Update Week 3 :)

Wow what a week. I love sitting down to write these because it gives me the opportunity to go back through the week and think of all the amazing things that God is doing. But before I go into this past week, I just want to say thank you to every single person that read through my last update. Thank you for taking the time to invest in my life, it truly means so much to me and I am so thankful for you all 🙂 Also, thank you to the people that left a comment, I read each one of them and it made my heart so happy to hear how God is using this to impact you! I pray that you are blessed and that you smile at all that God is doing 🙂

Week 3:
This was our second full week here in North Carolina and the ministry during the week looked a lot like the first week. On Monday we were able to serve here in the Excel community by working out in a field that they are working to make into a soccer field. It was a lot of work in the sun, but it is cool to see the progress of the work that we are doing. Tuesday-Thursday our team was back at the Black Mountain Home Thrift Store! It was another week of extremely practical service (aka dumping loads and loads of trash, cleaning bathrooms, moving furniture, working registers, and meeting amazing people). Also, if you remember me talking about the weed-eater from last week … Well, we had round 2 on Wednesday. Let’s just say not much has changed lol. But I’m grateful for the opportunity and situation I was in because God reminded me of something extremely important which I will talk about in the next section 🙂 The Excel community had their “all-teams” on Tuesday and Thursday again and it was another great time for fellowship and continuing to make connections and build relationships. I’m so thankful for this community of people and the way that they have made our entire team feel so welcomed! Both of the messages from all-team this week were on family and the importance of reconciliation. It was so impactful and it made me realize just how lucky I am to have a family that truly loves the Lord and pushes me to trust in Him. I’m thankful for the impact that they have in my life and I want to do a better job of cherishing them and loving them 🙂

This weekend … Kentucky ?!?!
Yes, you read that correctly … Over the weekend some of our team took a road trip to Kentucky to go to a tent revival! And let me tell you, it was one of the coolest things that I have been to. To be completely honest, I was a little nervous when I first got there because there was a lot going on and it was a new environment, but I’m glad that I was able to go because God had some things He wanted to teach me there (and He did :)) One of the main things that He brought me through was that everyone has a different way of worshiping the Lord. It’s not going to look the exact same for each person, but that doesn’t mean that the way I worship Him is any less or any more than someone else. All that truly matters is the posture of my heart. It’s not my job to determine if the way another person is praising God is acceptable or not. I don’t have an inside look at their heart, only God does. I feel like this was something I had head knowledge of, but secretly I struggled with judgment of others. After confessing this to God and my team, I continually asked God to break any judgment that I have and for me to learn to love the variety of ways there are to praise and worship the King. It was cool to see God work in that area over the weekend and it’s one of the areas that I want to continue to be refined in 🙂 The revival in general was amazing and so refreshing to see that there are still people all throughout the country that love God with their whole hearts and just want Him. The atmosphere was indescribable (especially during worship, there was one point where I literally felt like I was in heaven worshipping). There was so much wisdom poured out, people being baptized, and chains being broken so praise God for the ways that He is bringing revival and will continue to do so! On another note, the trip was just a whole lot of fun. The guys slept in the van one of the nights (do not recommend, it gets extremely hot …) and we may have set off the alarm to the car in the middle of the night, oops :/ However, it was such a good time (even when setting up our tents in the pouring rain haha) and there were so many fruitful conversations.

Some other things God is doing:
Ah yes, back to the weed-eater (this guy really never seems to miss the spotlight). So to shorten the story, I just was not having the best of times with Mr. Weedwacker. I couldn’t get it to start, then I spilled gasoline over myself when trying to refill the tank .. all in all just not a fun experience in the moment. I was getting frustrated, but God knew what He was doing. After finally getting it to work, I went back to working and as I was I realized how much I was complaining and it was all because I was so focused on myself and the situation I was in. I took my eyes off of the reason that I was there in the first place and focused on my comfort and what I wanted to be doing. God, in the most loving and gracious way, boldly reminded me of this: IT IS NOT ABOUT ME. And to be honest, I needed that kick in the butt and reminder and it came at the perfect time. Now I’m sure that I’m going to need that reminder over and over again, but it is so important to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and not get so caught up on what is going on in front of us. It’s so easy to do that and miss what God might have for us. So this was another cool way that God has been working over the past week, but I also heard a great piece of advice from our team leader this past week. She was talking about how it can be easy to get tired throughout the day and start to focus on other things instead of being present to the moment. But instead of falling into that, it’s important to ask God “Who’s Next?” When she said this I literally wrote that on my wrist as a reminder throughout the day to have a positive attitude and to make the most of every encounter with people because each one is an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with someone 🙂 I just loved this and thought it was a great way to see the importance of every person you may run into throughout the day, even when you are extremely busy and may not want to be exactly where you are. God has you there for a reason, so be interruptible 🙂

I feel like there is so much more that I could share, but somehow these get long so quick. I’m just so encouraged by the goodness of God. He truly is so so sooooo patient, kind, and loving. He doesn’t run from our questions or curiosity. He invites us into the spaces and isn’t afraid of the things we bring to Him. I don’t know who that is for, but I felt like it was someone 🙂 Now if you have made it this far, I am so thankful for you and grateful for the time you took to read this. I love you guys, but more importantly you have a heavenly Father that loves you like no one else can 🙂 I’m so blessed for all the prayers and ask that you would continue to pray for me and my team.

Prayers:
– For my team: That we will serve this week with a spirit of joy and love for the community that highlights the love and joy of God in profound ways.
– For the Excel community: That they will continue to worship the Lord with a passion that comes from a reverent and loving heart.
– For the Black Mountain community: That we will be able to bless the community and that through our actions they would see Jesus.
– For Myself: That I would continue to allow God to show me areas in my life that He wants to make me more like Him. To love others the way that Christ loves me.
– For Yourself: That you would go out of your way to bless someone this week. That you would allow God to search your heart and reveal misalignments with His heart.

Thank you again for reading this, you are so loved 🙂

(Also if you want a great song to listen to, go give “Not in a Hurry” by Will Reagan & United Pursuit a listen)