Beginning of week Four

As I continue to walk this road I am finding it harder and harder to share with everyone about what God is doing in my mind, heart and ministry so I figured it was time to do a blog post.

Yesterday marked the beginning of 4 weeks of work. I am now days away from being done with my first month of working and I am DAILY amazed by God's goodness. As each day passes I find myself more and more at peace about what God is doing, I find the doubt and fear slowly creeping back, I am gaining more and more confidence in what God is doing in my life and how excited I am to see what HE is going to do.

My days are quickly filling up with meetings, appointments and phone calls to make. I have a lot of emails to send and I have a lot of paperwork to do and details to take care of. In the midst of all these lists I find myself most excited to have relationships with people. The more I am jumping into ministry,

the more I am finding the value in relationship over routines and daily tasks. This Sunday I got to sneak a picture with some of the kids from my new ministry. I have a newsletter article coming out in a few weeks and they wanted a picture with me involved with the kids. It was great to see them and it is my daily reminder of WHY I am doing what I am doing. I am not simply finding teachers to fill classes, I am not sitting in meetings to sit in meetings. I am doing all of this because of the kids and the families that I get to invest in. There is so much more to ministry than simply doing a job and I am SO beyond blessed to have God choosing me to serve him in this capacity.

This weekend (29 & 30) I will be introduced, commissioned and prayed for during each of the weekend services. I am inviting you, my friends and family, to join us. Saturday at 6:00pm is the first one and afterwards some of us will be headed to Round Table in Renton to have dinner afterwards. If you need directions or more information, let me know. I am very much looking forward to this weekend.

I have spent a lot of time in the car and a lot of time listening to music. The song 'Strong Enough' by Matthew West came on the radio yesterday morning and it is on my mind all the time now. May it encourage you like it has me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knuHDPbE5es

In the meantime, please be praying for me as I continue to commute from University Place. Pray that God would continue to grant me safety in my travels. Also be praying that God brings an apartment my way, in His timing and a safe place to live as a single woman. And of course, pray that God would continue to teach me as I keep filling my days with ministry and people!

Surviving the First Week!

Well, my first week of work is over and as I sit on the couch watching my cat play with his toy with the Mariners game on in the background, the mere exhaustion is rushing over me. This has been a week of meeting people, asking questions, trying hard to take in what feels like 'a fire hose' of information, and LOTS of time in the car stuck in traffic. This is life now. This is my new reality.

It is hard for me to imagine that just one moth ago I was getting ready to walk across the stage and officially be handed the piece of paper that would let me be done with school forever, fully prepared for a summer of rest and a continued journey trying to find where God wanted me to be. Little did I know that within 5 days, I would be first getting word of what my new reality was going to be.

Now that the first week is over, I find myself wanting to be like Jonah (yes, I know I am going back to the good ol' BSM days but it all makes sense)...run FLEEING from what I know God has called me to do. "But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord." Jonah 1:3...sounds easier right?! Exactly.

Satan wants us to see that easy way out. He wants us to run from what God has specifically called us to do, not allowing ourselves to be all that God has called us to be. And, I am not going to lie, that does sound pretty attractive. Just saying, 'I give up now' sounds so easy. Instead, I am CHOOSING to be like Jonah in chapter 3...after God sent him to be swallowed by the big fish...'Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.' So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.' (Jonah 3:1-2)

I do have hope that things will get easier. I will eventually be done learning people's names. The questions will still be asked and the doubts will still creep in, but for now, I am rejoicing that I KNOW this is what God has called me to. This is for sure a 'God-sized task' that he is calling me to and I am SO grateful for the opportunity to even more understand what it means to rest and rely on HIM for all my needs.

THANK YOU to those who have been praying for me through this whole process and I ask that you please continue to do so. Pray that I would have renewed energy for Sunday as I continue to meet new people. Pray that I get good rest when I do and pray I can continue to be patient as I learn new things. Thank you for walking this journey with me and for helping point me to Jesus. I am so so blessed.

"The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He heads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoXWIK1lfyo