To Japan We Go!

I got my GoNowMissions email...and they have appointed me to go to Japan!! So happy!!

It is one thing to sign up for a mission trip, but having to go through interviewing processes at the local and state level, and then have a group of people who see the whole picture, through prayer and guidance of the Holy Spirit, appoint you where they believe God will be most glorified - thats awesome.

Now I get to start the support letters! Goodness. Maybe sleeping in till 12:01 today was not the best of ideas...but o well. I'm in college. I have to let my body rest atleast once a week, right? I can't wait to see where God will lead through this whole process of fundraising! Its really exciting, and I know I will have to trust Him more than I ever have before. And thats a really good thing. =]

Be still

A world of voices. From every street corner to every hallway, we are surrounded by voices. Voices which encourage, voices which tear. Voices overlapping, rising, twisting, and crawling over each other to form an un-seemingly untamable monster. Voices trying to get to us. What can we do? They surround us. No matter where we go or where we hide, the sound follows us. Pounding, slamming, churning, and crashing around as water beats against the rock. How can one listen? How can one be sane?

Stillness. Quietness. Soundless. Motionless.

What strange concepts in our runabout lives. Where can these be found?

In the empty building? No - the lifeless metals somehow speak. In the secluded forest? No - the leaves and breeze continually converse. In the highest of highs, or the depths of the deep? No. We can never escape the sound.

Yet we are told to be still. To be still and know that He is God. To be still and listen to His voice. To be still and simply be, not necessarily do. To be quiet, to silence our thoughts and hearts.

To stop.

To realize this life is so much more than going from point A to point B. To realize we do have a purpose, even though we may get lost trying to finding it. To realize how much we really don’t understand. To realize we are not god. To realize the sun does not rotate around us. To realize there is more than what we can see.

To realize there is more without sound.

What if our greatest questions, our greatest fears, were to be answered in the stillness of a moment instead in the vibrations of the air. What if we stopped speaking and simply listened for more than sound. What if we listened for God.

God did not come in the great whirlwind. God did not come in the earthquake. God did not come in the storm and the thunder. In the still, quiet voice He came. In the silence.

Our every answer could be waiting for us in the silence. Our wants and needs of the soul could be found not in the melodies, not in the harmonies, not in the voices of beauty, but in the silence. The realization of listening for God. Of being still.

In His stillness, we find our escape. We find our hope. We find our answer. Even if the answer is different than what we were looking for.

We are commanded to be still. To be still and know He is God. To stop looking for our answers and begin to listen to His solutions. To know we can not do this on our own. To realize He is, and we are not.

To not say, to not speak - but to know He is God.

May we be surrounded by His silence.

May we be still.

To Trust in Faith

Well, its been a long road. Getting from there to here. But it seems like I still have an even longer path before Japan. From jumping between different mission organizations to making calls and skype calls, this mission seems far away. I am still waiting for GoNow to call me back, and to see if they will even appoint me to go. There are so many things that are still out of my hands - and I have to accept and trust in the knowledge that they are in God's capable hands. Much easier said said than done.

So now, I am in a time of waiting. Waiting to be appointed by GoNow, waiting to start the support letters, waiting to begin planning for this already busy summer. I cannot wait to get the word "its time to go." This whole process has been emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually trying. I can only cling to the hope that in the end, it will be all worth it.

I am still trying to find a job on campus. Scratch that. Trying to find a job anywhere. The work-study jobs were full from day one, and other jobs I applied for on campus closed up too. I have no idea where God wants me to go to work, or what He has in store for. Or if He even wants me working right now. Guess we're going to just wait and see.