous about the whole thing, the new presentation, talking to kids who I've watched grow up (tell you what, if you ever need to feel old, just watch the babies you rocked to sleep file into the chapel with their kindergarten class...)
However, when I got there, the Holy Spirit did His thing, as always. I was able to share with the kids a few pictures from the orphanages that really impacted me, some of the Russian orphans who left their handprints on my heart, and some of the moments that will never leave me. My audience was very respectful, and I believe that God helped me get my message across!
The coolest thing, though, about getting to talk to the kids was knowing the whole reason behind my being invited there. They are planning on giving their first-semester chapel offerings to help a program that buys Sunday School materials for kids in Russia! Isn't that amazing?? God blows my mind, pretty much on a daily basis, but today's just been kind of full of explosions... First, My Bridge Radio picks THIS summer to do a theme on "Reaching Out to the Ends of the Earth", and I'm able to contact them and share with them about my mission trip! Then, my old school chooses to send their offerings over to Russia, and I'm able to share my experiences with kids who are the age that I was when I first decided I wanted to go to Russia on my first missions trip!
God reaches out, in so many ways, ways that I think often go unnoticed by us mere human beings. But the times when we do notice, I think those are the gifts that are meant to be kept, treasured. Watching the kids react at the pictures of Hospital 8, or seeing the curiosity grow as I shared about the lives of Russian kids, just makes me wonder, if somewhere in my audience today, was there a little girl, say maybe 9 or 10, who thought to herself "...Gee, I wonder if I could go to Russia some day..."
Blessings on all that you do. :)
Friday, August 3, 2012
My Surreal Summer, Overflowing With Gifts
It's August 3rd, already! The next 23 days are going to fly by, and before I know it, I'll be starting my sophomore year in college. (Maybe that doesn't terrify anyone else like it terrifies me...) On the way home from the Grand Canyon the past 19 hours, I had a lot of time to think, mostly about my summer, my first summer coming home from college, getting a job, and almost living on my own. I've had so many "God moments", so many times where I have just taken a step back and said "Holy cow, this is ME!! I am the one living this life!"
First off, my summer in general is just a huge blessing. The fact that I'm able to come home and see my family and get a job because I'm that close to school is a gift from God. I was able to meet my two cousins' new babies, only weeks after they were born! That was a huge privilege, and a great way to spend my time at home before I left for Russia.
Russia. If you've been reading my entries, then you know what an amazing experience I had, what an awesome, long-awaited gift from God that trip was! Even now, almost three months later, I still can't believe that I have actually been to Russia. That trip had so many eye-opening moments, so many "God-is-so-totally-in-control-that-it-blows-my-mind" moments, and I still can't quite grasp that I was able to experience them. Moments like giving Valerie his Bible, or meeting a family of kids who are still together in an orphanage, or stepping into the Baltic Sea, or looking at my passport and knowing that I've visited four new countries. Moments like that don't come very often, at least in my life, and now I've experienced them!
Coming home from that, I was able to work, all summer. In today's economy, it was a huge gift to have a full-time job, coming straight out of a first year of college, and that job will help me get back to Russia next summer! (AAAAAAAH!!! RUSSIA AGAIN!!!!!)
There are little moments in my summer that simply can't all be recorded. Time with my family, teaching moments from God, catching up with high school friends, getting to see friends from out of town. Little things like that, that I take for granted! God has given me so much, and I have so much more than many people... I often forget that, often find little things to complain about. And it was my trip to the Grand Canyon that kind of hit home for me, how much I really have to be thankful for.
We drove through (let me count...) four states, two of which were new to me. Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. In the final two, we saw a lot of need, need that doesn't often come to our minds when we think of America and how well-off we all are. I saw homeless people in Santa Fe, we drove through many, many desolate Indian reservations, and saw several people in need of something more. It kind of hit me, then, just how much I have. I have a car to travel through four states with. I have a family to go on vacation with. I have the means to stay in a hotel and go inside the Grand Canyon National Park. I have a healthy body to hike into the Grand Canyon. I have medicine to help cure the stupid head cold I got. :)
It just kind of hits, when you're standing over the biggest "hole" in the United States, how awesome God is, how powerful He is, how in-control He is. One of my biggest struggles is entrusting all my problems, my worries, my concerns to our Heavenly Father. But after this road trip, after my little moments with His precious children, after my two-week, long-awaited mission trip, it becomes easier for me to see: We serve an awesome God, one who is worthy of our praise, our trust, our worship, our everything. To God be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Blessings on all that you do!
First off, my summer in general is just a huge blessing. The fact that I'm able to come home and see my family and get a job because I'm that close to school is a gift from God. I was able to meet my two cousins' new babies, only weeks after they were born! That was a huge privilege, and a great way to spend my time at home before I left for Russia.
Russia. If you've been reading my entries, then you know what an amazing experience I had, what an awesome, long-awaited gift from God that trip was! Even now, almost three months later, I still can't believe that I have actually been to Russia. That trip had so many eye-opening moments, so many "God-is-so-totally-in-control-that-it-blows-my-mind" moments, and I still can't quite grasp that I was able to experience them. Moments like giving Valerie his Bible, or meeting a family of kids who are still together in an orphanage, or stepping into the Baltic Sea, or looking at my passport and knowing that I've visited four new countries. Moments like that don't come very often, at least in my life, and now I've experienced them!
Coming home from that, I was able to work, all summer. In today's economy, it was a huge gift to have a full-time job, coming straight out of a first year of college, and that job will help me get back to Russia next summer! (AAAAAAAH!!! RUSSIA AGAIN!!!!!)
There are little moments in my summer that simply can't all be recorded. Time with my family, teaching moments from God, catching up with high school friends, getting to see friends from out of town. Little things like that, that I take for granted! God has given me so much, and I have so much more than many people... I often forget that, often find little things to complain about. And it was my trip to the Grand Canyon that kind of hit home for me, how much I really have to be thankful for.
We drove through (let me count...) four states, two of which were new to me. Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. In the final two, we saw a lot of need, need that doesn't often come to our minds when we think of America and how well-off we all are. I saw homeless people in Santa Fe, we drove through many, many desolate Indian reservations, and saw several people in need of something more. It kind of hit me, then, just how much I have. I have a car to travel through four states with. I have a family to go on vacation with. I have the means to stay in a hotel and go inside the Grand Canyon National Park. I have a healthy body to hike into the Grand Canyon. I have medicine to help cure the stupid head cold I got. :)
It just kind of hits, when you're standing over the biggest "hole" in the United States, how awesome God is, how powerful He is, how in-control He is. One of my biggest struggles is entrusting all my problems, my worries, my concerns to our Heavenly Father. But after this road trip, after my little moments with His precious children, after my two-week, long-awaited mission trip, it becomes easier for me to see: We serve an awesome God, one who is worthy of our praise, our trust, our worship, our everything. To God be the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Blessings on all that you do!
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| Colorado River |
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| Overlooking the Grand Canyon |
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| Grand Canyon |
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| Small, Beautiful Part of the Grand Canyon |
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